On the morning of the fourth of July, Doug, my mother-in-law, and I loaded up the car and headed to our home in Vermont for a little getaway. We left relatively early thinking we would miss the traffic but we were wrong. It wasn’t as bad as Wednesday had been, but for four hours the traffic constantly ebbed and flowed. 

Watching it got me thinking — driving is just like life. Sometimes it is smooth sailing and it certainly feels good when that happens. At other times, there’s traffic and we aren’t moving. It’s incredibly stressful. Traffic in general makes most people irritated because they know it’s going to take longer than anticipated to arrive at their destination but rarely do we turn back. We know where we want to go so we stay the course, trying to be patient.

Do you know where you want to go (in life)? We didn’t begin our journey on Thursday without a well laid out plan. We definitely had some hindrances along the way, but that didn’t stop us. We didn’t quit and go home. We focused on the destination and it paid off. Sitting at home to avoid the challenges is safe but it has no payoff. The ‘traffic’ is the price you pay for amazing destinations. So—make a plan. Know where you want to go and begin the trip. “Traffic” is essentially guaranteed, but who cares—it’ll be worth it!

With Gratitude,
Beth
P.S. And some of the unplanned “side excursions” and “rest stops” along the way make the journey even richer.