Ahh, the best laid plans. . . .It all seemed so easy. Simple, really.

One minute you’re driving down the road, fast approaching your destination, when suddenly you find yourself at a stand still, caught up in some kind of road work, that throws off your schedule and sends you down a different route altogether.

It’s frustrating to say the least. Inconvenient, too. It usually happens when were in a hurry and don’t have time to waste on such nonsense. “Why today?” We fume. “Hurry up! Get out of my way!”

As our frustration grows, so does the delay. As we sit drumming our nails on the dashboard, willing traffic to get moving with every tap of our foot, the tension mounts and our impatience grows, but no matter how tense we get, traffic is not moving any faster, and we are forced to wait - just like everyone else.

After what seems like an eternity, the traffic begins to move and eventually we reach our destination, relieved to be back on track and anxious to put that pesky delay behind us. So what if we made some rude gestures to other drivers while we were stuck. Okay, we might have cut off a person or two in our rush to get going. Maybe we did get overly worked up, but it’s over now, so let’s just forget it and chalk it up to a bad day.

The thing about detours is that there’s always a reason for them. While we are sitting in traffic, cursing the powers that be for making us wait so long, work is being done – necessary work, that one day we will go right past, without even noticing. That road that had potholes will have been repaved and we will drive on the smooth surface with far less bumps and jolts. Bridges will be built to get us where we want to go and whole communities will spring up all around those new roads, all of which was in progress while we impatiently grouched our way through the delay.

The thing about detours is that they eventually lead back to where we want to go and they are almost never permanent. It might have been inconvenient, but the end result is that something better has been prepared and we now have a much easier ride. All our complaining and frustration just made our own journey that much harder and chances are, we missed the best part.

Time.

Time to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery. Time to listen to your favorite song or call a friend. Time to gather your thoughts and think about the future, or just the time to daydream without any interruptions. Sometimes it’s the time to look around you and really see what you’ve been missing, and you’ll be surprised at how many things your didn’t notice before. You may get to see a sunrise or sunset, or maybe have the opportunity to smile at a child who’s bored and waiting in the car next to yours.

If you’re like me and believe everything happens for a reason, delays and detours become an adventure, and the reason for them usually becomes clear.

This week I had to take my neighbor to get her driver’s license, which meant a trip to the DMV. Now, I don’t know about your town, but our DMV is also in the police station and the jail house for our county. The process takes several hours, during which time you must wait with about two hundred other people who are waiting to either visit someone in jail, renew their vehicle registration or get their drivers license. Needless to say, its quite the cross section of people, and I am an avid people watcher, so I didn’t mind too much.

The first time.

Due to some kind of snafu with her paperwork, the whole process required three trips to finally get her license. On the third trip on the third day, I was a little miffed at how much time I was having to spend, as once again we sat in that lovely state building, staring at a dangerous mix of gang members and teenage girls getting their learners permits. Amidst all the catcalls and nervous stares an elderly gentleman hobbled in, shaking badly and looking confused. He wandered around, peering at each sign, obviously unsure about where he was. After going in several doors and wandering out again, I decided to approach him and asked if he needed assistance. He looked like he would pass out from relief. He had a wad of papers in his hand and shook terribly as he offered them to me to decipher. After looking through them I saw where he needed to go and helped him get there as he humbly thanked me profusely and genuinely the whole time.

As I sat back down to wait, my heart went out to him, realizing this was, for him, a very difficult day. See, he was 98 years old and the papers he held were a demand from the county to surrender his driver’s license.

Now, you may see it differently, but I believe the reason I had to keep taking my neighbor back there was because I was supposed to be there for Mr. Calkins, (I don’t think he’d mind if I use his name) on a day when he needed a smiling face and a kind stranger to lend him a strong arm and a helping hand.

Life, it seems, is full of detours and delays that, at first may seem vastly inconvenient, but for those who know how to make the most of them, are golden opportunities to offer someone your hand.

Right now you may be facing some detours and delays that have you all in a dither, throwing off your schedule or causing you some fret. Whatever it is you face, know this:

It will pass. You will get to where you need to go eventually. If you’re facing a detour, just know that there’s always a reason and whether the delay is meant to smooth things out ahead or prepare you for something new altogether, for now, why not just sit back and enjoy the ride?