Detours Give Us Time to Assess

Detours give us time to assess our present situations.  I’m twenty-nine.  And lately, I’ve been comparing where I am now with where I thought I’d be by now.  They don’t line up.  Just last week, I told my mentor, “Reverend, if I hadn’t taken time off from school, I’d be Dr. Larry Enis today.  I’d be graduating this month.”  The other day, while washing dishes on a call with Mom, I said, “I feel like it’s time for me to step my life up to another level, like I need to be more focused.  So I’m going to put all I have into finishing this Ph.D., and then move on to the next phase of my life.”  I wasn’t sulking—just assessing my situation.  When we ignore our present situations, we’re more likely to take what life gives us and less likely to take charge of our lives.  But when we assess our present situations, we revisit goals we had previously set and measure our progress toward reaching them.  We determine whether or not we need to step up our game or sharpen our focus or make adjustments.  So, that’s another advantage of detours: they compel us to reflect on our progress thus far, to reevaluate our priorities, to readjust our strategy—to assess our situations.