Crossroads the next chapter,

Crossroads, whether you are 17 years old and trying to figure out what college to attend for your career or you are a mom that is going through empty nest issues, we all come to the place in our lives where we see crossroads. One of the most enjoyable things for me to do is get on my iron horse (motorcycle) and just go with no regard with where I may end up. It does not matter to me where I am going as long as I am going. Some people I ride with have to have a completely set out map of the trip, every road that we are going to take, all the breaks and fuel stops set out before we even get on the bike. Nope not me, I see no point in taking a trip somewhere that I have already visited in my minds eye. I prefer that if we are going to go we just do that, go, if we come to a road that we don't know what to do, we make a spur of the moment decision and then we do it or not. This is where the excitement is for me, experiencing things as they come upon you.




Life is like this at times, sometimes we are just cruising through life and enjoying the things that we are passing by we smell the flowers, enjoy the shows, and take in all the flavors. But then we come to a crossroads, they are never what we expect them to be neither do we know exactly where they will take us if we decide to make the turn. Most of the time we look at them and just keep going right on past, but sometimes there is something in us that is inquisitive and spurs us to take the plunge, move over to the side of the road and say I wonder where that road will take me? As I like to tell everyone, think the process out, you are always better to think through the process as much as possible before you make the final decision, so you don't make a choice that will negatively effect you for the rest of your life, but enjoy the spontaneity of life.




On this road of life though sometimes we need to choose to take that road we have not traveled before in order to experience things we would never otherwise get to enjoy. Isn't that what life is about? Going places and doing things you have never done before to see what life has to offer? Believe me risk taking can be a dangerous venture financially, emotionally, mentally, physically etc, but if you look at life as a journey and enjoy it with the people that God has placed around you I am sure it is to be fun. About 2 years ago one of my employees came to me and told me that he was going to walk the Appalachian trail, I asked the whole trail? he said the whole trail, I asked how long will you be gone? he said about 4 months. so I told him fine go and enjoy your trip. So he prepared for the trip, read all about living on the trail and surviving with food and water. Dealing with the mapping and camping issues that would come along with a 4 month trip. Clothing and weather issues that he may encounter, he even had to work out plans to stay at lodges along the way in order to get restocked and re-clothed. After about 3 months of prep work he was ready to go out on the trail, loaded to the gills with new equipment and clothing his wife dropped him at the beginning of the trail at the right time of the year. He was gone for about a week and a half when I get a call one day in my office from him. He asked if he could come back to work early? I asked him about the trip and he said that he got out there and it was harder then he thought it would be. See Greg did not prepare all the things that he needed to prepare, he totally forgot about his physical condition. He never thought about getting into shape to conquer the gruelling Appalachian trail.




When Greg got back he had been on the trail for nine days, he called his wife and said that he could not make it and asked her to come and get him. When he got back to the job site a week later after recouping, Greg took some heavy ribbing from the rest of the employees, an ex-marine with a bunch of war stories was now being poked and prodded ( it was all in fun). However I was curious about how the trip went not really that he never finished. He told me that it was great, there was so much to see and the quiet and solitude was amazing. The mental strain was so challenging but brought a new level of respect for what he had at home. So even though Greg did not really accomplish what he set out to do, the entire Appalachian trail, he did encounter a crossroad and he took it on. He got to do something that very few people get to say they have done, he had taken on a new challenge in life that many people have never even thought they could do just by stopping at the crossroads and traveling the unknown. So I want to encourage you that if you come to a crossroads in your life and you have never been down that road before, scrounge up some courage and get ready for an adventure that could change you forever, just make sure you ask your Wife first and do what she says.