♪♪ >> THERE'S A TRAIL NEAR MY HOUSE I ABSOLUTELY LOVE.

I GO THERE YEAR ROUND.

FOR EXERCISE, FOR CHEWING ON IDEAS, AND FOR JUST GENERALLY GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE.

NOW, IN THE SPRING, THIS TRAIL DEVELOPS A LOT OF UDDLES.

AND AS EVERY HIKER KNOWS, WHEN A PUDDLE FORMS ON A TRAIL, PEOPLE WILL VERY QUICKLY CREATE AN EXTEMPORANEOUS BYPASS ROUTE.

IT'S USUALLY OFF TO THE SIDE, IT'S OFTEN MUDDY AND FULL OF FOOTPRINTS AND THERE'S RARELY ANYTHING MORE THAN A FEW STICKS TO BALANCE ON, BUT SOMEHOW IT'S ALWAYS JUST ENOUGH TO SORT OF WOBBLE AND SLOSH YOUR WAY AROUND.

AND, SO, THAT'S WHAT WE DO.

WE BYPASS.

WHAT WE DON'T DO, AS HUMANS, IS TURN AROUND.

BECAUSE WE'RE STUBBORN AND WE DON'T LIKE TO TURN AROUND.

IF WE START A HIKE, WE WANT TO FINISH A HIKE.

IF THERE'S CONSTRUCTION ON THE WAY TO OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANT, WE REROUTE THE GPS AND GET THERE ANYWAY.

IF SOMEONE DISAGREES WITH US POLITICALLY, WE MAKE UP ALL SORTS OF CONVOLUTED ARGUMENTS JUST TO AVOID CHANGING OUR DIRECTION.

THESE ARE ALL BYPASS ROUTES.

AND I THINK WE DO THIS BECAUSE, WHETHER WE REALIZE IT OR NOT, AT EVERY SINGLE MOMENT IN OUR LIVES WE'RE CARRYING AROUND AN OBJECTIVE.

A GOAL.

A SENSE OF WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AND HOW WE'RE SUPPOSED TO GET THERE.

AND FOR HUMANS, SETTING DOWN A GOAL IS REALLY PAINFUL.

IT'S MORE PAINFUL THAN WET FEET, IT'S MORE PAINFUL THAN SPENDING OUR LIVES IN TRAFFIC, IT'S EVEN MORE PAINFUL THAN LOSING A FRIEND TO SOME HURRICANE CIRCULAR POLITICAL -- TO SOME CIRCULAR POLITICAL ARGUMENT.

THE PROBLEM IS THESE DAYS, WE'RE WALKING DOWN A LOT OF TRAILS WE MIGHT NOT WANT TO WALK DOWN.

I'M TALKING ABOUT A DESTABLIZING CLIMATE, AUTONOMOUS COMPUTERS AND INTERCONTINENTAL MISS SILLS THAT CAN -- MISSILES THAT AN BLOW UP CITIES.

I DON'T THINK WE WANT TO BYPASS THESE.

IN FACT, I'M FAVOR IN TURNING AROUND COMPLETELY.

UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE STUBBORN.

CASE IN POINT, ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH WRITING THIS ESSAY, I DECIDED IT WASN'T VERY GOOD.

BUT INSTEAD OF TRYING SOMETHING ELSE, ELL, HERE WE ARE.