Off the Beaten Path

While looking up the directions for Y2's road game, Mr. Snark saw the notation for a restaurant called Leonardo's.  It is literally just down the street from where the game was to be played.  In planning the weekly menu, I decided that the three of us would grab a burger or something on the way to the game.  When Mr. Snark saw Leonardo's on the map, the burger plan changed to an Italian plan.  We're SUCKERS for Italian food.  Seriously, what's not to love....cheese, pasta, garlic....cheese!!! I'd never heard of it and neither had Mr. Snark. It's not on our usual side of town, so we took a chance. I knew it was going to be good when we walked in and saw an oil painting of this hanging on the wall....
For those of you who don't know...this is Al Pacino in the role of Michael Corleone, the character he played in all of "The Godfather" movies.  Brilliantly, too, I might add.  What's significant about this particular still shot is that THIS is when all of the "family" comes together to acknowledge Michael as the Don.  He's no longer the innocent baby brother....he's outlived his father (Don Vito) and his oldest brother, Sonny.  Despite the fact that there is one more older brother, Fredo, Michael's the one.  I'm telling you, if I had a study...filled with dark wood cabinetry and heavy carpeting...leather arm chairs, I'd have this painting hanging on the wall.  F'getaboutit!  And BOY!  Was it good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Sometimes it pays to do a little off roading....straying from your routine...departing with the norm.  Now, am I advocating piercings in strange locations or dying your hair purple and changing your name to Synergia....NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Life is short and time is too precious to be locked into the same old same old, day in and day out because you're too scared to stray from the path.  There's a joke amongst Southern Baptists and perhaps it applies to other denominations, too..."We've never done that before!  It has to be bad/wrong/evil because it's different that how we've always done it."  Can you feel me rolling my eyes??? Don't get me wrong, change is hard and change is painful.  Been there. Done that.  Have the t-shirt and a few scars to prove it.  Some of the biggest changes in my life have been accompanied by great amounts of emotional pain but right behind the pain has been great joy!  Trying to circumvent the pain of life can sometimes eliminate the happiness that acts as a balance.

Going off the beaten path doesn't always mean a huge, monumental task.  It can be something as simple and easy as trying a restaurant on another side of town....starting your grossery shopping on the opposite side of the store, trying out a new lipstick color (FOR THE LADIES).  Here's the thing...if you don't like it, you can dust the mud off and try again...or go back to what you know and be better for it.

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