Day 87: Telescope vs. Microscope

Ever had that moment where you're staring at your phone screen, zooming in on a photo to see some tiny detail, and then someone calls your name from across the room and you look up, completely disoriented by the sudden shift from micro to macro?

Yeah, me too.

And honestly, I think that's how most of us are living our lives. Either perpetually zoomed in or eternally zoomed out.

When You're Stuck Under the Microscope

The microscope people ah, I know you well because I was once one of you. The detail-oriented, perfectionist types who notice every flaw, analyse every conversation to death, and can't rest until they've sorted everything into its proper mental filing cabinet.

Signs you might be living under a microscope:

• That tiny comment your boss made three weeks ago is still keeping you up at night
• You've spent more time planning your life than actually living it
• The imperfections in your work physically pain you
• You frequently use phrases like "yes, but..." and "what if..."

In her book "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying," palliative care nurse Bronnie Ware notes that one of the most common regrets people express on their deathbed is "I wish I hadn't worried so much." All that microscope time, wasted on things that ultimately didn't matter.

A study from the University of California suggests that about 85% of what we worry about never actually happens. And of the 15% that does happen, people reported handling it better than they expected in about 79% of cases. So that's what? 97% wasted microscope time?

When You're Stuck Under the Telescope

Then there are the telescope people. Always looking to the future, dreaming big, seeing potential everywhere... except perhaps in their current circumstances.

Signs you might be living under a telescope:

• You have seven unfinished projects because you keep starting new, more exciting ones
• Your vision board is immaculate but your actual home is a bit of a state
• People describe you as "head in the clouds" more often than "down to earth"
• You regularly say things like "someday when I..." and "once I achieve..."

Jesus addressed this mindset rather directly: "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34, NIV).

It's like he's saying, "Mate, put down the telescope for a bit. Have you SEEN what's happening right in front of you?"

The ancient Greeks had a concept called "akrasia" the state of mind where you act against your better judgment through weakness of will. Modern psychologists have linked this to temporal discounting our tendency to value future rewards less than immediate ones. Basically, the telescope view can sometimes make us neglect what needs doing today.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (I definitely had to look up how to spell that), in his groundbreaking book "Flow," found that people are happiest when they're fully engaged in the present moment neither anxiously scrutinising details nor dreamily contemplating distant futures. When we're in flow, we're using just the right focal length to see what matters now.

The Proper Focus for the Proper Season

Look, I'm not here to tell you that one perspective is inherently better than the other. Both have their place.

Sometimes you need that microscope:

• When learning a new skill
• When appreciating the small joys of everyday life
• When noticing early warning signs in relationships or health
• When editing your work (or in my case, obsessively checking this blog post for typos at 8 AM)

And sometimes you need that telescope:

• When setting long-term goals
• When you're stuck in a genuinely difficult situation and need hope
• When making big life decisions
• When you need perspective on a current problem

The key, as with most things in life, is balance and awareness. The wisdom lies in knowing when to switch instruments.

Practical Ways to Adjust Your Focus

So how do we do this? How do we develop the awareness to know when we're using the wrong tool and the flexibility to switch perspectives?

For the Microscope People:

1. The "Five Years From Now" Test Ask yourself: "Will this matter in five years?" If not, maybe it doesn't deserve microscope-level attention today.
2. Schedule "Big Picture" Time Literally block out time in your calendar to step back and look at the broader patterns of your life. What's working? What isn't? Where are you headed?
3. Find a Telescope Friend We all need that one friend who says, "Mate, you're overthinking this" or "In the grand scheme of things..." Keep them close.
4. Practice Absurdity When you catch yourself in a microscope spiral, try the ancient Stoic practice of reducing your worry to absurdity. Exaggerate it to the point of ridiculousness until you can laugh at it.

The prophet Isaiah offers a beautiful telescope perspective: "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name" (Isaiah 40:26, NIV). Sometimes, we all need to look up.

For the Telescope People:

1. The "Next Small Step" Practice Instead of getting overwhelmed by the distance to your goal, ask: "What's one small thing I could do in the next hour to move forward?"
2. Create "Present Moment" Anchors Build rituals that ground you in the here and now perhaps a morning coffee where you notice five specific sensations, or an evening reflection on three concrete things you accomplished today.
3. Find a Microscope Friend We all need that detail-oriented friend who asks, "Have you thought about...?" or "What's your plan for making that happen?" They help turn dreams into reality.
4. Schedule Completion Days Set aside entire days where you're not allowed to start anything new, only finish what's already in progress.

Jesus reminds us in Luke 16:10: "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much" (NIV). Sometimes the path to those telescope dreams runs directly through microscope faithfulness.

So... Which One Are You?

Perhaps you already know whether you're more of a microscope or telescope person. Or maybe you're reading this thinking, "Actually, I shift too wildly between them microscope for my flaws, telescope for my problems."

The point isn't to abandon either perspective completely. It's to develop the wisdom to know which one serves you in any given moment, and the skill to shift when necessary.

Because This is what we do now!