Life on Both Sides of the Line

As I walked down our street, where there are no sidewalks, I thought about which side of the road I needed to travel. When you walk on a busy road the rule is you travel facing traffic. This seems contrary to our natural instinct, yet it is how we are taught and by law how we are expected to cooperate with vehicles coming our way. There are lines down the middle of the road signifying where the middle is and in this case not to cross it. 

When I was leaving our house I walked one way, on my way home I walked on the other side. By traveling on both sides of the line I was able to relate to my neighbors on each side of the road. Walking in front of their homes let me see the world from their perspective, understand what they see everyday, and it made me appreciate our road from a different point of view. I think I needed that. I forget that not everyone sees the world from the end of my driveway; they have a totally different view from the end of their driveway. 

All the media talks about how divided our country is right now, how nothing will get done, and how our government is in big trouble leading us no where. What if the Democrats had to go live in a Republican neighborhood for a couple weeks, and vice versa? Would they be better able to understand the other side of the road? We get so focused on how things look from our own vantage point that we forget that the other side has a valid view as well. This line down the middle of the road is not there to divide us, it is there to remind us to travel safe. It reminds us that others are using this same path to get where they need to go. They are not wrong or bad, they are just traveling a different direction. Chances are if you drive one direction one day, you will travel the other direction going home. I think the people who serve in our government agencies and positions have forgotten that. They serve us all not just the people on their side of the road. 

As you travel our highways and byways, watch people and work to understand their side of things. We live in a fantastic country where freedom is being guarded by men and women protecting both sides of the line. If you had to only live life on one side ofthe  line, what a limited life that would be. Give thanks today for both sides of the line.