Navigating Life’s Potholes

Cheryl Gowin and Dennis Gowin.  Call us at our counseling practice with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions at 434-808-2637.

How is your daily drive?  Have you ever noticed how many potholes you have to navigate around on your daily drive?  Not only potholes, but also how many speed bumps, hills, cracks in the road surface, rocks, and curves in the road do you traverse?  Does it seem your life’s road is so full of hills and speed bumps, it seems impossible to get where you want to be in life?

Everyone, at some time in his or her life, finds it is hard to navigate life as a confident person.  It seems easy to feel life is full of only potholes, hills, and ditches. With ease, our efforts become entirely focused on trying to overcome the barriers in life; so focused we don’t even think about the road we are traveling.  Are we traveling on a freeway or a country road?  Or, is our path possibly a cobblestone road?  Are we going through a transition from dirt to pavement?  Have we taken time to see that a cobblestone road is a beautiful work of art, even though traveling on cobblestone is an incredibly bumpy trip?

Sometimes life hands us difficulties we can’t understand or explain.  We all have faced the distress that comes when we get in a tight spot.  It is alarming to find ourselves in situations that lay outside our control.

Have you ever heard the old fable about the dog that fell into a farmer’s well?

The farmer heard a dog’s cries coming from an old well.  The farmer felt sorry for the dog.  However, the farmer had no means nor could he see any way to save the dog.  The farmer decided the only way to stop the dog’s misery was to bury the dog.  When the farmer began shoveling dirt into the well, the dog was initially hysterical.  However, as the farmer continued shoveling, the dirt hitting his back, a thought struck the dog.  It dawned on the dog that every time a load of dirt landed on his back he could shake it off and step up.  This he did shovel load after shovel load.  “Shake it off and step up, shake it off and step up, shake it off and step up!” he repeated to encourage himself.  Eventually the farmer’s shoveling filled the well with dirt and the dog stepped out of the well onto firm ground.

Life has lots of twists and turns.  Life can be like a never-ending road that seems to wind on and on with no end in sight.  When we engulf wondering or worrying about where we are going or how long it is taking, we don’t enjoy the ride.  We all experience ups and downs, twists, and turns, detours and trials along the way like potholes and bumps in the road.  However, we can manage to navigate them.  We can stop along the way, breathe the fresh air, and take time to smell the roses.  Or, we can grit our teeth and see the problems rather than gaining a view from God’s perspective.

Can we enjoy our journey?  We can if we remember to live one day at a time and trust the Lord to guide us.  He wants us to enjoy our travels as we rest in Him; understanding that He is all about helping each of us reach the destination He has planned for us.  Keep a positive outlook and pray when trials come along.  We can give our cares to the Lord and He will help us out of our troubles.  We will hit those potholes and bumps, but the road eventually levels.  Enjoy the ride, pull over from time to time to rest, and enjoy God’s panoramic view.  There are many blessings along the way and that final destination will be worth it all.

In 2018, as you travel your road may you know the road you are on is in the palm of God’s hand, and He loves you very much!

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

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Call us with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions; our phone number is 434-808-2637.