As I traveled to my nephew’s high school graduation this weekend, I was forewarned that the main highway to my brother’s house was closed for a 20-mile stretch in Tennessee. Being from Ohio, and not knowing the sundry back roads of Tennessee, I was a bit concerned. You see, we got a late start and we would be getting to the road closure at night. Yes, I have a GPS, but you know as well as I do that they look for the shortest route to their destination and don’t like when you wander off course.
On top of having to leave the main highway, my brother advised me to follow the detour of the wide load trucks and not the flow of traffic. I asked him why, and he said that it would be quicker. Others coming to the graduation who had arrived earlier took the flow of traffic option and it took up to 2 hours to go those 20 miles.
My wife asked if we should trust my brother’s advice. Being someone who doesn’t tend to follow the flow very often, I said, “Sure, let’s see where the road takes us.”
It turns out that it was a much quicker route. However, during the detour our car was sandwiched between two semis barrelling through mountainous roads with little to no lighting. Also, whoever designed the roads must have loved the art of massive and quick changing curves versus having straight stretches of road. It was challenging, harrowing and exhilarating !!
My brother was right and our trek was much quicker than what the others had to suffer through. I was glad to have taken his advice and also the route that I wasn’t “supposed” to take.
It made me think of HR (of course). You see, we are a part of the most risk averse profession around. It shouldn’t be that way, but it tends to be. Whenever we are pressed with a decision, we tend to take the “flow of traffic.” It’s a shame because there are a multitude of other routes availabe, we just need to try them !!
You see, the route I took gave the same result as the others who also had to leave the main road. However, I was only one car among many trucks !! I had to have faith that my intuition would pay off.
This week, take the detour a different way than what you normally do. Be creative !! See where the road leads and what outcomes occur. It’s worth the risk !!
Helps to see things in a different way by taking a different path.
Life should be an adventure! Taking the detour and adding variety sounds like a great idea. Thanks Steve and have a good week.
What was the Robert Frost poem?
The Road Less Traveled…
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I have a plaque on my desk with one of my favorite quotes:
Attitude: The difference between an ordeal and an adventure.
Because of your attitude, what could have been an ordeal turned in to an adventure, and I think we need to have a lot more adventures in our lives. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks – a great reminder that there are other roads in life to take that will get you to your destination. Some may be longer and some may be shorter.
Thanks – a great reminder. Some roads you take in life are the shorter route to your destination and some roads you take will be the long route .
Steve, being a typical male, shunning maps and GPS’s is the only way to go! Enjoyed the story and experienced a similar situation last night getting to a ball game in South Lebanon.
Fred