They are considered very special when we can get them. Concert promoters charge extra to sit in them. When in a classroom, they denote to others that you are serious about listening and learning. Sitting near the baseball field or hockey rink in front row seats brings you close to the players and the action.
Sometimes to get front row seats you must get to the head of the line. Being first in a store when it opens to get the best deal. Being first in line to get the best seat on an airplane. Being the first appointment in a doctor’s office so that we don’t have to wait.
The excitement of being first in line or in the front row I am afraid, though, deceives us. For life isn’t about being the first row or in the front of a line. Life is more about being in the game, in the movie, or making the music itself at a concert.
There is great passion for all that are involved in either preparing for or participating in the big event that you are in the front seat to see. They are all excited not only about their work but also about the outcome. It’s not fair, but they do have one advantage over us. The know the outcome and they believe it to be good.
In life, we can never be certain of the outcome up front. We are only too certain and over-confident that we have the ability and skill to “get there”.
We are too impatient to give things time to unfold or for our work to add up to something of value. Our outcomes are not always that good. In fact, sometimes, all of our hard work leads only to failure and disappointment.
Even when our outcomes are good, helpful, or even great they normally take much longer to see and we are never quite certain as to when they actually arrive. Sadly, so many times in life, even our outcomes (good or bad) are fragile, temporary, and fleeting.
Would you run for a front seat to view your life? Would you stand in line to be the first to get your autograph? Doesn’t this sound strange? Why would anyone want to do this involving me?
Like it or not, we can never have a front row seat when it comes to our life. We can never watch and then simply walk away from who we are and what we have or have not done in our life. Never.
You see, we can’t help but be accountable first to ourselves and then to those around us that we love. This thinking also applies to the responsibilities that go with our job position . There needs to be the same type of self-reflection here as well. Why do we sometimes forget this?
Each of us must struggle to find the outcomes we would like to achieve and then making our minutes and days filled with the effort, the dialogue, and the connection to make things happen. For ourselves as well as for others.
Dreaming of a good outcome but uncertain if we will ever get there.
Weighing our selfish interests against our life’s responsibilities and position and then choosing wisely.
Having the courage to try and then having the faith that we will not go in the wrong direction.
Knowing that we can only focus on our effort to quench the thirst of our desire.
Enjoying the disappointments and obstacles that appear in our path along the way.
Hoping that someone will someday sit in the front seat and take notice with a smile.
Being humble enough to see that while life never is easy that God Himself gave us our many years to try.