Last week, there was major construction going on two miles down from my house, and in true fashion of “first world problems”, that road block in the middle of town was a major inconvenience in the life of someone’s biggest worry is whether or not they’ll get an A on their final. Everyday before work or school I would have to leave an extra 20 minutes early to ensure I would arrive on time to wherever I was going because the detour meant I had to drive out of my way and then do the worst thing one could imagine: sit in traffic. This is a horrible way to start off the day, and when all you want do is get in bed after a long day, its the worst way to end one.

Last Friday, I had just gotten off from work and I was driving the detour in order to get home. I was eager to throw on more comfortable clothes and hang out with a friend, when I was stopped in my tracks by a cop car. No, I wasn’t speeding (not this time anyway), the alternate route our city was instructed to take was too, closed off. I had to wait in traffic for an hour just to be told that I couldn’t use this road, the only road available, to get home.

I don’t think any of us are strangers to roadblocks popping up in our lives. As a woman in my early twenties, these ‘inconveniences’ seem to pop up faster than I can bypass them and there is nothing more frustrating than being told, “You can’t go this way, try again.” You know what I’m talking about: A change in plans for your college, being laid off from your dream job, growing apart from your best friend. Yeah forks in the road are unnerving since we have to make the big decision on which road to take, but it’s even worse to have a one-way road mapped out before you, and then a big old fat sign in front of it that says “This road is closed.”

When our perfectly polished plans are destroyed, we go crazy. We have no idea what to do and we immediately go back to our piles of shattered pieces and try to put them back together. We take it upon ourselves to fix what was ruined in the first place, and then we get mad at everyone but ourselves when the plan continues to downward spiral.

We’ve all been in a situation where we had a goal we wanted to achieve and a set of steps we need to complete in order to reach it, but something seems to always get in our way. It seems that anger and resentment are always feelings we associate with “when life hands you lemons”, but why is it never relief? Some of the most amazing things that happen in our lives are by chance, and some of the worst are ones that we planned out. I’m speaking to myself when I say we need to not only acknowledge these road blocks, but embrace them. Signs, red flags, they’re put up for a reason: as a warning. These objects aren’t dangerous, but would they represent can be: heartache, loss, failure.

You can ignore those warnings and continue down your road if you really wanted to. If I really wanted to get home before 6 o’clock Friday, I could’ve kept driving. I would’ve hit several people on the way, been arrested by the cops, and my car certainly would have been damaged from the construction, but I could have kept going. Would that have been stupid? Absolutely, but that is what so many of us are doing right now.

We’re dating someone that we know isn’t right for us, and their toxic actions should be the sign telling us that the road ahead is dangerous. We’re signed up for a major that we secretly hate and could never imagine actually doing and that’s the cops telling us to turn around. We’re out late hanging out with people who party and drink all the time and we’re following suit and that should be all the cars in front of us turning around. We know when a road block hits us, as well as, what the smart and the logical thing to do, but our own fear gets in the way.

We’re creatures of habit and we don’t like things that don't go our way. In fact, we would rather tear up our cars and look absolutely ridiculous as we run through a roadblock, never once thinking that the one that put it there in the first place has already been there and has seen what would happen if you kept going in that direction. These signs aren’t in our life to hurt us, but to protect us. Pulling at our hair shouting, “What am I supposed to do now?” is a minor inconvenience compared to what might happen if we ignore the warning. There is a plan and a purpose for your life, but you will find neither of those if you drive past that warning.