The Bridge is No Longer There

Not more than two weeks ago, I drove to one of my favorite hiking spots. As I drove the familiar route, I crossed an old bridge I have crossed many times before. I noticed that the new bridge they were constructing right beside the old one was almost finished. It seemed to spring up overnight.

Yesterday, as I drove to my hiking trail, I noticed that the new bridge was open and I was going to be crossing that new bridge for the first time. Kind of a a neat experience to cross a bridge for the first time... but that's another lesson!

As I drove across the new bridge, I looked carefully at the old bridge. I was a bit shocked to see that the old bridge, although structurally in tact, had no deck! They had already removed the driving surface from the bridge! There was nothing there to drive across.

A shiver ran through my spine as I thought about how scary it would be to have taken the wrong road and suddenly find that the bridge was no longer there.

I started thinking about the fact that just because we've gone somewhere in the past, or taken a particular route before, doesn't mean that it will always be there. Sometimes things that worked in the past... stop working. Sometimes methods that served us in the past... no longer serve us. Sometimes something that seemed solid, suddenly falls away and will no longer support us.

I guess the lesson I took away from this encounter with the bridge is that we must always be aware of our surroundings and what is happening within us and in our lives. Sometimes we have to change course, because the old one simply no longer exists as we once knew it. This is part of life. The only response is to keep our eyes open and adjust accordingly!