Life Lesson from Travel #9: Life is Better When There is a Mix of Good and Bad
The following lesson is more of a rule of nature. Once you understand it, you will appreciate life more. Over the course of my US Road Trip, I learned that not every day can be fabulous and that those less-than-fabulous days are essential to truly being able to enjoy the best ones.
My US Road Trip was perfect for the first few weeks. Then the problems began: I got horribly lost, and my car battery died in Vermont; I had to drive 8 hours straight across Wyoming; and so many others. I became frustrated many times in those instances. I could not understand why I was so unlucky.
One outcome of traveling on your own in remote areas is that you spend hours on end with yourself. This gives you time to reflect and learn about yourself and the world. One of my worst driving experiences occurred in California. It was during that trip that I realized this hard fact: the horrible days are a must.
I was driving on Route 1 at the northernmost tip of California. It is a painful to drive, one lane winding road that scales a mountain. Once you are on it, there is no turning back or passing cars. I had to force myself to be calm and collected. I finally managed to control my emotions and reach a state of peace. During that time, I began to think long and hard about all of the similarly unfortunate events that had transpired on my trip.
I asked myself how the trip would have been different if none of these painful experiences and miserable days had happened. I told myself it would have been ten times better. Sadly, I believed this for the next couple of hours and got angry that God would let me have such bad experiences. It was not until the end of the next day that I realized my mistake and understood this rule of nature.
The day after that horrible drive was one of the best days of the trip. Surprisingly, the series of events over the past 48 hours seemed like déjà vu. It was not the events themselves, but the pattern that stood out to me. I realized that every single one of my most memorable and activity packed days had been preceded by a horrible event or day. My adventures in Quebec were preceded by my car battery dying. My thrilling ATV experience was preceded by an uneventful day of travel. My amazing experiences in Yellowstone National Park were preceded by eight hours of torture as I drove 8 hours straight across the wide-open state of Wyoming with nothing in sight for miles! And those are only three examples.
What I realized is that my mind was comparing two days (the best day and the worst day) that are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. It is this contrast that made the great days so amazing and memorable. If every day became an awesome day, I would lose that contrast, and the impact would slowly be lost in my memories as a truly special day. Having the bad days helps you appreciate the good ones. The bad stuff grounds you so that you can have a more optimistic and appreciative mindset.
To illustrate this, think about how the following would feel. Take your favorite pastime or one of your most memorable days. Now try to imagine doing that every single day for the next year. How about if you did it for two years or even the rest of your life? Would it still be as memorable and thrilling? Probably not. This is why I say that the horrible days in life are a must.