The Long Road to Somewhere
Comments
Posted by Girlosophy on Fri 4 November 2011
See more from Girlosophy
Often in life you might take a wrong turn, but at the time you may not be aware that it is a wrong turn. So you’ll coast along for a while, thinking that the scenery looks a bit different to what you expected, but that things seek okay.
It may take ages, but suddenly you might come up against an immoveable boulder on the path, one you can’t climb over or go around. To use an extended metaphor. Or the road you are on ends at a cliff with the equivalent of the Grand Canyon beyond. This is the moment of truth, when you realize not only that you took a wrong turn, you’re going to have to retrace your steps. You may feel so very far from your destination that you despair, and you just can’t believe that you wasted your time, how stupid of you, etc. etc.
This is when we find out that the path to self-determination is steep and deep. And often quite unclear at the time we most need the clarity.
“Getting anything that’s worthwhile is always full of wrong turns, dead ends and, sometimes, dark despair. But that serves to make it all the sweeter when you finally arrive.”
Don’t despair! And please don’t give yourself a hard time, either. If you think back and look really hard there will have been something positive (maybe many things) that came out of your little detour. It doesn’t matter that you made a side journey: it was just that – a side journey – however it won’t necessarily prevent you from reaching your true destination. Just as when we travel, getting lost can sometimes lead to the most amazing discovery or experience that we could never have planned, a side journey can have tangible benefits. It could just mean that you weren’t concentrating on the end goal, or you might need to be more ‘on it’ if you really want to get to where you’d like to go.
It’s moments like these that changing tactics and attitude really helps. Here’s a natty mantra of sorts that we have here at Girlosophy:
Say never!
Never waste the experience
Never mistake kindness for weakness
Never take advantage of another person’s time or good will
Never stoop to conquer
Never think you’ll get away with it
Never forget where you came from
Never give up
Time passes and so does the moment. Soon you’ll be back on the right path. Reality checks in at different times with different hats on. The view from the top is always changing and rarely, if ever, replicates itself. Getting anything that’s worthwhile is always full of wrong turns, dead ends and, sometimes, dark despair. But that serves to make it all the sweeter when you finally arrive.
Photographer: Anthea Paul
