The Beauty of Detours

(Retrieved from: Detour.jpg)

I wasn’t riding a motorcycle the first time I encountered a detour. Only months after receiving a license to drive, the orange sign was unfamiliar from new seating privilege. After years of seeing them from the passenger seat, I quickly understood why my parents would stress over detours, what a nuisance! A simple trip from point A to point B would turn into a gruesome trip of uncertainty and chaos.  

Two years later I would purchase my first motorcycle.

1978 Kawasaki KZ 650 SR

 It was an old bike that would change my view on detours completely.

During a mid-summer ride near my hometown, I was following a route that normally takes me through a winding road called Beard Road. As I rounded a corner, I noticed the annoying sign with road workers in the distance. With a feeling of discontent, I turned to follow the detour. Whoa, what an amazing little discovery that would ensue. The detour directed me down a road with great slopes and winding turns; on surfaces as smooth as a still morning's water. 

A detour isn’t a nuisance or something that causes chaos. That viewpoint is for the road workers and the unadventurous. From an adventurous standpoint, detours are a beautiful thing. Some of the best roads I have ever discovered while traveling on a motorcycle were as a result of detours. As I say, where a detour closes a road, another one opens.

This can be a great philosophy on the way we live. It is always better to view things from a positive standpoint. Negativity can bring you down and create bad experiences; however, positivity can open roads (or doors) that can lead to outstanding experiences.