Monday, July 23, 2012

Screwed By My GPS - Thank Goodness!

On a recent road trip covering a couple thousand miles, I had several interesting experiences...all starting with what should have been a direct route through the mountains of North Carolina/Tennessee.

Should have been.

Relying on the new technology, I plugged in the address of my next destination and chose to go where my phone's GPS guided me.  It wasn't until I was an hour into the drive when I concluded I wasn't "on the right path".  I pulled out my trusty paper map and discovered, sure enough, I was deeply into what my GPS thought was the "better" scenic route - adding about an hour onto my drive.

After some choice bad words, I realized that backtracking would add even more of a delay, so I opted to forge ahead on the same winding mountain roads I was on.  Then a very interesting thing happened...

I started to experience...things.

Not in a weird, mindless, hypnotic, imaginary way (sorry, no moonshine on this trip).  But in a "let go of any preconceived notions and simply experience what is happening" kind of way.

Yes, it was a much longer route, but it was, indeed, a much better route as well.  I was amazed at all the "new" I started to enjoy. 

New sights.  New sounds.  New inspiration.  New insights.  New attitude.  New hope.  New enjoyment.

And it all started out with me cursing out my phone.

Kinda like Life.  Sometimes routes that, at first glance, start out looking like a mistake, can actually be a better path.  Just because it isn't what we anticipated doesn't mean it's less valuable.  Being open to Life's surprises can offer a gift we would never enjoy otherwise.

Perhaps instead of grumbling, we should experience unexpected changes in our "plan" more open to what IS there than what ISN'T (our original plan).  We may end up with "better" after all.

Think about it.  But more importantly, do something about it...today!

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