A curious topic of discussion has become popular when I'm with friends: reading glasses.  "Those are adorable!"  "Do they come in other strengths?"  "Did you see them in blue?" You get the picture (in focus or not). The function of reading glasses is to allow us to see things more clearly up close.  And they do the job - sort of.  We can see the fine print and tell who's who in photographs.   But there's a whole world out there that goes unseen, even with reading glasses. 

Most of us are pretty good at seeing the big picture. What we miss is the most important element of everything in our lives, the minute details that really define people, places and objects: their essence. Finding our world's essence is an enormous risk; we might find beauty and wonder, or disappointment and fear. Taking risks always requires courage.  Imagine yourself in these scenarios:

1.  Your parents have a table that's been around your entire life.  You pay it no attention until one day your mother mentions that it's the only thing your great-grandparents ever bought new.  You imagine how much they must have struggled to save enough to buy it, how proud they must have been, and what the meals and discussions held at that table must have been like.  This is the table's essence.

2.  You are swept away by a politician whose platform you believe in.  His speeches are inspiring and his promises fulfill all of the things you envision for your community.  He is such a departure from the status quo that you give him your full support, despite a great deal of criticism from your circle of friends.  But once elected, you see that this politician has been the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing.  His promises dissolve, replaced by wanton distribution of flash and cash for himself and his inner circle.  This is the politician's essence.

3.  Your seven year old son really wants a pet snake.  You tell him he must earn the money himself, thinking he'll lose interest.  Quite the opposite happens - he organizes his own yard sale, and it's only when you overhear him telling one of his customers how much he really wants something all his own to take care of that you realize how important this is to him.  This is your son's essence.

You know the old adage, "Take time to stop and smell the flowers." Finding the essence of something does require time, but it also requires the courage to look beyond the obvious.  True, sometimes we will wish we had uncovered the essence of things sooner rather than later.  But having that information at all is what's of real importance in life.  Look for the essence in your life.  No reading glasses required!