Long Cuts And Short Cuts

There were two ways to get to the baseball field in the neighboring town. One way was to go up three blocks, down the big hill, and then over another two blocks. It took about 15-minutes on a bike. The second way was to go up a block, cut through the woods, and go straight down a path leading to the two blocks over to the field. The woods were more direct, so it shaved about 5 minutes off.

If you were in a pinch for time, the shortcut was good. Sometimes the woods were, a little sketchy though. You know when you’re not in trouble, but you can tell you’re also not supposed to be somewhere? They had that type of vibe. You had to consider this when you were alone especially.

If you weren’t in a pinch for time, or if you wanted to find some friends on the way, the extra blocks on the main strip, despite being a longcut, dramatically increased the chances you’d run into some people. So long as you were wanting to be found on this trip, it could be a feature of getting out the door early.

Shortcuts and longcuts are worth thinking about.

Sometimes you want to cut the distance down between where you are and where you’re going.

So you look for a shortcut. You have a purpose to work.

Sometimes that means you cut a corner for effort. Sometimes that means you take an unconventional or alternate path. These decisions come with consequences of their own.

But, the primary consequence a shortcut comes with, is it shortens the distance, in time or energy or money or whatever, between where you are and where you’re going.

So what about longcuts?

What if instead of cutting a corner, you wander around an extra block or two?

No, not just to procrastinate, but to give yourself some extra time to think, to give the universe a little extra room to show you something you might need to see?

You take an opportunity, but commit with open-ended understandings of other opportunities you’ll be simultaneously exploring, while you let time (or distances, or energy, or whatever) unfold.

Longcuts have purposes too.

The hurry isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Take a shortcut when you need to, but don’t totally avoid the longcuts either.