~ to stay in or not to stay in, that is the question
The other day I was biking down St. Charles Avenue, an unquestionably charming and scenic, yet busy thoroughfare well known here in New Orleans. Its immediate and popular recognition is due to all of the stately mansions that line the picturesque avenue. Until recently, there was non-stop, ridiculously inconvenient, and seemingly never-ending construction. If I wasn’t navigating around yet another in your face orange cone, or stepping onto the street because a portion of the sidewalk was being repaired, I was avoiding the avenue altogether and sometimes walking alongside the streetcar tracks. Ugh. I remember thinking to myself, “Jesus, when is this going to be finished?” So, I’m sure you can imagine how much more “fun”, um no not really, all of this redirecting was when I was riding my bike.
We’re all familiar with many of the inspirational “quotes” about lanes: ‘Stay in your own lane’ (I was never a fan of that one until I had this recent epiphany on St. Charles Avenue, lol), ‘Create your own lane’ (Hell yeah! Because sometimes you can’t wait for somebody else to give you the green light), ‘Life in the fast lane (can you say busy much?), and of course ‘Memory lane’ (we won’t go there 😉 ). Back to my ‘Aha!’ moment on St. Charles Avenue.
As I was peddling along…in the bike lane, I realized something. There was actually a bike lane! There hadn’t been one before. Bikers just made do prior. Anyway…no orange cones in sight! Not a cluster of construction workers huddled around strategizing their next move, no long line of white trucks with flashing lights looking as if they needed a valet. This brand new, clearly visible, fabulous lane is solely, exclusively, specifically for me! Well, not just me. You know what I mean. For a split second, I literally forgot about all of the frustration I had felt while this was being worked on for my and other bikers’ use. And then I got it. Sometimes all the inconveniences, the mess, the detours, the delays, the repairs, the seemingly never ending “construction” ends up actually being for the best because now you have something specifically designed for you. So in this context, I no longer needed to create a lane for myself or try and keep up in the fast lane with the other cars, I could just be in my lane, happy, safe (helmet on of course), and going on about my business. So now, I’ve decided to apply that same mindset to other areas of my life because it just makes things easier. I invite you to do the same. Namaste Lovelies…