Follow your signs

04/08/15

I have always known there were certain things that I was led to do that might not have made sense to anyone at the time, but I knew it is what I should do. Moving to Colorado after graduation from college was one of those moments. I had a friend from college who had decided to visit CO to see her brother and a guy she liked. The guy was sending her money to fly out to visit them. The thought popped into my head that I should go too so I asked if we could use the money that said guy was sending to her for airfare and it be used for gas to take my car and drive out there and I could explore the state a bit as all of a sudden it felt that I should go there.

We drove out, I fell in love with the state and rented an apartment that week and returned to get belongings and moved. She did not end up dating the guy once we got here (she moved here as well) but four years later I married him. Yep, that was Barney.

Sometimes following the signs is more literal.

Last fall I was driving to So. Dakota to a celebration ceremony that a cousin was having and it was dark and I was following an 18 wheel truck down a long straight highway – at about 80 mph as I recall. I had just gotten to an area of cell service so I phoned my cousin and said I would be there in an hour. I turned off my radio and settled into that road trip meditative state where you can let yourself ponder things that you didn’t realize were hiding somewhere in your thoughts. As I was driving along I got to thinking that I needed to pay attention better to the signs in my life. I was thinking that maybe I was missing something because I was too busy doing what I though needed done that I might be missing what it is I should be doing.

Turns out, it was the signs on the road I was missing as I completely missed the turn where the road I needed to be on was and when enough time had passed and I wasn’t seeing signs for the town I should be nearing, I asked my phone where the heck I was and Yep, while I was looking for the proverbial big sign in life, I was missing the actual road signs to get me where I needed to go.

A friend of mine just did the same kind of thing. She was walking up some steps to an office building where she was to have an interview for a new job. As she was literally praying to God in her head that he show her the steps she needs to take to move forward and make the correct choices, she trips up the steps she is on and cuts her knee, finger and ankle. She too missed the steps in front of her while looking for the proverbial steps in life.

We have to remember that sometimes what we need has already been put in front of us.

But I also think that sometimes we forget to pay attention to the signs we are given as a quiet voice telling us to try something or reach out to someone or even to do something a little crazy. (going to Australia for an obstacle course event and writing a blog come to mind)