Look up.

A few weeks ago I was driving with my husband and son to a sporting event and in my true multitasking way, I used the 1.5-hour car ride to get caught up on some computer work. Although I was doing my best to participate in the car conversation, my head was buried in my laptop. About 40 minutes into the drive I looked up and asked, “Wow… are we on the 5 freeway?”  My husband confirmed that yes, I had in fact missed the two freeway transfers and dozens of miles that got us to the one we were now traveling on. 

I was a bit shocked!

Even though I thought I was doing my best to chat in the car AND catch up on work, I was completely shocked to realize that I had missed out on some pretty significant on-ramps and off-ramps in my daze.

In response, I closed my computer and sat there pretty sheepishly. The smugness of being able to work AND play was gone instantly. And clearly, it stuck with me because here I am, weeks later, still thinking about it.

My simple reminder is to not be like me, with her head so far into the next task that you miss an entire freeway exchange… or more importantly, the opportunity for more connective conversations as you travel miles together.

I know I will get stuck in this trap again, of being consumed by what’s in front of me rather than aware of who’s around me, but I hope that it happens less often than I fear it was happening before.

I’m cheering for all of us as we look up!

Until next week,

-A

P.S. If your relationship has become disconnected or strained because you’ve forgotten to look up and see each other; I encourage you to reach out. It's better to get support when there’s been some drift rather than wait until your relationship is at a true divide.