where the path of least resistance might really lead us ...

"the path of least resistance is for losers" - H.G. Wells

Now, I have no idea the context of this quote and don't know much about H.G. Wells other than that he wrote "War of the Worlds" -

which before it was a Tom Cruise blockbuster was used in a radio broadcast about a martian invasion of Grovers Mills, New Jersey -

(which I can assure you would be the first place for an invasion especially if these were desperate pizza-addicted aliens willing to sit in bumper to bumper traffic and pay high tolls to get some amazing thin crusts)

that was so believable people actually leaped to their deaths rather than face this potential calamity.

I would agree that the path of least resistance isn't a path that you can be on from birth to death and actually get anywhere - you will end up in the basement of your parent's house, with your mom doing your laundry and dad paying you in quarters to cut the grass on Sundays -

(although there are days this does not sound so bad to me)

but, I don't want to be beating my head against the wall all the time either.

(and I really can't spare the kind of brain cells this beating might endanger)

Can't the path of least resistance be the appropriate path sometimes?

Some of the best things in my life have come to me, at least in the early stages, rather effortlessly.

I met my husband on a blind date I totally did not want to go on (still married), I got the best job I ever had while using their restroom, bought the first house we looked at (still here - not sure I would recommend this one, but it has worked out for us)...

Of course at a certain point these effortless things get a bit efforty and then you get to decide just how much you want them and whether you want to push through the resistance, that is sure to come up sooner or later,

and the importance of that pushing may be more about the muscles you will get from the process than whether or not you actually get where you think you want to go or get what you think you want to get

Maybe, the start of a very good path for us could look like the path of least resistance - I am not going to climb through sticker bushes when there is a perfectly plowed path to the ocean, after all

(of course if those sticker bushes lead to a private beach, and I know the owners are in Hawaii for a week, well, I might just put on some heavy denim and plow through - not that I have ever done this)

but when that perfectly good path has some rocks and detours and sticker bushes of its own as it will sooner or later, I'm not exactly going to turn around

although sometimes when that path turns into a 10 ft brickwall we may need to find a way around it or regroup to grow the muscles we will need to climb that or decide if we even want to because how many times have we really, really pushed and moved mountains for something only to find it really wasn't what we wanted anyway - it didn't make us happy ...

I don't think the path of least resistance is for losers - sometimes it is for smart people avoiding sticker bushes and Jersey traffic.

Disclaimer - since I am not an expert in resistance and cannot be said to actually know what I am talking about I cannot be held responsible for any actions you might take from reading any of my posts - please keep this in mind if you end up in your parents' basement playing Guitar Hero in which case I would recommend a Nook and some H.G. Wells.

* a hazy stretch of grey print by leahtree photography