Sometimes I think it’s all worthwhile to go the extra mile. I know that if I just go past where everybody else goes, there could be something better.
It’s like when you go to the beach full of people, you trudge past the sand and all the fluorescent orange bikinis with unmatched umbrellas, skid by a kid running with a bucket and a sand shovel, sloshing water all over. Piles of smelly sunscreen, with glossy butts in the air, attempting to tan for their instagram feed. You maneuver your way artfully through the labyrinth of of bodies.
Just beyond are the rocks, but who knows what is beyond the rocks?
You carry your backpack, your snorkel and fins and picnic, it’s hot, it’s not sure what will be there, but better to try than to settle.
No settling for the same classic that everyone else buys into.
It’s not a comfortable rock, it’s a bit jagged. It’s not insurmountable, but it’s not your casual walk on the sand, you almost break your flip flops, slipping on the edge of a lava rock.
It’s not far, just a couple minutes further. And when you scramble to the top of this small 30 foot blockage. You look over.
There’s a tiny cove, just big enough for a private vacation in paradise for a couple or for you on a solo-cation.
A cave is right behind and the turquoise water sloshes up to the light colored sand, your own mini island of the blue lagoon.
No-one seems to be following you, you scramble down, aiming to keep the flip flops centered underneath the bottom of your foot and avoiding the jagged edges of the lava rocks.
Ah yes, it was worth the extra effort. It’s always better just past the limit where everyone else stops.
And at worst, you will know what’s beyond the horizon and can go back to known territory.
I’ve lived my life in this fashion for the last 30 years. Asking, what if I go just beyond what everyone else does?
What if I question the red tape that says stop here?
It means being a rule breaker. It is advised not to enter due to danger and risk. I appreciate the gesture, you don’t want me to get hurt, but you don’t know who I am, I can judge for myself.
This means climbing over barbed wire, walking past the signs that say do not enter and even challenging all the norms that everyone tells you is normal.
It means opening your mind to questions. Why do they say stop here? What if I don’t want to spend years going to school to become the thing, and what if I don’t want to slowly move up the ladder to a better position. What if I don’t have all the financial calculations organized to move now, and maybe I don’t have a quarter of the money we’re supposed to have to live in paradise.
What if there are no eligible guys on the island, based on statistics. I’ll still find the one.
What if there are no houses and there’s a crisis, I will still find the one for me.
What if there are no jobs, I’ll make a job.
It means looking around the big highway to the small trails on the side, or even creating your own.
They say with a big sign. Life is this way! as we all travel during the same commuting hours, pushing up against each other, all going on vacation at the same time, all trying to get tickets on the weekend, go to the same hotspots, shop at the same time. What about the untrodden path?That is where the gold lies.
It just takes a creative mind that is not confined by the rules they want to make us believe are immovable.
Life is what you make it, not what they make it. There is always a way to get where you want to go, whether it means, walking past all the sun bathers, and climbing the rocks of a small mountain to get to your own private paradise on the other side.
Here’s your pep talk for the day. What edge are you not exploring? What potential sideway path are you not seeing? Are you pushing up against a crowd that is moving too slow.
Maybe there is another way, have you tried it?