To mark the occasion of my 48th birthday, I recently embarked on a solo journey from my hometown of Las Vegas to Palm Desert to rendezvous with my BFF for a girls’ spa weekend. I had driven the most direct route of US-95 South to I-40 West numerous times before but for this celebratory trip, I opted to bypass the California traffic by taking “the back way,” a two-lane road cutting through the heart of the desert spreading across Nevada and California. This more leisurely, scenic route allowed me to truly appreciate the vastness of the desert.
Approximately 30 minutes into my four-hour drive, I made a conscious decision to turn off the radio. For almost the entirety of the next 3.5 hours, I reveled in blissful silence, free from the barrage of negative news and demands for assistance. It was just me, my thoughts, and the endless expanse of the open road. In my heightened state of awareness, I even noticed a small rodent darting across the road in front of my fast-moving car.
Amidst the tranquility inside my Jeep Grand Cherokee, I failed to notice the poor condition of the road beneath me. Located in an area prone to flooding, this back road often fell victim to washouts which resulted in a long, undulating path marred by constant roughness. However, approximately two hours into my journey, I suddenly found myself gliding effortlessly over a newly paved section of road and the immediate difference was astonishing. The surface of the road felt as smooth as silk beneath my tires. Gone were the bumps, dips, and faint noises of the rough terrain.
I heard myself exclaim out loud, “This road is amazing!” After giggling at my own delight, I realized the profound metaphor unfolding before me: life itself. Oftentimes, we navigate rough patches in life without realizing how bumpy the ride truly is, simply because we allowed ourselves to grow accustomed to the discomfort and normalized it. The road isn’t necessarily terrible, just mildly inconvenient, prompting us to soldier on. Yet, when the path ahead gives way to freshly poured pavement and we’re granted a glimpse of the smooth ride that awaits us, gratitude floods in for the view in the rearview mirror tells a story of perseverance and triumph.
I savored and appreciated the newfound smoothness of that back, desert-splitting road for approximately 30 minutes. Then, it somehow seamlessly transitioned back into its uneven, rough state. Bumpety-bump. Thus, the lesson became clear: cherish the smooth rides in life and glean wisdom from the rough ones.
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