Point of Divergence

I was travelling on familiar road and I was overly confident with myself. Little did I realize that development had caught up fast enough, and the road system had changed since my last travelling on that road.

The road had been modified to diverge before the toll gate. And my car, in full throttle, sped past and overshot at the divergence point. I was supposed to be on the left lane, go through the toll gate and after another 2km’s drive, to take the left exit.

My missing the turning had caused much inconvenience. I was on the right lane, separated from the left lane by the road divider. I cursed in anguish, looking at the exit that I was supposed to take. The exit was so near yet so far.

A miss was as good as a mile; there was no turning back. I was on near-to-empty tank. With God’s grace, I managed to travel approximately 20km to reach the nearest town, pump petrol and make an about turn.

We humans tend to make mistakes. Some are simply due to overconfidence and carelessness. However certain mistakes can be too costly to make. A detour in life can take years to recover; and I might not afford it. I am not that young anymore.

(Sapa, Vietnam)