The Size Of Everything

Traffic lights are big. Bigger than you think.

If you’re driving on the road, the traffic lights and street signs look like they might fit in the palm of your hand. When one comes down, or you get to see it close up, you realize that they’re much bigger than you think.

It makes me reflect on the nature of problems, and how they seem to appear out of nowhere. Problems only turn into problems when they’re right in front of us. When they’re off in the distance, it seems like no big deal.

We’re not overweight until one day we are, but we probably could’ve slowed down on all the nachos.

We’re not a harsh parent until we are, but we probably could’ve worked on handling our frustration with our kids more productively prior to being a harsh parent.

Santa wasn’t always Santa either – at some point he realized how big the world was, and how much magic he needed to make Christmas work.

Call it foresight, planning, details, whatever. At some point, you will find yourself with a traffic light on your foot, wondering how it grew so big so fast.

The best we can do is remember that the size of everything is relative to the size of everything else.