Roadwork Ahead

Here’s the scene:  I’m in the car, darting around, a million things to do in an unrealistic amount of time (what else is new).  I can handle this – I am woman hear me roar.   I was in a hurry, come to think of it, it feels like I’m always in a hurry darting off somewhere to do something, meet some deadline, to squeeze it all in.  Life is full and robust and I want it all.  Can’t I have it all?  Recently, in the midst of one of these oh-too-familiar-rush-around frenzies, I came upon a bright orange sign cautioning “roadwork ahead.”  Jarring me from my mental to-do lists, it appeared out of nowhere like a mirage.  UGH, seriously, not now.  I didn’t have a choice, but to slow down, foot on the brake and wait to be flagged on by the road crew.  How long is this going to take, I grumbled impatiently.  I have places to go, things to do – you know the drill.  Hmmm.  Deep breath.  Reality check - I’m not going to get around the construction any faster by complaining.The net/net – I had a little time to myself in the car.  What would it feel like to take a momentary time-out each day, to give yourself permission to pull off to the side of your life road to check-in with your spiritual self?  Would it feel like an inconvenience or a much needed reprieve?  Do we need a road crew and flashing lights to remind us to attend to our inner selves?  And what’s all this rushing about really amounting to in the first place?To Do lists aside, what is your work to begin with – your real work?  Life is full of distractions and practicalities, and I’ll admit, I’m the queen of getting sidetracked.  Oh wait just a minute, I urgently have to clean out that junk drawer; I’ll be right back to you.  We laugh.  We can all relate and let’s face it, unless you are locked in a white walled room with no windows from which to daydream, our brain can dart around as if trapped in a pinball machine shooting in all directions.There’s always something pulling our attention away from the tasks at hand, especially if you are a writer or anyone else who works from home and sits with your nose in front of a computer screen.  Going out to get the mail can lead to weeding the flowerbeds.  You get the picture, not that there’s anything wrong with a little spontaneity sprinkled into life.Back to the question at hand – our real work.  Is it ever really done?  Yes, life includes realities – bills, mortgages, financial responsibilities, but have we assumed that our calling and our finances are mutually exclusive?  Does the mortgage trump the work that positions you closer to your best self?There has been so much sadness in the news of late, coming from such a place of darkness - racial tensions, hatred, extremist groups, murder.  We are bombarded with such devastating images of harsh realities around the world depicting intense suffering and grief.  Sometimes, it is just easier to click off the TV, shut out the news reports – too painful to absorb even a second more.  I don’t want to call out this darkness more than it is already exploited in the media, but what if part of our individual work – person by person, house by house, community by community, was to be the light?  What if our roadwork and construction crew’s mission was to lay the groundwork leading to our best selves and in turn help shift the world around us?Light eradicates dark.   Come on people, there’s roadwork ahead.  What road are you paving for yourself and by extension, the world around you?