Yesterday after dropping off a friend I decided that I wanted to take a different route home to avoid major construction headaches on the usual route.
I had convinced myself that if I just turned right instead of left there would be an easier way, less stressful way to get home.
So I turned right and drove, and drove, and drove. Then I made a left onto a familiar sideroad. I would have been okay had I stayed on that road and took it all the way home, but something in my mind said "nah, it can't be that easy, make a right at the next stop". So I did just what my mind was telling me and I somehow landed smack dab in the middle of a large town along Lake Erie that I am completely unfamiliar with. I pulled into a convenience store (had to pee like crazy!) and asked the gentleman behind the counter (and I quote) "Excuse me sir, but how in the hell do I get out of this town!"
This brought us both into a fit of laughter, as he described that I would have to go back to exactly where I came from and most likely go through that construction that I was trying to avoid in the first place. He also said that there was maybe a shorter way but that it involved back roads and he didn't think sending me that way was a good idea, since, well I had gotten lost going from one small town to another in exactly the opposite direction that I was hoping to end up!
I get lost all of the time so it wasn't that big of deal. I bought myself a chocolate bar and a bottle of water (oh yes and used the restroom) and I was back on the road. Only it took me four times the amount of time to get home then it would have if I had just gone through the construction!
It reminded me alot of how we sometimes want to avoid messy situations in our personal lives and so we opt for something 'easier' or at least what looks to be the better way to go. Only to find out that the 'easier' way takes way more time to complete, ends up taking you right back to where you didn't want to go in the first place and leaves you feeling exhausted and bitchy.
If I would have just gone through the construction I would've been home in no time at all, been able to cook dinner for my family and relax. Instead, I missed supper by a long shot, had to go back through the construction anyway, felt cranky and miserable when I arrived home and dealt with tight shoulder muscles all night.
Lesson learned. There is no easy way. There is only one way. Choose to take that way first and avoid the hassle and irritation of what you think might be a better way (it isn't really the better way, it's the avoiding way and nothing comes from avoid, trust me; I know!)
I had convinced myself that if I just turned right instead of left there would be an easier way, less stressful way to get home.
So I turned right and drove, and drove, and drove. Then I made a left onto a familiar sideroad. I would have been okay had I stayed on that road and took it all the way home, but something in my mind said "nah, it can't be that easy, make a right at the next stop". So I did just what my mind was telling me and I somehow landed smack dab in the middle of a large town along Lake Erie that I am completely unfamiliar with. I pulled into a convenience store (had to pee like crazy!) and asked the gentleman behind the counter (and I quote) "Excuse me sir, but how in the hell do I get out of this town!"
This brought us both into a fit of laughter, as he described that I would have to go back to exactly where I came from and most likely go through that construction that I was trying to avoid in the first place. He also said that there was maybe a shorter way but that it involved back roads and he didn't think sending me that way was a good idea, since, well I had gotten lost going from one small town to another in exactly the opposite direction that I was hoping to end up!
I get lost all of the time so it wasn't that big of deal. I bought myself a chocolate bar and a bottle of water (oh yes and used the restroom) and I was back on the road. Only it took me four times the amount of time to get home then it would have if I had just gone through the construction!
It reminded me alot of how we sometimes want to avoid messy situations in our personal lives and so we opt for something 'easier' or at least what looks to be the better way to go. Only to find out that the 'easier' way takes way more time to complete, ends up taking you right back to where you didn't want to go in the first place and leaves you feeling exhausted and bitchy.
If I would have just gone through the construction I would've been home in no time at all, been able to cook dinner for my family and relax. Instead, I missed supper by a long shot, had to go back through the construction anyway, felt cranky and miserable when I arrived home and dealt with tight shoulder muscles all night.
Lesson learned. There is no easy way. There is only one way. Choose to take that way first and avoid the hassle and irritation of what you think might be a better way (it isn't really the better way, it's the avoiding way and nothing comes from avoid, trust me; I know!)
I'm so glad you learned this lesson for the rest of us. Thank you!
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