Traffic Cones for Life!? by Barb Greenberg

Bright orange traffic cones can redirect traffic, mark hazardous areas, and delineate construction zones. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a smaller version we could use in our personal lives, like a tiny orange life alert necklace.

I would certainly appreciate it if something would let me know that my life would be redirected to a detour that I didn’t expect, and if I didn’t follow the detour signs, I might never get back to the road I had be traveling. Ah, but maybe it was time for me to take a different road.

It would be helpful to know that my life would soon be under construction. Would something be torn down or built up. Ah, but maybe something needs to be taken down, taken away, cleared out, so that something new can replace it.

And those hazardous areas in our personal lives. Some have become so familiar that we barely notice them and how they affect us. Ah, but maybe it’s time to take a closer look.

Be aware that not all traffic cones are placed correctly and to look for yourself to see if there is, indeed, a detour or construction or a hazard. Years ago I was driving north on Highway 169, just west of Minneapolis and saw an orange cone next to a sign that said, “Right Lane Closed Ahead.” All the cars had moved into the left lane where the traffic was crawling along. I’m a very cautious driver but sensed I could stay in the right lane, and you guessed it.

The right lane was never closed. Someone must have forgotten to remove the sign!

Ah, maybe there are signs in our lives we have forgotten to remove, that have kept us from moving forward, from noticing the paths that are open to us, even if someone says there are not?

It turns out we don’t need bright orange traffic cones for our personal lives, after all. If we pay attention and trust ourselves, detours, construction, and hazards appear for us to investigate and learn from as we travel along the roads that are our lives.