Turn the Page

My Week #6 Submission

When I listen to Bob Seger sing Turn the Page, I find myself traveling down a long lonesome highway. It’s happened often enough, both metaphorically and in real life. After all, not only did I drive off into the abyss when at the end of my rope — I’ve also logged over half a million miles as a professional driver. And let me tell you something, there’s not a trucker out there on the road that doesn’t know exactly what Bob’s talking about when he says-

“Strung out from the road.”

I’ve been a million miles away too — lying on an air mattress at a rest stop, with thoughts wondering through my mind all night long. So far away from everyone I love, that I felt as though I might never make it home to see them again. Hell, I was almost certain of it…

I’ve walked into bars and restaurants and felt a dozen of eyes judging me — making their minds up before I’ve had a chance to speak. And just like Bob — I also realized how bad I was outnumbered, and didn’t dare make a stand.

And who hasn’t given their all to something, some job or maybe a relationship, only to come away feeling stripped and naked — strung out? And you may pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode!💥

Don't Let It Whip Ya

But even then, we can’t let it whip us — we’ve got to keep getting back up again and again. We keep logging those miles, pounding those keys, or just plain ole showing up. No matter how tough the going gets, we must summon the fortitude to give our all each time we’re on stage.

“Say here I am, on the road again,

There I am, up on the stage,

Here I go, playing the star again,

There I go, Turn the Page.”

Because there will always be another page. And although we have no way of knowing what will be written on it, we can affect what’ll be written by what we’re doing Now.

Just like our past decisions have brought us to where we are — our current decisions determine where we go from here. Every moment that presents it’s self to us is another opportunity to choose our path forward.

Each day we turn another page, and each day we have a choice. We can write our own story by being mindful of what brought us to that long lonely highway. And by being courageous enough to change our direction. If we’re not, we risk letting outside circumstances write it for us.

The fact is, that most of the times I found myself, “a million miles away,” my exile had been self imposed.

In Turn the Page — I think Bob is telling us to not only keep showing up, but to write our own story. That if we don’t like where we are or what were doing, we can simply Turn the Page by taking our journey into our own hands.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” -Henri Bergson

Thanks for reading! If you’re a writer, I hope this’ll inspire you to make your own submission!

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Cover Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash