It seems that every time I turn around there is information out there on how to do something faster, save time and work more efficiently.  But with all of these time saving tips, what are we doing with all of the freed up hours and minutes of our day?  I know at least for me, it often feels like this new-found freedom from the hands of time just leaves me with a sense of heightened anxiety because I feel like I should be doing more, more, more.

Well, last week I found myself with a bit of time on my hands when making a trip up to Wisconsin.  Instead of hopping on the interstate, with cars and semis zipping by me at 90 miles per hour, I decided to take the backroads and see what the road less traveled had to offer me.  I couldn’t help but giggle to myself as the words from Cars ran through my head,  “Well, the road didn’t cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn’t drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.”

And I must admit, I agree with Sally.  Driving on the winding roadway, through the farm scape of northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, was a lot more fun.  I was able to see lilac bushes in full bloom along the roadside.  I pulled over to look at a goat farm where new kids frolicked in the fields with their mothers.  I coasted into an actual town to buy a cup of coffee, instead of a grabbing a cup of joe from a giant neon-glowing gas station perched aside the interstate.  I was even lucky enough to stop by an antique shop that had so much heirloom goodness that it spilled out onto the front lawn.  And to think I would have missed all of this if I had sped down the interstate.  Yes, I would have made it to my destination a few minutes faster, but so much would have been absent from my experience of that day.

So, as cliche as it sounds, I am so happy “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”