My desk at work looks out a second-story window onto a couple of large trees. Sometimes I get to see a squirrel or two jumping all over the place doing who knows what. It’s a bit fun watching them run, chase, and make gigantic leaps. Honestly, I’m not sure what they are doing, but it’s interesting imagining things from their perspective.

For all I know that squirrel is looking in at me wondering why some silly human sits all day long looking at some plastic rectangles. I imagine that squirrel wonders why I’m not running around outside looking for nuts or love or just jumping and playing.

Sometimes I wonder if Hijo wonders the same thing. I heard an interview with some executive recently where he realized that when he tried to explain to his children what his day looks like, his explanation was that he sends emails and attends meetings all day. My day isn’t all that different.

Now that Hijo started school, I fear I’m setting him up to sit at a desk or attend meetings all day. There’s nothing wrong with working in an office. I enjoy my job, but there’s also more to life than sitting at a desk all day. Sometimes I want to run and jump. Sometimes I want to make wild leaps from branch to branch and put others in awe of my freedom and abandon.

The truth is, I probably need both. And so does Hijo. Seeing the squirrel out the window running and leaping reminds me that life is about more than work. But imagining playing all the time also isn’t right for me – sometimes work is good, necessary, and satisfactory. So thank you thank, squirrel, for teaching me. Thank you for helping me seeing things from another’s perspective and expand my life as a result. Perhaps that’s the real lesson here.

What perspective could you benefit from seeing today?