Stuck

I’m stuck in traffic, writing this in longhand on the back of an old Costco receipt (don’t worry… there’s lots and lots of room on this slip of paper… why in the world did I ever think I needed a 10-gallon container of dried shitake mushrooms anyway?).

I would thumb-type it out on the iPhone, but it’s always thisclose to running out of juice, even though I leave it turned off most of the time. I guess that’s because my 11-year-old daughter Pisa snatches it up every time she’s in the car and plays on one of the 3,000 apps she’s downloaded.

I’m edging forward on the expressway about ten feet a minute, and in many ways, this feels exactly like my weight-loss journey these days.

All through the past summer and autumn, I posted weigh-in numbers that would make anybody but a Biggest Loser contestant squeal with delight. Three pounds, four pounds… one week I think I might have lost a “stone”.

Now… now, I’m getting content to being the Master of the Micro-Loss. I’m learning to embrace the slower-than-slow creep of those last few pounds. It’s as annoying as… well, as annoying as sitting here fuming in a traffic jam.

Last time I was stuck in a miles-long snarl like this, I was heading to meet a buddy at a college basketball game. I’d been slow-poking along, getting more and more agitated with every passing minute. Finally, I whipped my vehicle onto an exit and decided there was more than one way to get across town.

Using my car’s GPS (“Geographically Perplexed System”), I went down dead-end streets, cut through neighborhoods where I inadvertently interrupted drug deals and dice games. I was speeding along, but getting nowhere fast.

I eventually got to the game, and my buddy informed me that he had been behind me on the expressway. There had been a wreck just past where I had turned off, and traffic had unsnarled right past there. Had I stayed put, had I just continued the way I was going, I would have gotten where I was going with a lot less fuss and stress.

I’m done looking for shortcuts and alternate routes. I will stay on the straight and narrow and trust that it’s the best path to get where I’m going.