The Road of Life
Choices, outcomes, who we've become, and who we'll be is determined by the road we travel.
I've been struggling with this entry for some time as I look around and see so many idling at the fork in the road. What to do? Get off at the next exit, stay on the highway, take the scenic route, go off-road, stop and ask for directions, put life in cruise control, or put the pedal to the floor.
I was surfing a friends, Josh Mitchell's, flickr site to check out his road trip from Seattle to Chicago and came across the image above. The shot grabbed me. He and his wife Melissa packed up their things and moved to Chicago for new career opportunities. I'm impressed with their willingness to move across the US and start fresh.
My roommate is considering traveling the express lane in the sky. Her whole family has been in the airline industry and she was a flight attendant once before. She left the industry to attend college and work on her marketing degree. The cloudy Seattle skies, a repetitive day job, and the need for adventure finds her pondering less money, a more challenging study atmosphere, a new place to live, new travels, and an old career.
Another good friend of mine just left her job at an agency. She has three mortgages, rents two of them, and needs to find new purpose and passion in life. She's brave to leave her job without another one waiting in the wings.
Some other friends own a small business experiencing rapid growth. The pedal is down to the floor and their driving a bus with curves ahead. They need new investors to keep pace with the growth. Who should they choose? The people who own furniture stores, the sports management group, or sell out completely? One road is hard, unpaved, but at least they get to steer. The other is straight, freshly paved, and comes with a driver.
Another friend owns a PR company and could sell, trading in a truck for a Porsche. A beautiful person who keeps me healthy is struggling in her business and could sell. A childhood friend has found success in business and financial security but is bored with work and doesn't care for the projects. He wants to do something he's more passionate about, but what about the good money that keeps pouring in? An athlete calls, wondering which film company to shoot with and what brands to represent?
Marriage. I can't believe the amount of weddings I've been to the last few summers. This spring and summer will be no different. I have 5 'save-the-date' cards sitting on my desk, waiting to be inputted in iCal. This life commitment changes the road and how you travel. "The person who goes alone can start today, but the person who travels with another must wait until the other is ready". - Henry David Thoreau.
There's the vacations you'd like to take and the ones you can afford. Which ones do you go on? Do you take friends with you? Do you seek out the sun and the beach or the blizzard and the mountains?
Do you rent, buy a condo or house, go in on it with friends or with a girlfriend?
Past, present, and future. The road we have travelled, the fork in the road we idle in front of, and the roadmap of life's future ahead of us.
Past. All roads we've travelled so far has lead us to who we are today. Looking back, do you ever ponder what could have been? Who and where you'd be today if you had taken a different road? I wonder sometimes.
What if I never skied or never played soccer? What if I would have stuck with baseball or played more football? What if I had gone to a different college or joined a different fraternity? What if I had gone to work for Onyx Software Corporation instead of Helly Hansen for my first job? What if I had put more effort into a couple relationships, would I be married now?
It's all just wonderment. I have no regrets, as I have lived an amazing life and am surrounded by great friends and family. Wouldn't change a thing but I'll still wonder. Why? Because the road of life continues and I know where I'm going, I just need to look at the map and figure out how I want to get there. My past experiences aid me in picking the next path.
Present. Here I am, looking at the map. I'm at a major interchange with so many routes staring me in the face. Just as many of you are. Should I take the express lane or the scenic route? Should I drive a bus, an SUV, a bio-diesel, a mini-van, station wagon, or a sports car? It's nice to have choices and whether or not you know it, everybody has lots of them.
Future. It's bright because I plan to drive in that direction. Every day is a new day in which we can choose our own road. We are the driver and can take any on-ramp or off-ramp. The trick is to know where we're going, how to read the map, and not be afraid to ask directions from friends and family along the way.
Along your drive through life, I hope you see a couple rainbows, as they are truly beautiful. They appear when it's cloudy, raining, yet clear and sunny at the same time. As you travel towards them, they remain elusive. You can try to find the end of the rainbow and your pot of gold, but I think you'll be missing the point. The rainbow is the reward itself. Always changing, moving, and appearing only when all of natures forces and different weather elements are present. It makes you stop and enjoy the beauty amongst the turmoil. Try to do the same during your life.
When we keep our noses very close to our own daily grind for a very long period, we are in danger of becoming, every now and again, pessimistic. If this happens to you, change. Grab the map out of the glove box, the atlas off the bookshelf, and pick a new road or direction.
"I have wandered all my life, and I have also traveled; the difference between the two being this, that we wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment". - Hilaire Belloc
