For as long a I can remember, people warn against having tunnel vision. They tell you to "gain a broader perspective", "open your mind", or "take in your surroundings". In general, yes, those are very good things. I'll always be the first one to take in the scenery and the last one to make a decision if I haven't considered all the options. But I'll tell you one thing I learned last weekend:  sometimes tunnel vision isn't such a bad thing. It can save your life when what's going on around you is too much. I'm alive to prove it.

I'll admit it's ironic. My last post was about how wonderful I find the rain, and how water in almost any form is incredibly soothing for me. But while I was making the trek home from an overnight stay in Tennessee, I drove right into the middle of a torrential rain storm. I must have been moving with it, because it lasted the full 2 hour trip. But I love a good downpour, right? I kept telling myself, "Let the sound of the rain relax you!" followed by "Can I be soothed and stressed by the same thing at the same time???"

I don't know that I have an answer to that question, but when it's raining so hard you can't see the road beneath you, answering that was the least of my concerns. Tunnel vision helped me focus on the car in front of me with its hazard lights on. If I took my eyes off of it for a split second, I would have plowed into a ditch or another car. Every time I could feel the panic rise, I exhaled, refocused my eyes on those blinking lights and kept moving forward. When there's so much uncertainty, you have to focus on what you can see, exhale, ignore everything else going on, and keep moving forward. And no matter what, don't stop praying. Ever.