Walking to work is a lot more exciting lately. When I lived
at my old place it was basically a straight line walk. If I deviated from that,
it made no sense. Any other route added close to 10 minutes to a 15 minute walk
and was completely out of the way so despite the redundancy I kept to the
routine. Love can defy logic but needlessly taking the long way around in a
less than desirable or unattractive neighborhood… not so much. I’ve always
liked and quite frankly have always needed routines, but I also like to find
variety when possible, even in the midst of them. The compromise of direction
and freedom keeps me at my most efficient and most happy because too much of
any one causes a disruption in my balance. If I have a loose routine or none at
all, I’m directionless, unmotivated and stagnant, yet very happy about having
all that freedom but if I have a very strict routine, not open to any
interpretation or tweaking, I can be very effective in the short term but also greatly
annoyed without any flexibility. So unlike the politicians in Washington, I find the middle ground and a
successful balance of discipline and happiness. Know thyself.
Living at my old place and having to go the same way to work
with little room to explore or spread my wings made the walk tedious.
I’d try to let my mind wander when I made the trip so that I wouldn’t fixate on
taking the same steps and passing the same houses day after day, week after
week. For a while, getting lost in my mind helped to quell the restlessness. I’d
also try to mix it up by alternating which side of the street I’d walk on,
crossing at every other corner or anything I could to make the walk more
interesting. It reached a point where I could hardly take it but then
thankfully I moved farther away from my job and in a completely different
direction.
I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, that I’m happy
I’ve moved farther away but coming to work from my new place is like stepping
out into a whole new world. I have to come uptown from near Allentown
up to the Canisius area on Main. There are so
many routes I can take! First I have to choose the main stretch… do I want the
activity of Elmwood, the serenity of Linwood or the compromise of Delaware? Perhaps I’ll
get greedy and seek out a blend of any 2 or 3. Then I have to figure out where
to cut across. Sometimes I walk to the Co-op and cut across Lancaster,
other times I use Auburn, West Ferry, West Utica, the old Gates hospital and so on... so many
choices! Each day it seems I go a slightly different way and whether it takes
me 32 or 34 minutes to walk to or from work is no matter. Nothing seems
terribly out of the way and all of it makes sense. It’s a new routine, but a
far larger and more exciting one chalk full of possibilities within!
As I was walking in this morning I somehow spent equal
amounts of time on Elmwood, Delaware
and Linwood before I had to make my turn at Lafayette, the street my employer is on. I’m not
sure why I split the trip up the way I did. I had music going in my ears and my
legs were pumping quickly. I was there, in the moment but I was also deep
inside my mind both in the music and in thought. It seemed like I was going
faster with each block. Beads of sweat were falling alongside both temples and
down the back of my neck but my mind was moving faster than my legs and as I
was coming around the corner from West Ferry to Linwood Avenue a thought crossed my mind…
right now, this walk, this moment… this is a metaphor for life!
You see, in life we all are trying to get somewhere.
Sometimes we reach our destinations, sometimes we don’t. Other times our
destination changes while we are on the way there, like a text coming through
telling us the party has been moved to a different location while we are en
route causing us to alter our course. Ideally we are all going somewhere but we
all have our own ways to do it. Think planes, trains, automobiles, bicycles and
feet. Some prefer the straight line approach, all business and no distractions…
I want the quickest way there! A few enjoy the distractions and think that
getting there, whenever that is, is just as important because getting there WAS
the objective… hey, at least I got there! There might even be some who are so
enamored with the trip and the scenery that they forget where they are going,
or care little about the destination and more about the journey. Which is the
best way? You might have an opinion one way or the other but what’s right for
you, isn’t necessarily right for the next person. My point is there is no RIGHT
way to get there. Do what’s best for you; my only caveat is that you must keep
moving. I think the worst thing you can do is nothing. I know this because I’ve
done it. I still do it in some respects. Keep moving. Maybe you’ll get there or
maybe you won’t get to where you originally planned but instead find someplace new
and quite nice in spite of yourself. Everyone is different. People are driven
by different motivators. Plus some people are late bloomers, some take forever
to decide while others change careers when they are already well along into
their previous one. It happens all the time. There’s no wrong way to eat a
Reese’s.
So I think no one way is right and if you think yours is and
it’s a model others should follow I say stop trying to see people how you want
them to be and instead try seeing them how they are. When someone is on the
journey to a destination, no matter what speed, no matter what road they decide
to take, as long as they are moving, it’s all beautiful. Support them and if
they fall down, help them pick themselves back up, tell em’ what you learned on
your journeys and share your experiences and opinions but keep in mind, we
can’t walk in other people’s shoes but walking alongside them is a lot better
than jumping onto their backs. Enjoy each journey whether they are big or small
and you shall see the wonderment of your steps.
Anyway, these are the things I think deeply about when you
see me walking down the street and you try to say hi from your car while
waiting at a light and I don’t respond and it doesn’t register that someone
might have been trying to talk to me until it’s too late and I see you driving
off and think oh, that’s who and what that sound was… oops! My apologies.
And shortly will come the journey home… which way shall I
take tonight?!?
“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not
in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment