To embrace the unexpected bumps and turns of life, is to embrace life itself. Who knows what wild and wonderful paths it has in store for us, so enjoy the detours, they might turn out to be our highways.
This post was inspired by Ese’s shoot and quote challenge, ‘direction’.
Life Directions
This entry was posted in change, mindfulness, nature photo, philosophy, photos, spiritual, stuckness, thoughts and tagged Carl Jung, change, growth, life, philosophy, photography, psychotherapy, purpose, quote, spiritual. Bookmark the permalink.
breathofgreenair 
My highs and lows are not so dramatic these days. This kind of life started out feeling a bit boring but now I don’t want to deal with the intensity of both. When things go ‘wrong’ I don’t fall down in a heap and I can stay on the right path. Same with the highs. They don’t derail me. Thank you.
It sounds as though some change has swept through your life….perhaps this new quieter life has more treasures of its own yet to be uncovered. Stability and balance are wonderful gifts 🙂
Perfectly stated …
Well I think Jung knew a thing or two about the human condition 😉
I can’t disagree – i think that all the wrong turns turn into not so wrong ones after all. And offer if not a new perspective to the things around then to ourselves at least. Gorgeous photo!
Thank you very much for being a part of the challenge.
You have put into words exactly how I feel when I read this quote of Jungs, and when I contemplate the many unexpected and unplanned changes which have happened in my life. Eventually I can find the treasure hidden within, that new eye, the new angle, the new understanding 🙂
Our philosophies appear to overlap … I am a firm believer in my own take on it which is that ‘Life is an oscillator.’ The downs are as natural and expected as the ups. One simply hopes that each occurs in equal frequency and magnitude such that in the end we break even. I suppose the most we can hope for is that ‘when it’s all over’ that perhaps we’ve ‘beat the house’ and done a bit better than that. What say you? D
Beautifully put David, and I agree…..the only certainty in life is that there will be constant changes, good and bad, but the details of the change are less important than how we face and deal with them. The meaning we give to them can change the experience….for better or worse….but they are inevitable, and perhaps within the unexpected and unplanned there lies treasure 🙂
and what when the turnings are wrong?
That’s when we find out things about ourself we would not have known, and thus we become more whole. We will move forwards or backwards or sideways, but even the wrong turnings will pass as we move on to the next thing 🙂
Going backwards, and making wrong turns if we move on at some point are still considered as part of going forward?
I would say so, as long as we learn from each experience….but what do I know 🙂
My dear you are a therapist and I value your insight, hence my question. Warm regards, P.
Paula my lovely, I think what Jung was getting at in this quote was that there really is no such thing as a wrong turn or a dead end…..everything which happens to us helps us understand ourselves a little better….and so we grow more whole. Mistakes might just be roads which were very uncomfortable, and down which we found out lots of things about ourselves which otherwise would never have been exposed. Becoming whole means embracing the light and the dark within us, the comfortable and the uncomfortable. Mistakes and steps backwards are just another part of the journey of growing into ourselves.
🙂 Can I give you a virtual hug?
We can hug each other 🙂
Everything is a chance to understand ourselves better!
Thank you for this chat, Seonaid, and a good night. *hugs*
Love your quote, and image fits well! Reading the comments, I couldn’t agree more that it’s the difficult stuff, once you get through it, that makes you more whole…. Thanks for stopping by my blog, which has led me here, I’m off for a wander now 🙂
What a great quote and lovely photo.
Thanks Fi, another shot from Linlithgow Palace 🙂
So many detours have led to new discoveries…
Indeed, and new discoveries about previously unknown parts of ourselves 🙂
That’s a terrific quote and the image you’ve put with it works well. Life is often an uphill climb after taking a wrong turning.
It certainly can be Suzanne…..that’s my husband climbing the hill and when I showed him the post he asked if I was trying to tell him he was going the wrong way in life 🙂
We really only discover our whole wholeness by exploring the difficult parts, and the previously unknown parts, as well as the easy stuff. By getting lost I often find myself 🙂
Dear Seonaid. I’m a specialist in detours. It has become my main road. Perhaps it has something to do with curiosity 😀
All the best,
Hanna
Hanna, that sounds like a great way to live 🙂 Here’s hoping for lots more interesting detours 🙂
Lovely and so true but it can be hard sitting through it at times.
Agreed, and especially when the detours or wrong turnings give us uncomfortable experiences…..or even a feeling of having got stuck….I hate sitting through those 🙂
Well done!
Thanks Amy 🙂
so true so true
I just need to remember this whenever I feel the urge to start organising my life more 🙂
That’s because we try to plan the details instead of keeping the overall destination in mind. I try to “go with the flow”, but don’t always succeed!
Me too Doug, and like you I have varied degrees of success in going with the flow.
The strangest turns of events in my life have often led on to the next step….and could never have been planned 🙂
The highs can be so high. The clarity so clear at times and then it balances out again to the new normal. Your heart soars then lands to rest for a while, as there is still work to be done. Within this clarity all becomes ALIVE and animated, as you feel the connection with that most Perfect Love… You! * smiles*
Life is certainly a roller coaster of uncertainty. How lovely that you stopped by my blog, and took the time to share 🙂