Stopped on the freeway at midnight, leaning back with my eyes contentedly closed, I heard an astonished voice say, "He's taking a nap!"
I was driving back from the airport after a short trip to the east coast. Fifteen minutes from home, I felt the relaxation that comes from knowing a long, grueling day is winding down. And then suddenly, as traffic ground inexplicably to a halt, I didn't. It soon became clear I wasn't going anywhere soon, and neither was the ever-growing line of cars behind me.
Just before it ends, Highway 509 - my route home from the airport - crosses a drawbridge spanning a river. I had never seen it up before, nor have I since, but that night I wasn't so lucky. "No problem," I thought. "It will only take a couple minutes." And so I settled in to wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Finally, it dawned on me that something was wrong. As people stepped out of their cars, word started to filter back that the drawbridge was stuck. It was down, but wouldn't latch, which meant none of us could drive across it. Worse yet, because of the cement barriers on either side of the northbound lanes, we couldn't turn around. Until the mile or two of cars that had piled up behind us could be backed out and turned around by the highway patrol, we were stuck, stuck, stuck.
Fortunately, I was still in travel mode, which essentially says, "Shit happens. Things go wrong. Plans change. Roll with it." So I decided to make the best of the situation, leaned my seat back, and closed my eyes to take a nap.
How many times in your life have you come up against the equivalent of that drawbridge. Something out of your control that puts a stop to your best laid plans, or at least delays them. And how often have you gotten bent out of shape about it? How effective has that been for you?
It took an hour or so to get us out of there. When the highway patrol finally reached us in their effort to turn everyone around, I felt rested and in a good mood. Rather than letting the experience bother me, I got some rest and then stepped out of the car and enjoyed a good conversation with some of my fellow stucksters. In short, I rolled with it.
I wish I could say that I consistently apply travel mode to my everyday life. Sometimes I do. More often I don't. But when I do, life goes so much more smoothly. I waste so much less energy, and I see so many more alternatives.
How about you? What helps you shift into travel mode when you come up against life's bumps and blocks? What effect does that have?
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The Occupational Adventure Guide:
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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