The road of life.

Life is a long road full of twists and turns.

This road also contains long stretches of straight, smooth terrain.

This road also contains detours, speed bumps, and a few random objects that make you swerve out of control at times.

But in the end, the goal of life is to stay moving forward on the road.

 

Recently, I have taken a look at this analogy a lot pertaining to how the road has been going for me.

I would say right now it’s pretty smooth and straight.

I did notice something when looking into the analogy a bit deeper.

Most of the time, I am accepting of speed bumps or obstacles.

I have pushed through them before and I tend to put my head down and get through it.

 

Where I seem to stumble on the road of life is on the turns.

When I say that the goal is to stay moving forward on the road of life, I do well with half of that equation.

I stay on the road. I do that well.

But I’m not always moving forward.

When life throws a turn at me when I don’t want to turn, I stop moving.

Instead of turning when it’s time to turn, I park it right in the middle of the road.

I sit there for a while and I either get confused, sad or frustrated.

I immediately want an answer as to why I have to turn… it doesn’t make sense.

As I sit there and try to figure it out and search for answers, I’m holding up the cars behind me.

I’m not only holding myself from moving forward, but I’m also holding others back at times.

Life isn’t a one-horse race, so I need to pick it up and keep going.

How do I do this without the road being where I want to go?

 

News flash, Nelson: 99% of the time, life isn’t what you want it to be and it doesn’t make sense. You have to keep going.

Here is what I’ve realized recently as I analyze this:

• Life is going to throw something new at me every day. The road is going to turn when I least expect it. What do I need to do? I need to just go ahead and turn. I know that the goal is to keep moving forward on this road, so that’s what I need to do.
• When I look at life, I always want answers. I want to know the “why” at every turn. Sometimes though, I won’t know the why and will never figure it out. Things are going to happen and I won’t agree with it or want it, but something has to happen and once it does, I can’t sit back and complain. I can’t sit back and wait to understand. I have to be aware of when it’s time to move forward.
• Pertaining to one of my recent discussions, I also seem to want to control the road of life too often. I look at what may be ahead and I try so hard to shape my path. When I take a step back, I know that I can only do so much and I have to keep my hands on the wheel. Almost everything that goes on around me throughout life is uncontrollable and if I do have some control, it’s very minimal. Control of life around me shouldn’t matter… but control of my own car as I navigate the road of life, should.

 

To put all of this into perspective, I basically want to continue on the road of life with a willingness to follow wherever the road takes me.

It’s going to turn.

It’s going to be rough.

There’s going to be obstacles.

But that’s life.

Life wouldn’t be the journey it is without these things.

For me, the road is perfect.

 

The goal is to keep moving forward on the road of life.

I’m going to keep my hands on the wheel.

I’m going to keep my foot on the gas.

 

And most importantly, I’m going to enjoy the road of life and everything it throws at me.

 

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same… Our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” – Don Williams