Life’s Little Instructions :: Detour

Last holiday season, my boss provided everyone with their choice of a daily desktop calendar. While I was tempted to grab the Dilbert calendar – I mean, who doesn’t live Dilbert – instead I opted to snag the Life’s Little Instruction Calendar by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. and I am glad that I did.

From time to time, I like to share a few of the tips from the calendar and how you can apply said tips to your family life, professional life, or a combination of both. While flipping through the calendar today, I found the following nugget of wisdom and wanted to share it with you.

When you encounter a detour, take it eagerly; surprises await.

Think about that for a minute.

When you encounter a detour sign, what is your initial reaction?

Often times, you likely sigh, moan, or grunt and immediately curse the decision to take this route; wondering how much this detour is going to delay your trip. But have you ever been on that detoured route and discovered a hidden gem – maybe a great restaurant, beautiful landscape, or an alternate route for when traffic is bad.

The detours don’t have to be on the road either.

We often have our careers, even our daily interactions with people, mapped out in our head. When things don’t go according to plan, do you get stressed out or do you go with the flow and see what happens?

Personally, I tend to be more the type to go with the flow and not let the detours from the plan disrupt me from having a great time. As a result, I have been fortunate to have met some truly amazing people and have had experiences that I will remember for a lifetime – all because I had to take a detour.

The next time your map, whether that be on the road, at work, or at home, gets thrown out the window due to a detour, keep an open mind and embrace the opportunity to discover something new.

You never know, the surprises that you encounter may just be exactly what you have been looking for but didn’t know where to find it.