Nowhere . . .
Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.This quote is kind of like trying to read something when it is being reflected in a mirror- it’s difficult to figure out which is the right way to read it.This is the way I have learned to feel about unexpected events in my life. In my younger years, when a life event I had not anticipated arrived, my immediate assumption was that it was all wrong. And of course as soon as I made the decision to make it ‘wrong’ I began the fight to make it ‘right.’ Sometimes after a considerable amount of blood, sweat, and tears I would be able to wrangle my life back to whatever spot I thought was ‘right’ - but in hindsight there had always been something lost.As I move deeper into the 5thdecade of life, I don’t fight the fates as I once did. I have learned that if a life event arrives- no matter how wrong it may seem- there is an opportunity in it for something good- and sometimes a true gift of an opportunity for something great.If there is any wisdom I would want to grant to my own children early in their lives it would be this: To embrace the possibility that every unplanned turn in the road can end up being the opportunity for something wonderful- so wonderful that you may not even have the whimsy to imagine it.
You hear ‘the Greats’ of the world reference this fact all the time- how one tiny twist of fate- (like getting lost, or hitting all red lights when in a hurry) …. created a bump in the road that they went with instead of against, and this changed everything.So next time you find yourself in one of those ‘nowhere’ spots that life brings to all of us… instead of cursing the fates and trying to back out and make sense of your unexpected plight …remember that sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.