If You Go, You Usually Have to Come Back Again

Go somewhere and sooner or later you pick up the reins at home again. Few trips run one direction only. The departure and the return tend to come as a pair, and you rarely get one without the other. Have you noticed how reaching a new place can feel like it takes forever, while the way home somehow drags on even longer? We put most of our attention on the outbound leg. Then the time comes to head back, and what we say is a wishful, I'd rather not have to.

Which journey leaves you more worn out: the going or the coming home? I can picture it clearly. A tired mother and father stop just inside their own front door, bags and suitcases and bundles dropped in a heap around their feet. Now the dirty laundry waits. So does the job, the school routine, church, and whatever else fills a normal week.

Take something smaller, like a run to the mall or the home supply store. Once the haul is home, where does all of it go? The project you bought the materials for still has to be started, and then finished. The credit card statement shows up and the payments begin. Maybe the shoes or the clothes don't fit after all, and you realize you were a little too optimistic in the store. Maybe you bought lumber that had to be cut to a certain width or length, and only later discovered your measurements were off.

Shopping still feels good while we're doing it. We get to look at everything on offer and imagine owning it. The question is whether our eyes are bigger than our stomachs. Have we taken on more than we can actually manage? A party at the house works the same way: the fun comes first, and the mess waiting to be cleaned up comes after.

So keep it in mind. When you go, you have to come back. It makes sense, doesn't it? And it's usually no laughing matter.

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