After a crazy day at work and on a tight evening schedule ahead, I was in a hurry and rushed to get into my gym clothes. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of my car, and, glancing downwards while I walked towards the door, I gasped in horror! Upon my sudden realization, I did an immediate about-face and ducked back into my car.
I had seen that my pants were on inside out! (Hey...you on your lunch break reading this...don't snort pop out of your nose.) So, while sitting behind my steering wheel, I stealthily glanced around, and then shimmied out of my pants, righted them, and then quickly pulled them back on. Whew! Quick change in the front seat of my car in broad daylight. (High-five! to...no one in particular.) I walked into the gym confident I had my clothes on the right way, and proceeded to torture myself on the elliptical for the next 50 minutes. (Why I didn’t just hurry to the locker room and change them there, I had no idea. That thought didn't occur to me until I left the gym.)
After work the next day, I headed back to the gym for another workout. I strolled in, took my spot on the evil elliptical, and proceeded to kick up my cardio for the next 40 minutes. I had to cut it short today – another busy evening of school functions and shuffling kids around – so I hopped off and headed back to my car. And then… I was mortified.
I realized the wicking shirt I was so confidently sporting was on inside out! Arghh! Where the heck is my brain!? I can’t imagine what the dudes who were running their 8-minute miles on the dreadmill behind me were thinking… “moronic blonde can’t even dress herself…” (Ugh.)
But, my inside-out clothing adventures got me thinking about the song “Backwards,” by Rascal Flatts. The lyrics are as follows...
I was sitting on a bar stool In a barbecue joint in Tennessee
When this old boy walked in And he sat right down next to me
I could tell he'd been through some hard times
There were tear stains on his old shirt
And he said you wanna know what you get
When you play a country song backwards
You get your house back
You get your dog back
You get your best friend Jack back
You get your truck back
You get your hair back…
It sounds a little crazy, a little scattered and absurd
But that's what you get when you play a country song backwards
Well I never heard it said quite like that
It hit me in the face ‘cause that's where I'm at…
I realized, that sometimes in life, you have to get to where you’re going in your own way…even if it seems backwards to what everyone else is doing. And sometimes, doing things backwards can bring about an entirely unexpected and exciting reward. I don’t always do everything in the right order. I often skip over directions and jump ahead 3 steps. Sometimes I eat dessert for dinner. Often, I’ll go for a run, then take the dog for a walk, then decide I should have run longer, so I go out again. Many times, I paint without sketching first…those are usually my best pieces of art. I write with no formal outlines. I have no schedule and no timeline that I follow with regard to releasing future novels. Is it right? I don’t know. (And, sometimes, I’m in a hurry to get through my workout and I put my clothes on inside out… )
But what I realized is, you have to get ‘there’ (where ever ‘there’ is for you) at your own pace, and sometimes, with your own rules. Sometimes, you have to take the back road, the long road, or the one less traveled. Sometimes, you have to cut your own path through the woods to get there. And maybe, you'll grab a friend and follow some of their rules. There’s no ‘right way’ to find success or happiness. Find your own rhythm, your own way…even if you put your clothes on backwards or inside out (or decide to change out of the them in the front seat of your car) as long as you’re going somewhere, you’re moving towards the next step. I don’t always do everything in the right order. I may be a little backwards, but I’ll find my way, and I’ll keep looking for my bliss.