When There’s a Block in the Road, Find the Scenic Detour

Sometimes we find ourselves trying to get something done, move toward a goal in earnest, and it just feels like everything is trying to get in our way. You may have the best intentions to get X number of items done in a day, but then unexpected road blocks keep finding their way on your path. Recently, I was trying so hard to get this very website to a state where I felt like I could regularly update it with new content and launch my first guided meditation. I did eventually get to do that, but it took far longer than I had hoped. 

Just as I had launched my website, it unexpectedly got attacked by MalWare and was almost immediately blocked by Google as a threatening site. I was surprised and disheartened by how quickly my progress was halted. I spent several weeks getting all of my websites, which are on a shared server, cleaned up, updated, and re-indexed. I’m happy to say that all of my sites are now functioning as expected without any threatening files present on the server. But, it took a good amount of time to keep pushing forward as I found workarounds and took pauses from what I really wanted to be doing, which was working on the site content, rather than the site security.

It is frustrating when we find blocks in our road, especially when we have a goal in mind or a project we are really excited about. It’s easy to feel angry, upset, and ready to throw in the towel on everything and just give up. But, instead of just giving up, we might instead take it as a cue to step back, breath, and find the detour route. It took some time, but in the end, I’m ultimately better off now than I was when I started before the problems cropped up. I know what security issues I need to look out for and keep on top of now, and I learned this early on before I had a lot of time invested into the project. I took a bit of a detour to get to where I wanted, but it was in the end quite worth it—like a path that has been blocked by a fallen tree. Perhaps we can jump over it or crawl under it, but sometimes, there is a detour route that better serves us instead.

Just the other day, I was out for a hike. I walked down a smaller path that branched off of the main path to see where it went. As I continued walking, I found that the path had been blocked by a fallen tree branch. But, this wasn’t one I could easy step over. This one had been entangled with vines and other branches. The entire opening to the path was covered by this woody obstruction. But, as I turned to the right, I noticed another smaller path. So, I decided to take it to see where it would lead. Low and behold, it took me on a pleasant detour through some small saplings and eventually lead me back out to the path I had previously been on. Other hikers had found the obstruction too perilous to try to get through and created an alternate route. With everyone’s shared ability to look for a detour, a new smaller path was formed, with the added bonus of some nice scenery. I was pleased with the detour and went on my way as originally planned, even if it took a minute longer.

When life seems insistent on placing blocks in your path, remember to look for the scenic detour. In the end, you may find yourself with an even nicer experience than the original route would have provided. Pause, take a deep breath, and then look around for the next place to step. You may be pleasantly surprised.