Last Tuesday I left at 7:00 a.m. for our Las Vegas facility. I left early so I could arrive about midday, check into my hotel, take a break and then get to the house to spend time with the clients. However, life had other plans.

The trip went well until I got into Northern Arizona, near the Nevada border. There I was halted for an hour and 45 minutes by construction. I've been traveling through this area for seven or eight years of bridge building and hadn't experienced a wait of this length. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes as the maximum. But, I had my Kindle with me and so was able to listen to an e-book while waiting. Once in a while I would shut off the book and listen to local radio and all in all the time past fairly well. Once the line started moving it crept forever across the winding road across the top of Hoover dam. Once on other side my goal was in sight. I visualized a relaxing siesta at the hotel, then off to the program. However, life intervened again and I found myself trapped in another construction zone at the top of the hill on the road into Henderson, Nevada. By this time I was in acceptance and the wait was over before I knew it. I finally arrived at my hotel at about four o'clock. My plans for the day were just a memory.

One thing I try to practice, after nearly 20 years of sobriety, is to flow with life. When I was drinking and drugging delays infuriated me. The universe was against me. Life sucked. Didn't people know how important I was? When things didn't go my way the world stopped. Even though I was going nowhere, I wanted to get there fast.

Today I try to look at delays and blown-up schedules philosophically. For example, during these delays I mused that God might be telling me to enjoy the trip. Even though I don't have a lot of frustration in my life and try to keep my stress down, I enjoy busy. This lifestyle makes me happy.

But when I get messages like this from the universe, from God, then maybe I could at least acknowledge them.