Yeah......right! Like this is gonna happen anytime soon

Signs sure can be helpful - can't they? Let's look at our friend over to your left. It seems like fairly solid advice, doesn't it?

...and if you happen to be a bit unstable yourself - and lack a degree of common sense, heeding it's warnings is probably a good idea.

You'll see what everybody else sees that has ever embarked on the trail - which, if you never have seen anything like what is on the trail, is better than nothing.

But, what is the tradeoff? - what happens when you take this sign, remove it from this very specific and strategic place that it has been assigned to and transform it from being a sign into a banner that hangs over your life's highway?

You will have travelled the same highway - every single day. You know the scenery so well that you can't even describe it anymore. You started by not knowing the path, you learned it, you memorized it, and then you forgot about it to the point that you can't even recall it.

I noodle around on the guitar - many times, I will think of one of the simplest songs that I used to play and, for the life of me, I can't even figure it out. It's well below my skill level. I had it down pat. Now, I can't even remember it.

On a broader scale, do we do the same thing with our journey? - trails are safe. They are well worn. They lead in a direction toward a destination......the same destination that everyone travels to. If someone doesn't wander a little on occasion, we all end up with similar stories to tell at the end of the day.

Now, do you wander off the trail - just for the sake of wandering off the trail? Perhaps you do if you are an adrenaline junkie. The danger in that routine is a tendency to ignore the Fragile Areas and actually see them as stable enough to support your need for a rush.

How do you progressively wander off the trail? - first, stop looking at the dang trail!!! Your head has a swiveling mechanism. It is called your neck. It moves from side to side. It doesn't always need to be looking down at the trail or straight ahead at the horizon.

You also have the ability to STOP when you are on the trail - don't worry. No major pileups will occur.

What interests you that is not on your trail? - it may be crazy. According to "popular thought," there really is no reason that a guy like me should have the remotest interest in buttons. I am not talking about the kind that hold a garment together......though there are certain buttons on certain people's clothing that may catch my momentary attention more than others (SLAP!!! There, ladies, I did it for you.....besides, I did say "momentary attention"...hey, last I checked, I am still a guy).

I am talking about the buttons that one pins on - you know, the ones that "only a nerd would wear." Yet, I actually not only wear buttons, I sometimes make them. When I do either, I actually enjoy it.

I know...I know - they're goofy, stupid, silly, gaudy, unfashionable, etc.........."they" say.

Well, "they" aren't me - how did I find this silly little hobby? Afterall, I probably was in the "they" camp as it goes to my outlook toward buttons.

I inherited a button maker - from my eccentric late brother. It was the only thing of value worth inheriting (unless I ever decide to go through that box of baseball cards that he left behind.......having a little trouble adding that to my "happy things to do list"...though some people do get into it.)

I stopped on the trail - of busy business executive. Rather than saying, "what use has an important person like me have for such a thing," I literally stopped and looked over at the side of the road and said, "hey, what's this? How does it work? What could I do with this that would be fun?"

Look at that last sentence - curiosity......creativity....fun. All over a seemingly stupid little item like a button making machine.

But first.....I had to stop, turn my head, and look - are you stopping, looking, wandering off the trail into those fragile areas on occasion? It may be as simple as driving a new way at work. It may mean putting together your "to do" list for today............and then leaving it behind to waste an entire day.....or a week....
but let's take babysteps and start with a moment. Just a few minutes.

The still, small voice is still speaking to you - it has never shut up. You are focusing on something else with such laser precision that you can't even hear it. You have your son's travelling soccer squad...you could never miss a game, could you? The stories are legendary about the dad that missed every one of his boy's little league games and the damage caused. You don't want to be that so you make sure that you attend every single one. You would never want the dreaded "absent parent" label tagged on you. Maybe you focus on how unfocused you are. Religion does this to some under the justification that there is nothing more important than God. Maybe you are honed in on the "career is everything" trail....

The trail is fine - it will take you somewhere different than where you are right now. Moving along does prevent atrophy.....but a couple of steps off this trail may lead you to thee trail...the one that you want to travel on and that God wants you to find.......until you see something else that is hiding to most just off of that trail that you switched too.

Yes....it is the journey - not the destination that is important. May my carcass be found off on a trail that may not have been totally of my creation but one that also has not been worn down, paved over, patched, and repaved due to too much traffic.

Hey, I can get the story of what happened on that safe trail from just about anyone.