Taking the Back Way to Work

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)

It’s been over a decade since I've been able to drive on a highway with confidence; a decade since I have driven on an interstate at all. I even had to re-learn how to drive myself to and from work, though it’s only ten miles on a two-lane highway that even Amish buggies traverse with finesse!  Panic disorder can take many forms, and this inability to drive was one of the most serious and inconvenient ways that it took me.

Re-learning to drive myself to work and back meant that I needed to find an alternative route.  It’s one thing to face your fears, but when that could mean passing out while at the wheel of your car, you need to come up with a solution that won't potentially involve an accident. I found a back way to work that was longer, more circuitous, and less convenient, but there were fewer cars and I could do it.

It is prettier going the back way; the scenery distracts me and keeps me occupied with gratefulness. There’s always some sort of breath-taking surprise: The way the sun catches ice on the tips of birch-branches; a glorious sky-scape or a bluebird on a fence-post; a flock of turkeys; a herd of deer.

One morning, as I looked for the pair of wild swans I had seen the day before on my way to and from work, I had a revelation: Had I never experienced the panic that drove me to the back roads, I would have missed so many surprises!  It’s faster and more practical to go the straight route to work.

G.K. Chesterton said that “An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

I like an adventure that involves wild swans.  

Beverly