My wife and I recently went on a road trip from Bengaluru to Mumbai in our cozy Tata Nexon EV, along with our twin daughters, and our naughty pets Fae and Veer. Like last year, it was an exhilarating experience across the beautiful terrain of northern Karnataka and Maharashtra. It was amazing to notice the enormous number of windmills and the rains made the drive cool and adventurous.
As I reflected, the road trip had some precious learnings for me:
Spontaneity is liberating - especially for overthinkers (like me)! My wife wanted to visit Mumbai to spend time with her mom, and since it was the summer holidays, our daughters would accompany her. My wife asked me "Why don't we all go together so we don't need to rush back quickly to relieve you of taking care of Fae and Veer by yourself?" I felt a surge of energy and said "Why not!". Normally, I would have considered the decision from multiple perspectives, but this time, I just felt the freedom of being able to follow my heart! Of course, I would love to be with my family, all six of us together, on this trip to Mumbai. If I had to move a few of my Coaching appointments, I would take care of it. My learning was that not all decisions need to be over-thought.
Spontaneity is liberating!
Space, time, and everything is a function of 'Will'! - Have you ever had a friend or family member come and stay over at your place? Have you noticed how the space feels large enough when you are enjoying the company and the same space feels too small when the company is not particularly enjoyable? Our Tata Nexon is nice and full with all six of us, but somehow we love it and we would not have it any other way! The antics with Fae looking out of the window, the cool wind in her face, and Veer jumping in and out of the small space above the back seat several times during the day, somehow make the whole experience full of joy and madness! The one-thousand km road trip from Bengaluru to Mumbai took us three days each way, but time just seemed to zip by.
Space, time, and everything is a function of 'Will'!
There is a time for just surrender - On the way back from Mumbai to Bengaluru, as luck would have it, I miscalculated the Electric Charge levels and our EV ran out of charge at a distance of three km from the nearest fast charging station. We were stranded in our EV, on top of a flyover in the middle of pouring rain in Dharwad! With traffic zipping past it was not possible for us to drive forward or roll down backward to reach either end of the flyover. We called the Tata Nexon emergency roadside helpline and they said they would send a pick-up truck in about one hour. But 90 minutes later we were still stranded with no sign of the rescue vehicle. My wife (and my Co-pilot!) got out of the car in the rain, and lo and behold! - she waved down a God-sent rescue truck that had another vehicle hooked on to it. He finished the delivery of the first vehicle to a workshop and after waiting for another hour, he returned and pulled up our vehicle. All six of us were sitting in the car, with the front wheels lifted by the crane, and I was looking out into the rain-filled sky. For the next 15-odd minutes, it was a surreal feeling for me, to just sit back and not be able to take charge of the driving wheel - while the car was towed to the charging point. The post-mortem and learning on what to do differently next time could wait.
This was a time to just surrender.
Life is like a Road trip! This year our Road trip had been largely hassle-free and smooth two thousand kms to and fro. However, it was sprinkled with a fair share of adventure and challenges. The road quality for a sixty km stretch from Pune to Kolhapur had a lot of construction going on every 2-3 km. As we approached our Kolhapur overnight halt location, we hit a particularly rough pothole with a loud thud and one tyre was punctured. I parked the car on the side of the road to examine the damage and noticed the tyre was flat and the rim of the wheel was slightly bent. It was getting dark already but luckily we were within the Kolhapur city limits so there were some shops around that were still open. We asked for some help to fix the puncture (since we still had two days of road trip ahead of us) and a good Samaritan offered to take me to the nearest puncture repair shop. The shopkeeper sent a person to help us get the wheel repaired and after another hour's wait, we reached our night halt place safely.
Life is like a road trip. 95% smooth and 5% rough, we face some challenges now and then, and we also get some help to overcome the challenges.
The Joy is in the Journey - Both Bengaluru and Mumbai are home for us. All four of us love the road trip in between our start and finish points - and we suspect that our furry friends Fae and Veer enjoy the trip too! They definitely add to our Joy!
Just like the road trip, life is the journey between the start and finish points, and that is where the joy lies. Often we miss this point and chase after the destination state. Which all too often may be fleeting and underwhelming when we get there.
What are you discovering from your road trip called life?
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Pic: Fae enjoying the wind in her face
The author, Anuj Chadha, is a Leadership Coach, Founder of Three Circles, Co-Founder of the Thrive Program, Faculty & Coach with Leadership Et' Humanite, and an Associate Coach with the Center for Creative Leadership.
At Three Circles, we build a deep understanding of what it takes to navigate the challenges that life throws at us. We partner with our clients, listen to their life & career aspirations, and support them to break through the obstacles that seem to be holding them back. Life is too precious to be unhappy, unsure, or unfulfilled. Partner with us as you re-imagine and re-create the Life that you Love!
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