We are in the Christmas rush just like every one else.  I know there is a lesson in all that has happened. We spent most of Monday night trying to get out-of-town. Now, our “City” is only 4 square miles but it took almost 45 minutes to actually leave town because we had to stop and try to get a prescription filled that I had forgotten to get earlier. That would take 20 minutes. In the meantime I remembered I forgot my mother’s Christmas present and needed to run back home to pick it up. Oh, and we forgot to turn off bedroom lights. So, thankfully we went back.

Just as we started driving out-of-town I was third in a line of cars going 40 in the 55 area.  Just when I am trying to hurry, we are being forced to slow down. It was raining but it was over 50 degrees so nothing was freezing, the roads were not overly slick but I was forced to stay behind this car for about 15 miles until we got to the highway.

We got confusing directions because the exit numbers had been changed but neither the GPS or Google Maps had been updated. So we backtracked 10 miles, to find an exit that doesn’t exist. After finally trusting the GPS to get us there even if the exits were wrong we were headed in the right direction.

The next morning we left the hotel fairly early and started on the road again. At one point we were on almost a residential street for quite a distance. I could not believe that an area in the United States in this day and age doesn’t have a major highway nearby. Then I thought of going to college on Route 11 in Northern New York. Yikes, this was that all over again. I kept seeing tractor signs and we were behind trucks and tractors going 30-35 at times. So, frustrating.

Thick fog met us 10 miles outside the North Carolina border and lasted the entire state. It seemed like late evening even when it was 4:00 pm. Traffic was stopped 12 miles from our exit so we got off and trusted the GPS to get us to the hotel. We went through all kinds of back roads and little side roads that were barely wide enough to fit two cars. Cars were going so fast around the curves and crossing lanes that I was certain there was going to be a crash. I had to slow down because it was dark, foggy and I did not know the roads at all.

I get the message. I need to slow down and just accept that things are going to go at the pace they are going to go. No matter how much I push and try to rush things are going to go the way they are going to go. I need to breathe and relax. All the rushing does is make me tense and those around me tense. We are all trying to do the best we can are trying to get where we need to go.

So, may you all have the merriest Christmas and the happiest New Year! Take a break and breathe. Let things go and enjoy! I will be trying to do the same thing.