Road Blocks

I know I've said this before, but the easiest way for me to explain or visualize this journey that I and others are on is to say that we are walking along a path to health.  During our walk, we will experience many road blocks along the way.  The road blocks can come in different forms.  They can be happy like celebrating a birthday, going on vacation, or a simple social night out with friends.  They can be stressful like relationship problems, moving, work stresses, or financial concerns.  They can be debilitating like a sickness or a fitness injury.  They can be simple like the cupcake you didn't expect to magically appear on your desk.  Or they can be devastating like a death in the family.

When we hit these road blocks, we often need to detour off of our path.  (Unless of course the road block is small enough for you to use your new, stronger body and can hurdle over it.  Good for you!)  But let's be honest...most road blocks will require the unexpected detour.  We can be on this detour for minutes, days, weeks, or months.

Happy, small, and stressful detours generally have a timeline so you know when they will be over and you can see the original path easily enough that you can hop back on your path.  As if your road block simply put you on that little gravel path that's a foot away from the paved path...the ones the runners take.  You can say to yourself, "I am going to hop off my path tonight so I can enjoy this time with my friends."  Or, "I cannot even think about my path right now until this project/move/conflict is over."  But when those things do end it's just a little jump back over to your paved road.

Debilitating and devastating road blocks are much harder to overcome.  Especially if you have an extended sickness or injury, or your loved one is in the hospital or sadly passes away.  Not only are you no longer on your paved path, but the road block forced you to take a 90 degree turn away from your path and you just keep moving further and further away from your path.  The longer you are on this new path, the harder it is to look back and see your nicely paved path.  Trees, houses, and other people block your view and it begins to feel like you will never get back.

But here is the good news.  That new path you are on is not a one way street.  It is also not a train track that you are tied too.  You can turn around!  You can stop walking when able, pivot your feet, and turn your body 180 degrees and just start walking.  I know that it will seem impossible to walk that whole way back to your path, but you know what?  You've done it before.  Before you found this nice paved path, you were wandering aimlessly through the woods trying out other people's paths and tripping or falling down on the jagged rocks.  But one day you saw the nicely paved path and you started to move toward it.  It probably took you a while to get to it, but you did.  And that is what you can do again.

Before you know it, you will have your stride back.  You may not even notice the moment you made that 90 degree turn back onto your paved path, but that is because while you were walking back to your path, it was slithering back to you.  It missed you and it will come back to you...every time.  Especially if you let it.

Other's paths that often have jagged cracks and stones for you to trip all over.  It's easier to stick to your own nicely paved path.  Your pace is the pace!