Life would be simple if every task was a straight line from A to B.

The paths ahead are clear, with no forks or decisions to be made about the direction to follow. Alas, reality is more complex. More often, every problem involves multiple solutions and requires us to make complicated decisions. Success does not demand a straight line. To embrace the crooked path can lead to prosperity that meets our individual needs, rather than the needs of others.

One Size does not fit all

Name a task and I challenge you to find only one way to complete it. Everything from cooking to cleaning, parenting, and exercise has multiple ways to accomplish the same goal. Want to prove my theory? Type “How to make spaghetti?” or “How to train for a 5k?” into your favorite search engine. How many answers do you find? Try “How to potty train a toddler?” The answers will overwhelm your senses.  My way may differ from yours, but that makes neither of us wrong. If you embrace what works for you, instead of trying to imitate someone else, you will have more peace.

Ignore the Chatter

In the information age, we are overwhelmed with how-to lists for even the most trivial tasks, from the perfect morning routine to the best five-day meal plan. The internet argues over parenting, schooling, diet, and work/life balance with a fierce and mighty vengeance. The message is: Follow me because my way is the BEST. It could be. Perhaps our lives run parallel, and I can closely follow their posts for a perfect life. But it is more likely that real life requires you taking pieces from idea one and parts from idea two. Mix them together and find your version.

The Forced Path has its Problems

We cannot all follow the same path and find the same success. If we stay on the wrong path, it will almost guarantee hardships. Even staying on the traditional path could be the wrong path for you. Advocate for your actual needs is important, not what you believe they should be. Never has this become clearer than in advocating my children’s needs. The traditional straight path only works for some.

Let’s Talk about School

We all know the plan. When children turn five, we enroll them in school and happily send them off every day for the next thirteen years until they graduate high school. It is a perfectly straight line from enrollment to graduation. Although the traditional model works for many, it is not effective for all. I have a child with chronic migraines and debilitating anxiety. We have been pushing, pulling, and dragging ourselves down the traditional path for the last three years. It is not working. I had the epiphany over Christmas break. We need a new plan. Time to make a sharp left turn and take the long way.

Our alternative path involves online homeschooling, a new therapist, and continued work with our current neurologist. Currently, we need to exclude the act of going to a school building. By announcing we have an alternative option; I saw a complete change in my child. It is as if I removed a million-pound weight from her shoulders. We plan to re-enter the traditional path next year, but we are following our own road for now.

Crooked doesn’t Mean Wrong

The goal is to move forward. Following a path with twists and turns continues our forward momentum. Carrying a thousand-pound elephant on our back while we walk the straight path gives us little progress. Shed the extra weight, find the solutions that provide peace, and allow grace to do it your way. There are many right answers. Take the hard left turn and discover the road to personal success. Keep moving forward.