How did you see your path in life so early? Ive been asked, a number of times. If I have, or if it seems I have, its probably because I read widely, and various insights and quotations stick with me, and Ive used them for guidance. One of them comes from the Edward Albee play: The Zoo Story. Jerry, a key character, is lecturing someone who is sitting on a bench in New Yorks Central Park. Suddenly, he blurts out, Sometimes you have to go a long distance out of your way to come back a short distance, correctly. While this notion may not seem earthshaking on the surface, I promise you, if you review your own life, youll appreciate the wisdom in it. For instance, on more than one occasion Ive left a job, or even a major career focus, only to return to it later. The second time around, my eyes are wide open, and Im seeing and appreciating things that I just didnt catch, at first. Perhaps I wasnt ready for the task, initially, or I just wanted to go back to discern if my judgments about it were correct, initially. Anyway, it seems like an offbeat way of living, but theres satisfaction in it. What about those souls who hop from job to job, seemingly without focus, yet something happens to them and they see a thread in their experience, something that unifies it and gives it coherence. Many public speakers have had this occur in their lives. They were just moseying along when something special happened, perhaps a UFO abduction, or an epiphany came to them. And then, they just had to tell the world about it. Observers ask them, Why didnt you just go into speaking straight away? or Imagine how much better off youd be today if you had launched your oratorical career, earlier! Or, think about the person who grows up in a small town, cant wait to leave for the big city; does it, spending the better part of his life there, yet returns in middle age to the place of his roots. Life doesnt always work neatly, in a linear way. Sometimes you just have to go a long distance out of your way to come back a short distance, correctly! |
