Once upon a time, a man decided to take a long journey. he wasn’t quite sure where he was headed, so he read, thought, asked others where they had been and started a list of places that might interest him. He organized his choices, eliminated a few and did some more research. Finally, he had only three possibilities from which to choose.
He gathered everything he would need, put it in his car and set out. he sang a happy tune as he drove. This was going to be so much fun!
Before he had gone very far, he had a flat tire. He pulled into a repair shop, bought a new one and had it put on. Meanwhile, he went and ate because he was hungry.
Then, he got back on the road and drove some more.
A while later, he came to a detour. He certainly wasn’t planning on this! There was nothing in all his research to show that roadwork was going on. But what could he do? He left the highway and found himself on a narrow road that wound through farmland and small towns. The scenery was beautiful! He smiled at this pleasant surprise.
This route took much longer than he had anticipated, so he had to find a motel for the night. “Oh well,” he thought, “I’ll still get to see the places I want to.”
Several days into his journey, his car broke down. It would take several hundred dollars to fix it and he would have to stay in the city for at least three days. Again, he had not planned on this. He was a bit concerned about the unexpected expense, so decided to find a job while he waited. After five hours of turning in applications, he finally landed one, working at a 24-hour convenience store. The work was hard and the hours rough on him, since he wasn’t used to being up most of the night.
After five days, he was on his way at last! He breathed a sigh of relief as he got back on the highway.
after two more days, he reached his first destination: A monument to his favorite historical figure. he jumped out of his car with great excitement, took lots of pictures and walked around for a long time. Then he had to move on.
As he started toward his second destination, he met a woman who was going to a remote part of the country. She showed him pictures and told him all about it. This intrigued him. Maybe he should go see this place, too. But then, he had not planned for that and had already had some significant delays. “No,” he told himself, “I’ll stick to my plan.”
On and on he went, seeing monuments, museums, parks, towns and cities. They were interesting enough; yet he felt like he was missing something.
Next, he met two people who were going to the ocean. “That might be interesting,” he said, “I didn’t think of going there when I planned my trip.”
He counted his resources and decided he could afford to take a detour, so off he went.
Then one day, when he was at the farthest point in his journey, he realized that he wasn’t having the good time he had expected. He was bored and restless; he had seen all of the sights he cared to, but they were no longer interesting. He was too far along to go back; a change in directions and plans would cost too much.
What should he do?
Isn’t our journey through life something like this? Sometimes, it might even include tragedies and hardship; other times, it’s just that we find ourselves in places and circumstances that we didn’t expect or that we thought would be better.
What is your journey like? Is it time for some adjustment and new direction?
lifehelps 