A Detour

One trip. One conversation. One failure. It’s amazing how one thing can make such a big impact and difference. All this time you have been dreaming and planning of your perfect life. But really, it just takes one detour to turn things around. It maybe for the better or for the worse.

People say there is no such thing as coincidence. They are probably right. But when something happens that you can not explain or comprehend, an easy way to make sense of it all is to consider it as such. Why stress about it when you can not find the answers anyway. So just sit back and wait until it reveals itself to you. Just be vigilant and be open. This revelation may not come as soon as you want it to. Or perhaps it has already happened without you realizing it. It all boils down on how you interpret things. How meticulous you are of seeing the ‘signs’. And of course what attitude you carry.

In every person’s life, there is this one turning point. An incident that will crash your ideal life. For some, they will take full accountability to it. Either they consciously caused it to themselves or allowed others to bring about such misfortunes in their lives. Expected somehow. Others are however left in awe. Not knowing the reason. Not having something to point their finger to.

For the more optimistic, that incident is an eye opener that things don’t go always as planned. And for the best part, it is not the end of the world. There are a lot of other possibilities and opportunities waiting to be stumbled upon. If you are brave and a risk taker, the new path you are headed to will almost certainly be more promising and more fulfilling. You just have to learn to be receptive. Give it a chance and see if you like it. If you do, well and good. But if not, it was just one option you chose. You now know that the world offers you a whole lot more. Communicate with yourself and find out what it is you want at this moment. Then give it a try. Set a new goal and work on it.

Sadly, others are not as strong and hopeful. One incident sends them down the drain. The worst part is they end up wishing of the life they know they can not have anymore. It becomes hard to get out of the pit. The result? Failure after failure. Every road leads to a dead end. Making it even more difficult to straighten things out because the pit you are in just keeps on getting deeper. In situations like this, it takes more than mere planning. A decision has to be made that you want to get out of this predicament coupled with a real determination. And faith that something good will come out of it.

This year, my turning point happened. It started with my trip early this year. Never in my wildest imagination did I think it was possible. For me, it was too far-fetched. But it happened nevertheless. Of course, I was thrilled. That trip was my eye opener. My conversations with relatives, friends and acquaintances made me realize the vast things I can do. It painted a completely different world that I can be apart of. Something I would not have thought of. Surprisingly though, I liked it. I went out of my way to actually take steps of inquiring about the opportunities. My mind was processing things crazily. Weighing the pros and cons. I was definitely getting ahead of myself. I almost made an impulsive decision of staying. But I had to hold myself down. After all, I was still tied to my long time plan. I didn’t want things to get mixed up or leave things hanging. I wanted to stick with it. So I went home. Although a big part of me was wishing I didn’t. Then a week later, I received a bad news. My failure. Unexpectedly, I was ok about it. I mean, considering how big a deal it was supposed to be. Or it was probably my defense mechanism to shield myself from feeling the pain, the embarrassment and the disappointment. I kept myself busy by planning my next move. But never did I allow myself to sulk or be bitter about it. In my mind, I was thinking, ‘God does not take away something without giving something better in return.’ With me though, He gave me something first before He took away another thing. I was grateful for that. It made the coping easier. From then on, I allowed Him to lead me. Deep down, I know He has a reason for all of these. So I am patiently and carefully piecing the signs together. Slowly making sense of things. Acknowledging my naiveté of interpreting things. I was seeing only what I want to see and what is favourable to me. It makes me sigh sometimes how literally I took things in.

Where I am now, seems like a route toward the world I liked and want to be apart of. I would not be here now had I not made that trip, or had that conversation or experienced that failure. It’s so surreal. It was all in preparation of the life that I should be living. Gradually, fate is unfolding before me. Im good where I am now. I wouldn't have it any other way. =)