What Are the Obstacles in Your Life Trying to Tell You?

Opportunity or Misfortune?

Sometimes life gives us obstacles so we can see a simpler path.

I was planning on going to Paris for Thanksgiving, but when I went to the website to reserve my train tickets, there were none available. The trains that were going to Paris were already completely booked. There were a few other trains slated to go, but they were not available for booking. How strange, I thought. Maybe it’s just another strike at the station. The French are known for their strikes. Whatever the reason, I feared my plans were ruined.

What was even more unusual was that this lack of availability was only an issue for the days preceding Thanksgiving and directly after. I could buy tickets for the week before or after, but not when I needed to go. Since the French typically don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I didn’t see it as an issue of an excessive number of people wanting to travel home for Turkey dinner.

How inconvenient. Then the idea that perhaps I just wasn’t meant to go this year and see my old college friend this Thanksgiving or even get new branding photos briefly flickered into my consciousness. But I was genuinely excited about getting new professional pictures to promote my latest book, so I didn’t give this obstacle much weight. I didn’t consider this setback to be a bad omen for my trip. My excitement caused me to think through my options. Right there on the travel site I was on, I saw an ad for air travel, and I thought to myself. Hmm, I wonder if there is a reasonable flight that would get me there. So, I googled it.

To my surprise, there were flights available. But not just any flights, direct, nonstop flights from Perpignan to Paris! That was something I hadn’t seen before.

The flight was a little more expensive than the train was, but it would get me to Paris four and half hours sooner. The other advantage was there were seats available on the flight, something I couldn’t say for the trains. So after I found an affordable hotel room, and reserved it, I booked my flights too.

I would not have considered flying at all because going to Paris by train, when I needed to go, had been my means of transportation. It had become my default mode because direct flights weren’t offered before. So out of habit or assumption, I stopped even thinking that flying was an alternative, although now I do see it as a viable option.

Sometimes life puts obstacles in our way so we can find a simpler path. And sometimes it takes longer for us to see that easier way. But this time it was a quick revelation for me.

I had been surprised that it only took me a matter of minutes to think of flying as a Plan B. Before, I might have gotten stuck on the fact that there were no trains as a bad sign. I might have allowed that little voice in my head to discourage me and make me fret about what I should do, what decision I needed to make. But instead, my excitement about the photoshoot propelled me into seeing solutions rather than focusing on the problem. As a result, the ad for air travel popped into my field of vision, sending me off in that direction.

Flying to Paris instead of taking the train or bus or even driving is a better way for me. I’ll get there sooner, and I’ll be more rested for my photoshoot the following day. Taking this flight will also help me know if flying is a viable option when I go to Paris next spring for my trip to New York. If it works out, I can save money on a hotel room the night before and be fresher for the six-hour transatlantic flight.

I will decide when the time comes, but having faced the problem of not being able to go to Paris by train this time opened my eyes to something that has the potential to make my life easier going forward.

What obstacles are you facing, and what might they be trying to tell you?