Empowered by default

“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.“

Jean de La Fontaine

 

 

Let’s see. Honestly, I have been lost most of my life. At the end of each wrong turn invaluable lessons manifested. Simply put, I rambled through my life until I reached the age of thirty. Then at age 30 I asked better questions and truly did not settle for easy answers. But that’s a long story, so let me remember a time before I asked better questions.
Many treasured experiences came by way of my family vacation trips. In my early twenties we took annual trips to Florida to shop, relax, shop, explore, shop and visit new tourist attractions. It was on those shopping trips that the designated driver was put to the test. That’s me.
Hardly conscious of my inexperience, the immeasurable delight of getting behind the wheel just gave me wings to fly and be free. Simply put this made me really happy. My confidence was impenetrable.
Rental cars smelled clean and felt spanking new. Fuel was more than a tank full of gas but a purse filled with shopping money. It is an unnatural and addictive high for me.
Everybody, cousins, aunts, mother and siblings counted on me for a safe deliverance to their endless list of places to visit. They were merciless.
However, I was always in a world of my own. I could care less for the lists, traffic, misplaced confidences or hidden agendas. The road always befriended me.
Maps would be in my lap and the passenger’s hands. It was quite easy to explain where I was going, but the difficulty came when we ended up in the middle of nowhere. Voices would boom out loud and scream, “You should have listened to me,” quite irritatingly.
Well along the way of each wrong turn we passed places we would have never seen. Sites unthinkable, attractions not listed on our maps and more importantly bigger stores and malls that carried better bargains and quality items. Each passenger, including me, would scream out loudly, “Look where…is,” or “we would never have found this if we didn’t get lost.”
I love my family but, those days are gone forever! Now I’d much rather let them drive themselves. However, I can never forget those wings to fly and be free.

 

 

 

Daily Prompt

Wrong Turns

When was the last time you got lost? Was it an enjoyable experience, or a stressful one? Tell us all about it.