Detours and Fresh Starts

I'm not sure about you, but when I see an orange "detour" sign on the road ahead, I feel a tremor of panic run through my body.  Usually, this sensation is accompanied by many questions - "How far out of my way is this going to take me?" "How long will this detour last?" "Why today of all days does this need to happen?" and so on, and so forth.  

Despite all of my worry and wondering, these new routes are usually not so bad.  They aren't terribly inconvenient, and before I know it, I am back on my original route, just as planned.  What these side trips do offer, aside from getting caught in construction chaos, is a chance to be reminded of the importance of non-attachment.  My concerns around detours are a direct reflection of the difficulty I have in altering plans I have made.  There, I said it.  I love planning out next steps and the steps after those are complete.  I love thinking that I have even a half-assed idea of where I'm going, how long it will take, and what I will feel once I arrive.  I love the idea of certainty and the comfort that a well-laid-out plan provides.  Until one of those damn orange signs pops up and throws my best work aside.

What I am finally starting to understand is that having a plan is not a bad thing, but it is not the only thing to focus on.  A plan can get you started, can give some direction, and can even provide bumper pads if you wander a bit off the beaten path.  Sometimes a plan is the catalyst that makes change start to happen.  But once you get going and there is some momentum, it is important to hold onto those ideas a little less tightly.  Because once you have started on your way, you are absolutely going to encounter obstacles and opportunities that you could never have foreseen when crafting your road map.  Being inflexible and not tolerating change on the fly means that you will miss out on these adventures, and possibly on an outcome that you didn't know existed.  Sometimes these detours will even wind you back to near where your adventure began, almost providing a do-over.   These fresh starts are not to be confused with failure or falling short of a goal; they are simply a chance to reevaluate and recalibrate before setting out again with new information and wisdom to take with you.  

As someone who has been inflexible in her thinking on more than one occasion, and who often measures success in completing a plan from start to finish just as written, I can tell you that grinding through something that no longer feels in alignment just for the sake of getting it done feels hollow.  In fact, I will go so far as to say that no one out there would hold taking a detour from your original plans against you, aside from...well, you.  At the end of the day, we are ALL facing the inconvenience of detour signs here and there, and the best thing we can do is simply take a breath, acknowledge that we are about to head on a scenic tour, buckle up, and enjoy the ride.