When considering travel to a neighboring city by car, the easiest route is usually the fastest route, as well. The highway. The freeway. The interstate. The bypass. The turnpike. These major roads go by many names and as convenience goes, they are a godsend. However, the highway is not the only way to get from Point A to Point B – any number of smaller roads connect the many smaller towns that highways have bypassed and forgotten. Sure, you’d have to endure intercity traffic and lower speed limits and traffic signals and the occasional tractor (or horse-drawn buggy!) but maybe it’s still a route worth consideration.
On the freeway, you limit your choices.
Lifehacker recently highlighted the above quote from David Klein – creator of Jelly Belly – as featured in Candyman, a documentary about Klein. It seems like common sense, but the implications are limitless and can extend to many parts of our day to day lives. Reading between the lines, it’s a statement about the sacrifices we make in the pursuit of convenience.
By zipping from town to town on the freeway, you may miss any number of interesting destinations in between. By choosing to shop at big box retailers that offer convenience and low prices by limiting their selection of items in each category you may be missing out on, say, a specialty shampoo that makes your hair look better than it ever has. By choosing to invest your energy in the CliffsNotes on Macbeth rather than reading the play itself, you’re missing the lyrical beauty of Shakespeare.
We’re all busy and little time savings get us back to House of Cards a bit faster, but maybe it’s worth taking the road less traveled here and there. Maybe in choosing the path of least resistance you’re missing out on something that would add unprecedented value to your life. Is that not worth slowing down for?