Detours

     For most of the summer and early fall I ran into detours almost everywhere I went.  Between gas lines being put in throughout town and state paving projects, there were days when my 7 minute commute to work turned into a 30 minute exploration of all the back roads in the area.  I tried following the detour arrows, but I managed to get lost in my own town trying to get home.  The arrows just stopped, and drivers were left to guess which way to turn.  I don’t think there was any coordination between construction crews because how can they possibly have meant to have construction going on within the detour area resulting in another detour from the detour?  It was confusing and frustrating, and I didn’t like it.  Thank goodness it seems to be over for now!

     I guess that if we want roads kept in good shape, and we want modern conveniences available in our town, then we have to expect detours.  I took a detour from writing for the past few months, and am slowly getting back to it.  All summer I read books, mysteries, novels, thrillers, and I couldn’t read them fast enough.  I very much enjoyed giving my brain a chance to enter fictional lives and get a break from the everyday. Sometimes we have to detour from our regular lives in order to move forward and keep our minds running smoothly. Although, in all honesty, I’m not sure how smoothly mine’s running since it’s generally filled with an overwhelming amount of thoughts and worries.  Trying not to worry is like trying to keep ocean waves off the beach.  Thoughts just keep coming, receding, and another is right behind it. Giving free rein to the myriad of concerns occupying your brain runs the risk of getting stuck in that vicious cycle which doesn’t solve anything and exhausts you. It’s a detour all its own which takes you away from living a happy and fulfilling life, and being present in your life.  It’s like the detour within a detour I experienced that one day on the way home from work, and you get lost in your own life and don’t recognize where you are. So, every now and then it’s good to disconnect from the everyday and lose yourself in something, whether it’s books, movies, taking a trip, or some other activity you don’t usually participate in. Anything you can do to give yourself a break from stress is a good thing.

     Allowing yourself to lose sight of your troubles and concerns for even a short amount of time regularly is a good thing to do.  Finding time to do this daily can be challenging, but is well worth striving to achieve for good mental health. So go ahead, take a little detour before you find yourself lost in your own life.