Week 40: Detours
Lessons from F1 road closures
Because of the Singapore Grand Prix that occurred over the last weekend, major roads into and out of the city were closed for 6 days; 6 days in which I still needed to attend uni lectures and pole classes. And it goes without saying that I had to take detours to attend what I needed to attend and get where I needed to get to.
The month leading up to the road closures was dreadful. Any thoughts of having to plan a different trip from what I was used to taking (counting backwards from the time I needed to arrive at my destination, accounting for travel time and bus-to-train interchanges, getting out of the house in time) sent me spiraling down a “Why did I have to get to this place at this time on this day?” hole.
I won’t lie. On some days, I contemplated easy way outs — requesting to attend classes online, taking a Grab and bearing inflated prices… But, surprisingly, my mentality changed a day or two before the road closures; the idea of exploring different route options suddenly felt exciting. And, so, explore I did. I experimented with different options to get to uni and to pole class, and back home.
Within those 6 days, I —
- Took the same bus route — but ended up stuck in traffic for 45 minutes when that stretch of road would have usually taken the bus 5–10 minutes to get through. I was 15 minutes late for class that day.
- Tried a different bus route — that went down a busy road, and saw different views of Singapore; a very bustling Singapore.
- Tried doing a bus and train combo — and upped my step counts on my Apple watch.
- Tried doing a bus and bus combo (where you change buses midway) — and had a good look at the Montessori opposite the bus stop, the one I always pass by on the way but never had the chance to stop and observe.
In the span of 6 days, I experienced much more with the Singaporean public transport system than I would have had if F1 never happened in Singapore.
Whilst writing this, I am reminded of a movie I recently watched on Netflix— 2 Hearts. It was one of those nights where you didn’t know what to watch and ended up going with something recommended.
I don’t intend to write up a movie review here, but there was a specific quote from the movie that had me reflecting for the next few days…
“Life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you.” — Tony Robbins
… and I think this perfectly describes how the change in my perception on the road closures changed the way I felt about it.
What else in life can this mindset be applied to?
Every detour in life could be happening to us, but it could also very well be happening for us. And at the end of the day, it’s up to us to choose which way we want to see it.
I packed up 8 years of my life in Melbourne in December 2021 to move to Singapore to be closer to home and also to explore the world outside of what I already knew. This is a year-long series of reflections on #myvoyagehome. Thank you for being a part of my journey.
