Lost can be the best place to be...

After I went to church this morning, I was driving around listening to the end of the Chiefs game and decided to drive into East Jordan to get an ice cream cone at McDonald's. I'm still learning my way around this part of Michigan but thought I could find my way back, so I didn't use the Maps app and just trusted my memory.

When I decided to check off the road trip from my bucket list last month driving about 14 hours to Michigan for the first-time, I wasn't nervous about it knowing the phone app had gotten me to many other addresses in the past. It has also led me astray a few times, but the odds were in my favor so the only thing I was worried about was staying between the "wake up bumps" as I refer to them (the Federal Highway Administration calls them rumble strips). Today the sun isn't out, so there was little chance I'd fall asleep (yes, I'm rare in many ways including a tendency to fall asleep while driving if the sun is out, but never in the dark of night) and this was a short drive, so I was carefree except for the fact the Chiefs game was a little too close for my comfort.

As I headed back enjoying my ice cream, I started seeing landmarks I knew I hadn't passed on the way, so it was clear I was lost. I found a place to pull over, put the address in my Maps app and got headed back in the right direction. Before too long, though, I started driving through the most beautiful area shown in the photo. My photos never do justice to the colors here, but as the leaves are starting to fall and the colors are becoming a little less vibrant, this very colorful tree-lined road took my breath away. I slowed down enough to grab a quick photo, but the road continued to wind around with trees like these all along and I fell in love with Michigan all over again.

Before coming here, my friends and family can attest to the fact I really haven't even liked trees or much about nature other than bodies of water. But I think there's something different here. The air, the water around every corner, the trees that seem taller, denser, and more beautiful...all of it has just made me appreciate nature unlike I ever have before.

As I shared the photo with a few friends and family via text, I started thinking, if I hadn't gotten lost, I likely never would have driven through this particular area. While there are roads and trees and fallen leaves everywhere around here, today they were all uniquely displayed on this particular road, at this particular time in a particularly beautiful way that may be gone tomorrow after it rains tonight. I had the opportunity to witness a thing of beauty all because I got lost.

There have been periods of time since my arrival late Monday that I've been feeling frustrated with myself. I received the following quotes of encouragement from a friend and my self-compassion coach.

"Give yourself permission to heal from the same thing more than once." Alex Elle

"There will come a time when you think everything is finished. That will be the beginning." Louis L'Amour

I like to check things off my bucket list and any other list. I like to wrap things up and move on. I like to feel accomplished and achieve a goal.

My coach and I have referred to my healing journey as climbing a figurative mountain, but I always thought I'd eventually reach the summit and it would be over and I could just stay there, sit back, relax, and enjoy the view. I mean it's hard work climbing a mountain, so who wants to do that forever if you're never going to reach the summit? Today's experience helped me better understand the wisdom in this quote from Sophia Bush, "You are allowed to be a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously."

There are more than eight billion people on this earth (I had no idea until now there's a world population clock), but each one of us is unique. And not only that, each one of us is unique at any given point in time with our experiences, with where we are (whether it's in Michigan or along life's journey), with what knowledge we have, and with what we choose to do with all of that. It's important to recognize that there are things every day within our control or outside of our control that have the potential to change us for the better or worse from day to day. The key is deciding at some point to take each of the challenging things and use them as motivation to continue climbing the summit-less mountain of life, remembering there will be needed times of rest along the path, and to be able to view ourselves and each other as the masterpieces we are along the way.

#braveenoughtobebliss #icecream #bucketlist #lost #mentalhealth #selfcompassion #masterpiece #Michigan #healing