Taking The Straightest Route
“Sometimes, if you want to get somewhere, you have to take the straightest route.” I really liked this line in The Life Impossible by Matt Haig. It points out that many times we need to take things on directly and not look for a different, less direct route. The thing I love about this statement is that it can be a metaphor for roadblocks in relationships, or literal in that we sometimes should not take detours.
We can spend a lifetime avoiding metaphorical roadblocks rather than addressing our strains in relationships with others directly and working to clear misunderstandings, and repair injured feelings. Ever noticed that once we take the direct “straightest” route we usually feel better and the situation gets resolved? Now I realize this is not true every time, but letting those feelings fester is not healthy. This is the metaphorical equivalent of driving an hour out of the way to avoid a 10 minute traffic delay.
If we consider the quote from a life’s journey perspective then we must take into account the focus of the trip. We always say we must be present and enjoy the journey, but are there times when we should straighten out the route. There are not necessarily wrong ways to make life’s journey, but there are certainly different ways to go about it. The quote from The Life Impossible points out that sometimes we can take the longer more scenic routes but sometimes we will need to buckle down and take the straightest and most direct route. Again, I’m grateful for this quote because it has made me contemplate about those times where I avoided the straight route using life’s journey as an excuse. We at least need to consider the straight route, no matter how difficult.
So let’s make sure as we think about getting from the starting point to the destination, whether with those we serve, whether in our life’s journey, or a real physical destination we don’t leave out the option of the straightest route.
Byron's Babbles 
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