Following the herd….

It’s not quite the midnight hour, hubby and I just got back from the movies, we saw Four Christmases, it wasn’t so great, either. I’m just not having any luck at all with movies this Christmas season.

But that’s not what this post is about.  However, something happened at the movies tonight that made me think once again of something John said to me a few months ago.  In fact, I think I blogged about it before, but it’s worth a repeat.

During the hustle and bustle of being out and about this holiday season, his words have followed me everywhere I went and saved me a lot of time.  What he told me that made such a difference was, “Don’t follow the herd.”  He said this to me one day when we were out and about, while he went some alternate route through a back alley instead of waiting in a long line of traffic, and I’ve thought of it often since.

He said that the majority of people are like sheep, they blindly follow where others lead, and that we should never follow the herd, but strike out on our own.  I’ve thought of that time and time again, when instead of waiting in a long line of traffic, I’ve purposely gone a different route. I’ve gone the opposite way of where I was heading and doubled back, I’ve gone thru the back exits at shopping centers, I use service roads instead of going with the flow of the traffic, I’ve tried to be creative in check out lanes in stores by going to some out of the way area and checking out quickly, instead of just standing in line with the herd at the main registers.

You may say, “duh, I know this.”  “What is she blogging about this, for?”  But do you really, do you conscientiously look for alternative routes instead of waiting patiently with everybody else? If you don’t, think about it, going a different direction is truly liberating.

I put this into practice tonight at the movies.  Hubby parked the car, I was waiting in line to get tickets, the only line that was open, I might add, and it was extremely long.

Instead of just standing there waiting with the flock, I went to the registers that were closed, thinking that they would open up because the line was so long.  Sure enough, after just a minute here came a guy and opened the register, and we were able to walk right in, while the herd stood there, waiting….

Silly post, perhaps, and maybe the rest of you are “mavericks” who strike out on their own, but I think perhaps not, maybe you can learn from this, too – think about it the next time you are in line for anything – try something different instead of just blindly following the herd, it really works.  Smart son, I’ve got….