In God, there is always the possibility to start over. Many times our days begin to bleed into one another. The weeks, months, sometimes even years; can seem like one long moment.
Life becomes a cycle of the mundane, and the opportunities we want seem scarce. But in the merry go round of life, we must find enough courage to accept what we already know. The ride can always stop. We can always get off the merry go round, even when it’s still moving.
Because merry go rounds never are going as fast as they seem! They motion swiftly enough to make us feel a little dizzy when we stand up... But there’s never enough torque to knock us down if we decide to jump off...
If we decide to Do It Over.
What if we don’t know if we should get off though?
You figure you’re still enduring the ups and downs in the first place.... wondering if the merry go round gets any better.
“What if I get off prematurely?” You ask.
We can always identify the clarity in the choice to remain on- or get off, by assessing two components.
What is our ride?
What (or where) is our nowhere?
The Ride
Many times we get caught up more in the ride than the actual destination, and vice versa. Both parts are extremely vital to the journey though! We can’t possibly reach a destined point without the means of transportation to get there.
Every great person in your life, any highly esteemed individual you know, they didn’t simply teleport to their place of destiny. There was a purpose and a plan. There was a vehicle!
The vehicle is literally what DRIVES us.
What drives you? What motivates you to get up and go be great?
What keeps you there physically, long after you’ve given up mentally? Emotionally? Spiritually? As humans, in our most primitive selves, we have a drive.
The drive to survive. To eat. To conquer. To live. What keeps you living? What DRIVES you? If you don’t know, that’s okay too.
You just haven’t found your vehicle yet.
You haven’t found your means of transportation.
But, transportation matters.
HOW we get to our destination matters.
Driving nowhere fast is self-explanatorily a bad idea. However, consistently taking the scenic route, purposely always taking “the long way home” can most likely result in time wasted.
Amid our greatest decision-making, there has to be a seeking for balance. Whether that’s
marriage, a job offer, a new place to live, a new church, there has to be balance;
because balance is a conductor of peace.
Often we rush into a decision so quickly, that we neglect the basic elementary fundamentals of investigation.
Who? What? When? Where? Why? And HOW? >> Does my current vehicle/ride even have the ABILITY to help me reach my destined point?
Will your current hooptie get you all the way to Rodeo Drive? In other words, is that lazy man REALLY going to help you get to the top of the mountain Sis? Is that jealous woman REALLY going to support your best self Bro? Deep, deep down, you already know the answer.
We have to start checking the specifications of our rides before we purchase them. Before we commit to them.
Some people, places and things just aren’t equipped or possess the qualifications necessary to get us to where we need to be.
The same way you wouldn’t trust a ride in a corolla to get you up a mountain is the same way you should reconsider whether or not your best friend or significant other can help you get to your next season. Vehicles that aren’t equipped for the respected terrain break down.
People that aren’t equipped for your destined place break down. They stall out and they’ll stall you. If any of this resonates; whether metaphorically or literally, you may want to get off the ride.
No Man’s Land: What is your “Nowhere”?
I’m a firm believer in looking at all possible outcomes to a situation. That means we consider the good, the bad, the ugly AND the WORST CASE SCENARIO. We have to identify our “nowhere”. This seems oxymoronic I know, but this simply means to identify the possible “dead ends” in our lives.
After we take a close look at our means of transportation we have to next look at where exactly it is we were going in the first place.
If you’ve lasted this long and your offenses haven’t caused you to exit this blog post, that means you may already be at a fork in the road. Are you on a ride to nowhere? Have you been going nowhere fast?
When we think about “nowhere” we think about a place that is so irrelevant that it doesn’t even deserve a title. Nowhere is desolate. It’s a desert of broken-down cars and abandoned dreams. A highway littered with the past potential of people who rode their lemon of a car until the wheels fell off and got stuck.
“Nowhere” is the dead-end job that holds you hostage because of fear. “Nowhere” is the abusive relationship that you know will only continue to tenderize you until you lose feeling. “Nowhere” is the complacency in that situationship that should’ve never been a situation to begin with.
“Nowhere” is the mediocre life you’re living because you’re either too scared or lazy to be the greatest "YOU" God called you to be.
“Nowhere” is a sure place for those that fail to take personal inventory or responsibility for the lives they’re living. 5 years from now when someone else is eating off the same business idea you failed to pursue, it will be no one’s regret but yours. 10 years from now when you’ve made a career out of being a girlfriend with no sight of a wedding ring, it’ll be no one’s regret but yours.
And even then, way down that road... there will STILL be a possibility to Do it Over.
But if you could release yourself from the captivity that is your own fear and self-doubt wouldn’t you?
No matter the vehicle or road we choose to take, I faithfully know that all things can work together for our good. But, that doesn’t mean all things were necessary.
Check your vehicle and your GPS then ask yourself, “Is it time to get off this ride?”.
