Caution... Detour Ahead by Adlin Taylor-Brissett (read my book TXT) 📕

In the ebb and flow of life sometimes one is left stranded in the middle of nowhere because the exits are closed. What do you do when life happens and you run head-on into a detour? Do you curl up in a ball and cry? Do you plead with God and beg for His mercy? Yes, sometimes you do all of that because that’s all you’re capable of doing at that moment.

Asking God for His mercy can’t hurt and some might say that it is the best thing. There’s nothing wrong with allowing yourself to have a good cry every once in a while in order to have a sweet release. Sometimes a good cry and a strong drink are what it takes to clear out the cobwebs and begin the process of getting on with it.

In the ebb and flow of life sometimes you find that you just want to run away; far, far away and hide. However, how far can you run, because life is happening everywhere you go?  Unfortunately, there is no place to hide from life. Do you blame? You may be able to leave the situation behind temporary because the unresolved issues still have to be dealt with. So, what do you do then? Well, you seek help, assume a compromising attitude, embrace change, and move forward.  

Life happens; one day you're perfectly well, and then the next day you wake up feeling ill. You make an appointment and go to the doctor, and after several tests, you found out that you have cancer, or major heart disease, or some rare disease that they are having a problem diagnosing. To make matters worse, you‘re told that your disease is in the advanced stage.

Even worse, you’re told there is no chance for a full recovery or that it’s terminal. Wow!! What do you then?  What is the right advice or answers to give to a person who finds his or herself facing this situation except that one of the best things to do is to have faith and imagine the improbable?

There are times when one doesn’t see the warning signs until you are right on top of it and it’s too late to yield and turn around. It’s usually very difficult to turn back once you’re on the detour because the road is most often winding, narrow and has choke points. Sometimes it looks as if you’re heading for a head-on collision.

With no U-turn in sight, one has to continue until you get to an intersection and then you can turn around or go in a different direction altogether. Life’s detours are seldom fun. In fact, most of the time they’re surprising, distressing, and they lead one down a long, winding, uneven road, and sometimes you end up getting lost despite your best efforts.

How do you get through the detours of life? There is no one sure way or the easy way. It’s a combination of believing, courage, determination, flexibility, guts, survival, toils, family, love and even fear. So, you simply have to continue on a little further on the detour. There’re times when you have to accept things just the way life presents it to you, and then you work it out.

Be cautious and tread lightly because when you think that you are on your way to total utopia you run into a mountain. The storms of life vary from day to day and the winds are usually unpredictable. Some days are overcast, some days it's just sprinkling, some days it’s thundering and lightning, and some days it’s a full-blown hurricane. Remember this, 'into every life a little rain will fall.' 

There are only a few things that are certain in life, so be aware that one day everything can be threatened or be swept away without warning. If that should happen, sometimes you just have to wait it out, and pray for the sun to peek its head out from under the clouds in order to see clearly and move forward.

There’re times when one reaches a fork in the road and is uncertain of which path to choose, and all you can do at that moment is to make a U-turn and head back down the road, rethink all the ideas that are circling around in your mind, and then proceed cautiously. Life consists of compartments, things, memories, space and time. There are times when life presents a person with complex issues that one cannot comprehend, and there are times when life gives one a glimpse of nirvana.

You will encounter burning flames; you will face issues, and you’ll have to battle demons. It’s not unusual for a person to feel the emptiness, but one cannot let it sour him or her.  So, when life rears its ugly head and stares you down, don't run. Stop, stand strong and beat it back. Life is surreal, but you know reality, and you know the pain, and you do have the strength to handle it.

Put life in its place, and let it know that you are not afraid of it. Furthermore, what’s important here is how you choose to face these issues. Have faith and believe that tomorrow holds great promises, and proceed with caution. Life isn’t easy and one will have struggles.

The detours of life are like a maze filled with obstacle and confusion, but once you are through it, you’ll find that you have the courage and are all the wiser and stronger. On the whole, life can be summed up as being unfathomable.

Caution.... Detour ahead. Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel; it’s the compass by which we navigate our lives through trials and difficulties towards our dreams of a better day. When we lose hope, we are like a rudderless ship being tossed about without direction.

Having hope and maintaining it, is essential for keeping our dreams alive and continuing to sail the stormy seas of life. In the end, if all you can do is cry, go ahead and cry, cry, cry, let the tears fall down like rain, then dry your tears and move on. For now be mindful, laugh, live, love and be happy. The world never stopped and so we must carry on.

Life, tell me what it is about you... what is your meaning? Who are you? Are you a concept, a thing, a theory, or a phenomenon? Maybe you’re simply a mystery. The answers will have very different meaning for each person. Does life mean happiness, peace, joy, existence; and does it transcends time and space? Is life a fad, a perception, or is it a religion? Does life simply mean living?

Clearly, the meaning depends on the answers that one is seeking. I do know with certainty that life never takes a break and that it is mysterious. The greatest scholars of all time have offered up plausible rationalization to the meaning of Life, but the truth is that the meaning should answer and satisfy each individual belief.

 My best attempt at explaining what life means to me is living and experiencing the surprises, the adventures, and the misfortunes too. Living takes care of everything that exists in life. Living is found through survival, struggle, pain, joy, time, space, being, religion, days and years, perception and reality. Living takes on various shapes, sizes, and forms to satisfy each person's belief, needs, and fulfillment.

 Life is expansive and its branches are vast and span the skies. You take on many names and many faces. Your roots are deep and penetrate the foundation of the earth. Sometimes you lay down gently at my feet and sometimes you’re pulling me up by my bootstraps.

 In life, we exist with nature, animals, environment, joy, peace, chaos, order, pain, birth, death, losses, gains, catastrophes, and changes. As we live, we experience, and we draw upon all there is in the world around us to helps us function as beings. Everything and anything that exists in our world is life.

Oh, dear life tells me what it is about you that flies like a kite high in the purple skies. Tell me what it is about you that leave your footprints floating upon the sands. Tell me what it is about you that brighten our days. Tell me what it is about you that create all the beauty that is found in the world.

 The messes of life are multifaceted and are hard to understand, and may leave one uncertain as to where he or she goes from here. I want you to know that it’s Ok to be unfocused because it is at this moment in life that one becomes imaginative and creative. Some may tell you to settle down and live life. Why does one need to be settled to live; and what exactly does it mean to settle down? Life has a mind of its own. One may try to fight it, but isn't it better to get on with it... Just live it.

 Life is like water in your hand, it slips through the fingers with absolute ease. I have learned that life is basically unpredictable. Sometimes, no matter how hard I or you try to predict what happens next, we simply have no control over the outcome. So, take the good, the bad, and then chart a new course. Learn to live by embracing changes, becoming adaptable, tolerable, and contented. You’ll find the hope, purpose, and love right there where you are if you just look.

 I get in the race not because I’m a sprinter or a marathon runner. I just need to get into the race and try to make it to the finish line even if I’m the last one. Life doesn’t come with a roadmap, even though there are several books on everything about it. These days a person is blessed with Google and YouTube to give him or her detailed instructions on everything that is life.

In reality, it takes more than a video or an App to make it through it. These are good tools, and they offer up tried and true advice that helps a person to make good decisions. However, living, learning, and experiencing are the best tools to find out about your life. So, go ahead and sojourn here today and tell your story loud and clear for all