The Road Was Never Required to Match the Map

"Los caminos de la vida no son como yo pensaba."

This line contains no grand philosophy.

That is what makes it powerful.

Life was not what I expected. The road did not resemble the picture in my head.

I suspect almost everyone reaches this realization eventually.

But in Mexico, I often hear it expressed without the language of personal failure.

The road changed. The plan did not survive. You continue anyway.

There is sadness in that acceptance, but also maturity.

Not every unexpected turn is evidence that life has gone wrong. Sometimes the imagined life must disappear before the real one can begin.

That is certainly true of my own journey to Mexico. I did not arrive here because my life followed the map. I arrived because it did not.

Perhaps Mexico smiles because it understands something I am only beginning to learn:

The road can disappoint you and still take you home.