The Flip of a Coin - an Impromptu Trip to Mayberry

Have you ever glanced down a random road and thought, "Why did the people choose to live here, are they happy here or would they prefer to travel and live somewhere else. I love to travel. Many of my stories come about from my personal travel. However, I panic at the thought of getting lost. It's one of my irrational fears. I use the term irrational because I believe fears are unfounded fantasies. The panic of being someplace unfamiliar prevented me from exploring new places. Being a creature of habit I stick to the routes I know. I once owned an old Ford Tempo that spent more time in the shop than on the road. It got to the point I would map out my trips along bus and train routes just in case the beast broke down. It got to the point that the local wreckers knew me. Waiting for them was unnecessary, they knew where I lived. Their numbers were on my speed dial. I would only need call and say, "Its sitting at the corner of Main and Broad streets, come get it!" Not wanting to bankrupt me with weekly towing fees they suggested it was time to get a new vehicle. The next week I went car shopping. I now own a new four-wheel drive SUV. It begged for a road trip. I needed to overcome my fear of exploration.

I remember a friend telling me that the universe rewards action. To reap rewards you must first make a move. To make the reward happen you must follow through. You can't make an apple pie without first buying the apples. The reward from that action is dessert. I decided to take action. I wanted to get lost; to experience the thrill of not knowing where I was going or where I would end up. So I flipped a coin - heads I would travel north, tails south. It showed tails. I packed my new SUV and headed south.

I drove south on Interstate 95 for hours and I ended up in a small rural town in North Carolina. I pulled into the parking area of a local restaurant called Snappy's Lunch and ordered the special. I sat by the window and watched a very old black and white police vehicle drive by that with MPD written on the side. I knew I'd seen that vehicle before but could not place where or when. I overheard some of the locals boosting how proud they were to live here. It was only then I realized I was having lunch in the hometown of Andy Griffith, Mount Airy, North Carolina or better known as Mayberry. The show that bears his name follows the life of Mayberry's lovable Sheriff Andy Taylor was popular in my family. It was a big part of my childhood. I always wanted to live in Mayberry. I love small town life with all their eccentricities. The town seems familiar as I walked the street whistling the tune from the show. I was actually walking the same streets where Andy grew up on. I stood in front of the old barber shop where Floyd cut Andy and Barney Fife's hair. Barney was his paranoid yet loyal deputy. I expected to see Aunt Bea with Andy's son Opie in tow welcoming me to Mayberry asking if I needed a place to stay. This bucolic piece of Americana was an unexpected surprise - all due to the flip of a quarter in my car. Was this a happy accident or the university rewarding me for taking action? Either way you look at it change had a large part in it.

One can not anticipate how change will influence your life experience. Who knows what the next flip of a coin would bring. Travel to a foreign land where no one speaks your language or perhaps to a new restaurant to dine on something you've never tried. Stimulating the senses is an adventure in itself.

From that point on I became an impromptu adventurer. I've allowed the flip of coin to be my travel guide. Make the adventure more exciting by taking along a friend - maybe someone who needs to jump start their life. Positive energy is contagious. It attracts other positive energy and boosts the soul. Life isn't always a smooth ride. It has its shares of bumps and detours. I find that taking a road untraveled can be an adventure and not an inconvenience. Leaving my fears behind I enjoy the fearlessness and awe of change; to take a chance and discover new and exciting experiences. Whether or not I feel adventuresome is beside the point. Life is an adventure. It is meant to be explored. All it takes is the flip of a coin.