Green Light Game

Dear Trent who’s afraid of being lost,

Practice getting lost.

Yesterday, I played the Green Light Game. You know the one - where you takeoff on a run with only a cardinal direction.

I started that run going south on the West Side Highway in NYC. OK… that’s pretty typical. I’ve run that same route - what - probably 50, maybe 100 times before? So all the sights, the sounds, the feel was quite familiar. Even as I got lost in the music, lost in the rhythm, lost in the flow… it was hard to fight the feeling: I’d been here before. I’d ran this exact path many times before. So, I was less inclined to take in the uniqueness of the sights, sounds, & feelings that were present all around me.

But then… some magic happened. Rather than turn around and run back the same way I’d came, I decided to take a hard left into the land of skyscrapers and play the Green Light Game.

You know the game - the one you often unconsciously play - where you just set a heading and then can only uncover “the path” as it unfolds behind me, after I cross at each new intersection.

Northeast was the selection yesterday. After making that single choice, I just followed the stoplights… wherever they took me. North or East were the only options as I followed the greenlights and their corresponding “Walk” signs.

It was a bit unsettling when I first got going, because, as I trekked further & further away from the efficient way home, I really began to question: “Dang… why didn’t I just go in a straight-line back? Am I gonna have the energy to make it in the end?”

(Spoiler: you will. You always do. So, just keep going… Eventually, you’ll feel that it’s time to bend it back towards the Promised Land.)

It’s a fun way to drop into the present moment, because I literally don’t know where the next intersection will lead. It’s a fun way to practice following the signs (again… quite literally). It’s a fun way to practice quieting the mind and letting go of “the plan” for awhile.

As Tolkien once said in Lord of the Rings: “Not all those who wander are lost.” I think what he’s trying to say is that getting lost ain’t that bad, especially if you’re getting lost on purpose.

So whenever you feel stuck in the rut of your day, just lace up, go for a Green Light run, and don’t be afraid.

Oh! And one last reminder: the pace you’re running is perfect for today. There is no “should be faster” or “must be better.” That would assume there’s a second version of you who’s also running but in a different dimension. That’s simply not the case; there is no imaginary pacer. So, just run, skip, walk, dance. Whatever you’re feeling like doing… doesn’t matter. Just be ok with the one version of you who’s here.

Practice getting lost.

Practice being with what’s Here.

In the immortal words of McConaughey: “Greenlight.”

Enjoy the journey,

T. Happy