This week, I’m in Northern California with my husband.  He’s at a conference, so I had the day and the car to myself.  I went out on my own for a drive with no destination in mind.  There are some small towns nearby and lots of vineyards; I don’t know the area at all, but still I headed out – with a map from the front desk.  It’s a pretty lousy map, as it turns out – and it didn’t help that I need my reading glasses to see the tiny weeny road names….

Here’s what happened on the 4 hour drive; many a back road was traveled.  I got lost – a lot, took many wrong turns, asked for directions, spoke to strangers, discovered interesting little stores, stopped at a cafe & left when I wasn’t keen on it (this is odd for me, since I usually give cafes the benefit of the doubt because I think “Who knows when I’ll find another one”).  I found a better one & had an iced coffee.  Refreshed, I continued and went to the Info Center & got a couple of different maps. Back in the car, I kept driving and pulled over a lot to check the maps.  FINALLY, I decided to toss the maps aside, retraced my steps and found my way back to the hotel after having met some friendly people & seen some beautiful countryside, quaint markets and interesting neighborhoods.

OK – that might not sound like much – but here’s the biggest part of it.  I had fun the whole time & it felt like an adventure.  I took my time, was patient & trusted myself; just kept driving & had faith that I’d figure it out.  I rolled the windows down and the stereo up and just enjoyed the ride.  I did NOT at any time berate myself or put myself down when I got lost (not even with a joke); nothing self-depricating at all……. THAT is HUGE……

That’s PROGRESS!

I guess it’s true that sometimes you don’t know you’ve made a new choice until you look back and can see your footprints have moved in a fresh direction….. and there you are doing things differently.