You Never Know What’s Around the Corner

 I was given a very good lesson today about what lies around the corner, literally. For the first few weeks of our trip,  we had been living in a friendly part of central Oxford, bustling with people, bicycles, buses and a general good feel buzz to life. From my window, I could watch the comings and goings of people, day and night. Late evenings were particularly entertaining given we were sandwiched in between two pubs; early mornings were even better.  For twenty minutes one morning, I watched a very wobbly drunk trying to put his socked feet back into his shoes. No matter which way he tried, he couldn’t coordinate himself. Eventually he wandered off down the street with a shoe in each hand. Morning or night, this place was alive. And almost everyone was headed north.

Every day we also walked north, past the crossroad, towards the town centre which was 10 minutes away. We saw the same wonderful colleges, the same stores and the same trees; different people but same view. As a stranger to this city, it was comforting to begin to recognize places and streets and calming to know we couldn’t get lost. We walked up north and came home down the same path. We felt like locals.

We regularly walked to a wonderful park, north of course, which was 20 minutes away. It became our regular and was well worth it. But the one thing we couldn’t see from there were the famous spires of Oxford. After two weeks, we left for life in an isolated country village without ever getting that bird’s eye view of the spires that we so wanted.

Yesterday we arrived back into Oxford, after three weeks away. It was a spectacular day of sunshine, unusual for the Brits. My daughter was starting her short stint in school so I had the opportunity to explore outside by myself.

I found myself at the same crossroads near where we had initially lived,  but this time, instead of heading north, for the first time since being here, I turned around and headed south. And what did I find just 200 metres down the road? A vast expanse of fields and meadows which from the top of the hill showcased the best view of the spires of Oxford! I couldn’t believe we had lived so close to this for weeks and I never knew it existed. It was literally around the corner! But all that time, I had taken the wrong path. All I had ever needed to do was head in a different direction. It was so ridiculously easy.

Today reminded me that so many opportunities lie just around the corner, if only we are prepared to shift our thinking and change our direction. Whether it be a new job, a new friend, a new playground for your kids, a new way of attracting money, there are endless new things that await us, just around the corner. It’s only a matter of turning around.