Road Block and Detours

Do you ever have days where it seems like you keep ending up on roads that come to a dead end or a detour no matter which direction you go? That was me today as I was running errands. Lots of road construction happening in an area of town where I needed to take care of a few projects. At one point I became so confused I ended up having to plug my destination into the GPS. I was very grateful it was one of those days where I had nothing but time and didn't feel stressed for needing to be at any particular location by a designated time.

As I meandered from street to street I thought about how nice it was to be able to go through this situation and remain calm and relaxed - just able to go with the flow. I watched as others became frustrated and were in several close call accidents. They looked like fish trying to swim against the current. As I neared one of my destinations I found it was almost completely blocked off unless I went further down the street, made a u-turn and came back from the other direction.

Photo Courtesy of Zero Dean - Arches National Park, Utah

I found myself thinking about how true this is with our life's path. So often we set out on our mapped out course just to find that the path we wanted to take is a dead end or we end up on a detour which requires us reconstruct our journey. There are even times that the detour can send us in a direction we never would have initially considered while bringing us better opportunities!

How we handle each roadblock and detour in our life determines our success in reaching our goals. The joy of life is not seeing how quick we can reach our destination; it's about enjoying the entire journey!

Are You Playing Small?

I have spent the better share of my life being extremely analytical and a planner.  Not necessarily bad qualities until they hamper your progress.  Sometimes we can get so held down by this process that it takes us forever to simply take some action.

After spending 3 lovely months in Lyons, CO, I came away with many beautiful and life changing insights.  There is no room in life for playing small or being afraid of making a mistake.  I seen a post on Facebook recently that really resonated with me, "I've learned so much from my mistakes, I think I'll make a few more."  Sometimes our best insights and opportunities come from our mistakes.  Yet all too often we allow fear to grip us with worry of failure.  We live in a society that teaches from the time we are children that failing is bad.  Why is this?  Failing is only "bad" if we refuse to learn from our failure and try again.  Thomas Edison said, "I have not failed.  I just found 10,000 ways it didn't work."  Absolutely brilliant!!  

Many people freeze up with just the idea of having to take a test or quiz.  Is this because they don't know the material?  Typically that's not the case.  Many people that take an exam freeze up with fear of failure even though they know the subject matter, however, it's the pending end result of receiving one of those words "pass" or "fail" that tends to grip them.  I've seen many situations where these people are asked the same questions in conversation style and they are able to nail the answers with ease.  

So, before this year ends and the New Year begins, I have decided to stop worrying about making a mistake and how much it will cost me.  In the long run it tends to cost us a lot more by standing on the sidelines waiting for the "right opportunity" or information.  Just go out, do it, and calibrate on your results!

Dream It!  Do It!  Live It!