The Global Positioning System (GPS) is programmed. You have information about the direction, the distance to the destination and the time the trip will take. You drive off with confidence. A couple of hours after you start your journey, a detour is encountered. Your first reaction is annoyance. How much time will this alternative route add to the trip? Is the detour well marked? In exasperation, you drive on, diligently reading and following the roundabout road signs.
During an extended detour you notice interesting landmarks. There may be many lovely homes or lush rolling green hills or majestic mountains. Quaint shops, boutiques, and malls may appear. Better yet, tempting restaurants are discovered. Perhaps the road of the detour is flat and straight with intermittent curves, and you begin to hear the text of your audio book or feel the pulse of the music on the car radio. Agitation begins to fade. You remain attentive to road signs, but you now take in the wondrous discoveries of the new places, new people, new information, and good music!
“Going through” a plan change is like an annoying detour on the journey of life. We want to get straight to our goal; however, our best made plans can be delayed for many reasons. Cussing, screaming, fussing, weeping, wailing, and procrastinating and if wise, praying, we enter the detour, the problem. We can forge ahead to discover new strengths within and new talents. Initially discarded ideas may be reclaimed. Innovative insights may come to our attention. We are amazed that we did not see them previously. It takes time (and sometimes a detour) to see new things because we must move to a different place in our lives and understandings. If we learn on the roundabout road, we will reach our goal or embrace a greater vision because of our knowledge gained in the detour.
Thank you, Lord.
I want to thank You, Lord,
For life and all that’s in it.*
*Maya Angelou, “Thank You, Lord,” The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (New York: Random House, 1994), 175.
Dorothy Watson Tatem, D. Min., ACC
Senior Associate
Next Step Associates, LLC
Cassandra W. Jones, Ed.D.
CEO & President
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