The Road Less Traveled

It usually takes me 10 minutes to get home from work. Today it took me 50. I was parked in the fast lane behind an 18-wheeler, which meant no line of sight for me. “You’re not even supposed to be in this lane” I thought to myself. “What could possibly be the hold up?” In retrospect, several things could’ve happened that caused the traffic jam. If there was an accident, I hope everyone made it out safely.

I felt immense frustration building up inside of me. A fire in my stomach rose through my chest and steamed out my head. I turned Eric Clapton down as if to listen to my thoughts more closely. Daylight was running away from me and darkness was closing in. How depressing this ride was becoming. The excitement of being out of work slowly dwindled into annoyance. “I should’ve just stayed at work, at least I’d be doing something.” I added to my thought collection. Then it hit me. What if I accepted the situation I was in? I thought back to the “Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle and what I learned from it. There were lessons I could implement into this moment to make it more enjoyable. Embrace what I can’t control with acceptance. “The present moment is the only moment.”

Let’s take this situation and split it into 2 roads. The road where I learn to embrace the moment (the road less traveled), and the road where I continue to dwell on what I can’t control.

Starting with the latter, the irritation I felt was eating me alive. It grew stronger and louder. The only person I was effecting was myself though. I was actually missing out on the things that could’ve been enjoyable during the debacle.

Which leads me to the first of the two roads. If I chose to embrace the moment for what it was then I could enjoy the first warm day of the year. Windows down, “Just Like Music” playing in the background as the gentle breeze caressed my face. I value alone time. Was It being valued when I was complaining about sitting in traffic? Definitely not.

It comes down to a simple choice. You either choose to be present and live in the moment, or you dwell on what you can’t control. What will you choose?