INTERSECTIONS

If There hasn’t been, there will be an intersection in the trail for each of us.  How much decision-making or thought is placed into the direction we will travel can say a lot about not only our running interest but also our life.

There are times when things are going so well that we just burst through without even noticing the optional paths.  Straight-ahead with focused narrowed mind and thoughts only on that day's run.  Everyone needs and deserves a little selfish indulgence now and again.  The key here is recognition.  Recognize whether you are blindly hurling yourself along the path and losing out to all the wonderful options encircling your life.  Realize if your pace is just too fast for the important people in your life to match.  Be willing to adjust the speed you ride through these intersections at, if you need to.

Other times we are forced to suddenly stop, overwhelmed at the choices we have to consider.  

Is it a right?  After all, this is the upstanding thing and all, going the direction you know is the accepted one.  Choosing the safe secure conservative route won't always impress those around you, but it may be enough to hold the other parts of your life together.  It is wise to take inventory of what's really meaningful to us while at our moment of choice.

What about left?  A side trip to the outer limits is always interesting, but what might you have to give up for those minutes of enjoyment?  Most of us are mature enough to realize that there is a cost associated with the venture down that unexplored path.  Some will have to be brave enough to take the chance; others only have to be foolish.  The trick is to know which it is, each time.

Turn back, around, reverse your steps?  Returning to the safety of the past…  not a very romantic option, no adventure in that is there?  Or, is there?  

How many times have each of us said, at some point in time, 

"If only I had… "  

Or, 

"I wish I could just go back and… "  

While not always the first option when presented with an intersection, it at times is a worthy one.

Sometimes the path we take isn't immediately evident.  That crossroads or intersection has four distinct directions, but what about striking out off of the path?

While not the safety net of a defined route, it may have the most sights to behold.  It will be the roughest ride for sure, but perhaps the most interesting also.  Only the very independent have the option of a journey through the wild.  The rest of us can only dream and wonder.

When at the point of a complete halt, and making a decision is too difficult, beware of digging yourself into a hole.  Avoid the ruts.  Avoid the descent to no return.  Instead, look around for some help.  The friendships you make along the toughest stretches of trail will often be your most enduring.

For some of us there may even be additional choices, that’s the wonder of being individuals.  There will be some easier choices than others, but I bet to each of us these simple directions on life's path end up shaping our lives.  Remember that next time one comes along.

04/04/00