Latest / Forged In The Dark / The Two-Lane Road
Transcript
- Forged In The Dark: Life isn't about finding a road with no surprises. It's about becoming someone who can navigate whatever's around the bend. And sometimes the road that requires the most attention is the one that gets you where you're trying to go. Welcome to Forged in the Dark. I'm your host, Jamie. Let's dig in. Now I really do love painting you pictures because as I tell these stories, I would like nothing more than than for you to imagine that you are in the car with me. So let's do this. We're in the car the other morning. It's around 4:40, 445 a.m. It's dark. I am driving to meet my run group. And I do this, I do this exact route twice a week. So I'm on this two-lane dark road, low speed limits. The speed limit's 35. And and I'm just carefully Driving along when a car comes up over the hill with its bright lights on, and I was blinded temporarily, like until this car passed, I have bright lights in my eyes and I can't see. So I'm looking at the white line and and just grateful that that the hill wasn't too far away as I approached. So we have the bright lights. That's a hazard of the dark road. Let's talk about some other hazards of the dark road because you guys. I don't even know what kind of animals cross the road in the morning. I mean, I see animals that I can't identify. I I've seen, of course, deer and I've seen cats, like almost like wild house cats. I don't know what you would call them. They're not bobcats. I would recognize a bobcat. A bobcat would be bigger. Those are on that road too, along with skunks and possums and raccoons. And you literally never know what's going to step right into the road. So this is a road that comes with so many more hazards than other wider, smoother, more open roads. And I believe I'm getting ahead of myself. So let's go ahead and backtrack. I mean, you're in the car with me already, so we can we can make a U-turn and go back. We can go back to the very first intersection when I leave my house. If I turned left, it would take me to the highway. Now let's go to the second intersection. And if I turned left, it would take me to the highway. And every time I choose the dark. two-lane road with more hazards. But let's say I did take a left and I hopped on the highway. Let's talk about our experience here on the highway because it's a three-lane highway. The the the lanes are wide there will be more cars but but not at this time of morning. So we have smooth Wide lanes, lots of lights, and the highway typically gets you where you want to go faster. Typically, I know not always. So I made a choice. Every single time I drive this route, I make a choice to go to the two-lane road when the big wide open highway is available. But the thing that Really hit me on this commute was how much all of this thinking wasn't so much about me, it wasn't about driving, and it really wasn't even about the roads, it was about life. It's about the choices that you make, it's about the self-trust that you hold. So You're at the intersection. What choice are you making? Are you going left or are you going straight? So let's go left for a minute. And let's go ahead and get on the highway, on that smoother road, on that bigger road, on that more well lit path. And let's say you come across no hazards and you get to your destination. But As you're sitting in your car, you look up and you think, how did I even get here? And then you get through the door at your destination and they ask you for items that you don't have. Well, now you have to get back in your car and you have to retrace your steps and you have to go back to the place where the items you left behind are and collect them and then go back and try again. And who knows how many times you're going to do this back and forth, racing down the road, not fully present, not paying attention to the cars around you, missing every single one of the hazards, every single one of the lessons. So let's just magically transport back to the narrow two lane road. You made the choice to go straight. You know. You are headed down a road that comes with hazards. You know you're going to drive slower. You know that there are days that nothing jumps in front of you, and there are no bright lights blinding you. And there are days that every hazard happens. There have been days that I've had to slam on my brakes for multiple deer. Like not at once, but here's a deer, slam on your brakes. Get a little bit down the road. Here's another deer, slam on your brakes. The bright lights prevent you from being able to see clearly in the dark. But I know this road. But what I know better than this road is myself. I know how to navigate this road and I expect the challenges to be there. And that's what you get to do too. So life is a lot like the highway or the two-lane road. And you are the one that is in control of the choice you make. And I'm not saying that if you get on the highway, you're doing anything wrong. We all get on the highway. Look. I know I talk about car stories a lot or being in the car, but I live in Texas and we have to drive everywhere. So I spend a lot of time in the car. I have a lot of time to think in the car. I have a lot of time to observe the world around me. And I do. And what I notice when I am out in the real world observing. Cars on the highway. The people in the cars, they're texting, they're checking emails, gosh knows what they're doing, eating, putting on makeup. They're not present with the drive. And that's obvious from outside the car. And if it's obvious that they are not present for their drive from outside the car, what other areas are they not being present in? They're not being present right now, which means they're on the highway on autopilot. And to be on that two-lane road in the dark, there is no way to be on autopilot. You must trust that you can handle the challenges that are coming. You must trust that those challenges are there to prepare you for what comes next. And again, I'm not telling you you're doing anything wrong by being on the highway. There's not a right or a wrong when it comes to which path you choose. But herein lies an opportunity for you to think about the situations in your life. Where are you on autopilot? Where do you hop on the highway and just sail? Where in your life are you on the two-lane road where you know the challenges are coming, you don't know when, they could hop right out in front of you or be just around the bend, but you expect them and you trust yourself enough to know that whatever happens, you're going to handle them. So when it comes to the highway or the two-lane road. Where are you? Do you default when it comes to these kinds of roads? Where do you default? And how can you draw these parallels in your life? We all have areas of our life where we just hop on the highway and we don't even think about it, we just go. And we all have areas of of our life where we go a little bit slower. But how could you benefit from choosing the dark? two-lane road versus choosing the highway. Life is like either a highway or a two-way or a two-way, a two-lane dark road. What do you choose? I choose the two-lane dark road. I trust that I can handle the challenges. And I trust that when I arrive at the destination, the challenges have prepared me for what's there. Okay, I hope you choose the two-lane road this weekend. Until next time.