Crossing Calmont Avenue, look – It’s a nerd. It’s a crane. It’s Stuporman! Faster than a speeding police cruiser, more powerful than an ulterior motive, able to leap to safety in a single bound.
I’m 23 years old, lanky and (I feel) “bullet-proof.”
Stratford Place Apartments sit atop a hill on Fort Worth’s west side. The complex is split by Calmont Avenue. We reside south of the thoroughfare; a U.S. mailbox fronts the north curb. Dusk falls, that 15 minutes or so when headlights are ineffective. I look both ways and step onto the street, stamped letter in hand.
I’m focused on that blue box a few feet ahead when a car grille crests the hill in my right periphery. Fort Worth’s finest racing to an emergency. I lunge forward, nearly falling, then leap to the grass just as they pass a couple feet from my heels.
Thank God for peripheral vision! Saved my life.
Opticians say our eyes are attracted to three things: color, light and movement. The retinas are comprised of two shapes of receptor cells – cones and rods. Cone cells located near the center detect vivid color, patterns and detail, whereas rod cells toward the edges of our retina more keenly detect light and movement. Such is why we see better with peripheral vision when stumbling toward the bathroom deep in the night. Faint ambient light is brighter in our periphery. Saves us from walking into bedposts. Might also save our impact on people.
In Friday Night Lights – Untold Stories from Behind the Lights, my good friend Nate Hearne writes, “As I watched Boobie [injured starting running back] throughout the first half of the game, I could tell by his body language that watching the game was becoming increasingly painful for him emotionally.” While most players and coaches focused on the field of play, Nate watched the periphery.
“When halftime of the Midland Lee game came, I watched Boobie exit the field with his head down and shoulders slumped, walking dejectedly to the dressing room. . . . Boobie ripped his gear off and started throwing it around the showers. . . . I knew he couldn’t continue to hide the embarrassment and anguish swelling inside of him.”
Nate seized that moment of influence.
“I went to him and looked straight into his eyes. ‘Boobie, you don’t want to do this. You have too much to lose if you continue to act like this. You can get through this.’ . . . To get Boobie to put his uniform back on, walk back out of the locker room, and stand on the sideline again, when his world was crumbling around him, was a major accomplishment.”
As leaders in our field, we must likewise key in on the periphery if we’re to maximize our indelible influence. Human light and movement. The periphery is often more telling.
© 2015 Russ Riddle. All rights reserved.