As humans, we see a path and we take it. We take it even though we have no clue where it will lead us. Have no clue where it is going. And we do this for a variety of reasons. Because wisdom tells us to take the path less traveled. Because the majority said that’s the path they took & look how well they turned out. Because it’s the only path available for us to take, and well, moving forward is much better than not moving at all. All valid reasons to take that unknown path. You know that. I know that. But the real reason we take the path, whether it’s a deserted road or one that has lots of tourist attractions along the way because of the mass quantities that travel it, is this. Because everyone’s path is different. No matter the road, no matter how deserted or well traveled it is, every step is different. No two are the same. And knowing that means we know that following in someone’s footsteps is a lot harder than it sounds. Sure, we might be on the sane road, but we are traveling different paths. We are hitting a pot hole while someone else is gliding along on smooth asphalt or dirt or whatever it is the road of life is paved with. And it might seem like we are neck & neck with each other, but we are not. Because unknown is unknown and you can’t race with that factor.

We always want to do what the world thinks our next step should be. Graduate High School. Go to College. Graduate College. Become successful in your Career. Find the Love of your Life. Get Married. Buy a House. Have Babies. Etc. We see the competition ALL THE TIME. On our Instagram feeds or our Facebook Timelines. We see people we graduated with having their 3rd kid & we just had our first so we think we are behind. We see our college friends enjoying the job they got right out of college and you are working a job not even related to the degree you majored in so you must be losing the race of life. And we get so caught up in thinking life is a race that we forget what the prize actually is. It’s not a million dollar or a life without pain and/or suffering. Sure you might make a million dollars during the race because you got really good at zigging when necessary and zagging when you should but pain and suffering are like pit stops or yellow caution flags. They are going to happen. No one will ever get through a race without them. And you might not be the one who caused the caution & slowed the race down but it’s highly likely that you felt it too. You might have been directly involved in the wreckage or you might have just have been an innocent bystander who watched as someone else’s race just got put on hold for what may be the rest of their life & you get to watch as they slowly pick up the pieces lap after lap. Either which way, you felt it too. Maybe not as hard, but it is there. And eventually as you get farther & farther away and the disaster gets smaller & smaller in your rear view, you may begin to forget about it for a little while, but only till the next lap. But in the race of life, you can always catch up if you want to. I was very careful not to say lapped. In life’s race, you are never “lapped”. No matter how many pit stops or caution flags you are hit with. Because I may have 80 laps of hard, Pot holed, thickly groveled road to travel, but you might have 200. And yours might seem smooth to me, but highway miles have their effects too. So once I put my pieces back together, I have high odds of winning my race. Because my race is not your race. And life is not made to be a competition. It’s ok if the pieces don’t fit exactly as they did before because as long as I’m still able to keep going, forward is forward. You aren’t going to win my happiness because you crossed a finish line first. You will win your own, but not mine. So stop comparing your races with that of your friends & family. Because it’s like comparing apples to egg plants. It’s a thing we shouldn’t do.

The unknown is scary. I get that. Not knowing where your path is leading doesn’t mean your traveling in pure darkness. It just means that you should just enjoy each step that lands you on solid ground. And, if the path does crumbled beneath your next step, then just be prepared to get your climbing gear out. As long as you are always willing to pick yourself back up then you will not hit a dead end. You may drop to your lowest point ever, but not a dead end. So just keep putting one foot in front of the other even though you don’t know where you are going. Always pack climbing gear in case you fall. And stop competing with anyone besides the person you were yesterday. You hear me? You’ll be a better, much HAPPIER person for it.

#TheOneLeggedMommy #ThePathUnknown #RatRace #Amputee #Amputation #RaceOfLife #PitStops #NecrotizingFasciitis #OneFootInFrontOfTheOther #MyRace #Happiness #HipDisarticulation