The other day, I went walking with someone along a trail I like. There are different paths and directions on this trail, and I like and always take the curvy paths. The person I went with thanked me later for showing the curved path. That offhanded comment really got me thinking.
Do I like to take the curvy paths in life? Do I prefer the wiggle jiggle of life more than the straight and narrow? I have always thought of myself as a straight and narrow kind of person, but maybe all along I have been more of a curvy person. Or, maybe I’m straight and narrow on the outside but curvy on the inside. Or, even vice versa. Perhaps the way I picture myself is not at all how the world sees me. But, then, which one would be right and real?
It was a simple comment: “Thanks for showing me the curvy path!” But, it sure has gotten me thinking. It reminds me of what I for years had as my computer screen saver: “Sometimes you have to go in a circle to get back where you belong.”
I guess it's not so much about taking the path less traveled as it is about creating the path that is uniquely ours and following it until we are where we are meant to be.
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2 comments:
Walking, I definitely prefer the curvy paths.
But I see what you are saying. When I was younger, my mother always wanted to go places by indirect routes, and make stops. Sometimes I'm challenged in the patience department, and I found myself wanting to take the fast, straight route.
I'm that way about a lot of things still, although I've noticed one misses things, and misses connections, operating in that manner. I tend to get locked into the Plan (whatever it might be), and often don't stop to smell the Blue Bonnets. Looking back, I can see that I was often mistaken to do so.
Sometimes your prayers get answered, but not in the way you thought. You meet somebody interesting at the party: but it's not the date you worried yourself sick before you asked out. You get a new job. . .but the better one turns out to be the temporary gig you took before starting the new job. Those kind of connections are the product of the curvy path.
Finally, I'm amazed at how often the temporary, provisional thing: the course we only mean to pursue for a little while, pending something else -- becomes permanent. I've noticed that mostly in business, but it applies to relationships too.
I used to have one of those marquee screen-savers -- you could type in whatever you wanted. I liked "Wherever you go, there you are."
Interesting how a simple comment can create such a philisophically-based response. To El Jefe's point, the little steps that coincide with the big ones are usually the ones that we pay no mind to, but play such a role in determining who we are.
To that point, and I may have mentioned it before on this blog, I liken to use the tapestry as a way of defining who I am. All those little strands are the experiences I've had and curves I've taken begin to form the picture of who I am. It may not be the person I thought I would be or wanted to be, but for better or for worse, it's who I am. Only when we show people that true image do we really find out the person we are.
We may never really know the final product that is the tapestry of each of our lives, but, like you said, each strand is uniquely ours and we should cherish it when we can.
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