How to Choose the Right Road
June 23, 2011 * * * * * Posted by: Jozica 
Have you ever driven down a highway and felt like you were in the middle of a competitive race? Like you had to drive better, faster, with no time to enjoy the surroundings, only stress, tension, and complaints about slow cars and bumpy roads to keep you company?
I know the feeling, but I also know you don’t have to live that way.
It’s the choice we make every day. On what kind of roads we want to drive, run, walk…
So, let’s stop for a minute and think about it. Think about Life, your daily routine, your ‘I have to do it’ list… How many things you have to do in one day? How many things you can’t miss? How many things you have to do, but you’re always complaining about?
Is your Life a highway, maybe? Are you even running for your Life? For… what?? This is your Life! You are here, in the middle of it!
So, what kind of road do you want to choose? A highway or a scenic road?
If you choose a scenic road, you can enjoy the views, stop whenever you want, talk to the people you meet. If you’re taking it slow and easy, you can even hear birds singing, notice small and busy bumblebees around flowers, have time to explore details on the road and off the road, or watch the sunrise and the sunset in the distance. You notice what’s going on near you and further down the road…
But if you decide for a highway, this is what you get: people are passing by and you hardly notice them, you’re trying hard to be faster and better than everyone else, so you don’t have the time to care about those left behind. Also, if you’re driving really fast, everything around you gets blurred, unrecognizable. On a highway, all you see is a blur, no details, ne clear picture at all. You can’t focus on one thing, you are too fast to take a picture of a view that you want to keep as a memory; what you see is a few meters in front of you and that’s about it…
So, we have these roads (and many more in between) to choose from. What do we learn from them, what kind of memories we collect on these roads and bring them with us to the end of our journey?
How many details, feelings and stories will we bring with us from the slow, scenic road? And how many clear pictures will we have from our highway journey?
We can choose our paths, our roads, whenever we want. We can be on a highway today, but within a few minutes we can leave the highway and continue our journey on a new road. We can make a decision by ourselves, with a map or without it, in a second, a minute, a day or a week. It’s our Life, in our hands.
So, whenever you’re running for your Life in crazy and busy days, stop for a second, take a deep breath and ask yourself: ‘What kind of memories I’ll have at the end of this journey? What kind of pictures I want to bring with me after the years of ‘driving’? Am I in a hurry to see the end of my journey?’
I’m sure everyone wants to bring clear pictures with them to the end of the journey and proudly show them to their grandchildren. So, what can we do? I say, let’s not run anymore! It’s our Life we’re talking about and it is in our own hands. We can do something about it!
Enjoy the ride and please - if you care to share - would love to hear about your own proud journey!
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Special guest post today comes to us from Slovenia by Jozica– who blogs over at The Creatissimo Lab. Thank you for joining us here today, Jozica, and for sharing with us your thoughtful and most inspiring words.
Reader Comments (18)
Such a wonderful and important message. We do have a choice as to how we live our lives..and it is a journey. Taking the long slow winding road..and stopping to smell the proverbial roses - yes!!!
Thanks - Jozica - for being here with us today.
Love your words..love your image!!!!
It is all what we tell OURSELVES to do, no one MAKES us do it, we have to live up to our own high standards... and that is what I am trying to let go more and more over the years. Lay the bar lower and I am still a good person.
Just fabulous words, Jozica, with perfect image to match! THANK YOU for sharing this with us today. It's something we all need to remind ourselves of, even when we're retired. This reminded me of our GPS navigational system for the car here in The Netherlands. We can set it to the fastest route (which is usually the highway) or to the scenic route, which takes us through the back roads. Those are times when we can stop on a dime to get out and take a picture. I love it!
Thank you, Marcie, Chantal and Ginnie. You all pointed out even more points. No matter how old we are, we can do it and we can still be a good person, yes! I also like the thought that we are navigating our lives as well, we have our own GPS :)
Love this post, such a great reminder to slow down and "smell the roses".
I love this - and it is nice to know that conversely in times of strife or darkness, we can choose a highway and speed through ...
K
Taking the time often allows us to better appreciate more in life. However it is sometimes hard to do, especially in stressful times. Very thought provoking post, Thank you
I really love your photograph, Jozica
thank you for reminding me that sometimes, i do need the fast route! there are days when "getting there" quickly to have the most time to exhale with friends or an exhibition or is important...other days, taking a walk is just the right pace. every day is an opportunity...nice post.
Sometimes you definitely need a highway along life's journey, but the scenic route offers so much more! Life should be LIVED! Great post - thoughtful and inspiring words, accompanied by a fantastic photo. Thank you for joining us here today, Jozica. :)
Great photo! Goes well with the post. I always go nuts when I'm going on vacation. Am I forgetting something? Am I bringing the right clothes for the weather? What will I do without an internet connection? I get so stressed out and snippity that I wonder why they call these trips vacations? But I remind myself now to take deep breaths, realize not everything has to be perfectly packed and planned. Vacations and life should be enjoyed slowly.
Beautiful reminder! I consider this one of my greatest lessons in life, to enjoy every minute!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and 'journeys' :) and thank you sooooo much for the warm welcome here. Happy :).
this is so true. and like puna says, this is a great lesson...one that i need to take heed of. i find it too easy to run, headless-chicken like, through everything. this morning i made a concerted effort to slow down. i have finally created my own space, a little office upstairs with wooden floors and views out over the garden. it's mine, i've claimed it, i've taken a deep breath this morning and really enjoyed slowing down. must do it more often :)
I am always reminding myself to enjoy the journey, some days with more success that others. I love your image here, such an apt illustration of the feeling that we get when we spend our days racing around. This is an issue I struggle with a lot, but slowly, I am learning.
This is such a wonderful post and a true reminder. I so much more prefer the scenic road (and run into criticism from others all the time when I do), but sometimes it has to be the highway - or I THINK it has to be the highway. I'm currently "forced" to the scenic road and I enjoy it thoroughly!
If we would only listen to ourselves more and others less. I stil have to remind myself every day:"It's your life and It's the onyl one."
Thank you, ladies! I like all the brain-storming that's going here :)
This is a great and inspiring post! I hate highways, real ones I mean, so I try to take the scenic roads whenever I can :) Love the image you used here! A big welcome to you and thanks for sharing!