Bumps in the road

One of the most obvious things anyone can say is that life is full of challenges. It is so because that is the nature of life for any living organism in this universe. It’s just that we as humans suffer our challenges more than most other species, or maybe it’s just that we can’t understand that when a bird chirps a certain way, it’s actually complaining about Mondays being such a heavy day.

Still, you see what penguins, elephants, deer, ants and trees do to survive, and you can see that we are all bound to face some sort of challenge. It happens, we pass a challenge and then smooth sailing until there is another one.

To me, challenges are basically bumps in the road and we are the cars that are driving down the path of our lives. Some people enjoy expressways and the fast lane because they want to drive in cruise control. They prefer to not engage the road rather than just focus on the destination.

Having had the pleasure of living in New York and driving in California, I’ve learned that the path is where most of the fun is and that a destination is basically a starting point for an activity. By this, I’m just saying that life is far from a series static events linked arbitrarily, it’s a wonderful organic, living, breathing entity and the path isn’t actually the best part because it’s the whole.

Throughout our lives there are pitstops to pump gas, eat, and take a pee break so to speak. There are lovely scenic routes, there are traffic jams, and yes, there are occasional collisions. Still, there are some people who are lucky enough to never be in an accident, though I don’t think there’s anyone who hasn’t faced bumps in the road. It’s just the nature of our lifelong journey that there will be a part that isn’t that easy on the shock absorbers. 

This is completely fine, because it’s in our control to negotiate the road and adjust accordingly. Face it, life has bumpy patches and you can either speed up to get past it quicker, yet expose your car to damage, or slow down, take your time, breathe, put on our favorite music and focus on getting to the corner just ahead that has a lovely view of a mountain where you can enjoy the moment, and lose yourself in your journey.