The goal is to make it home tonight.

There are several routes available for me to get there.

I could take the scenic route through the mountains and streams of north Georgia and North Carolina - a road with winding curves and wildlife. It adds an hour, but is sometimes worth it.

I could go through Atlanta. It’s slightly shorter than the “scenic route” - but why would any one go through Atlanta by choice?

Technically, there are an infinite number of routes home. I’d get there. Eventually. I could go through Atlanta. I could go through Rhode Island or via Kuala Lampur.

And those routes would be completely fine with me, I f I wanted to see Rhode Island or Kuala Lumpur before I get home. (Why would anyone choose to drive through Atlanta?) But I don’t. Not today. Not this week.

Tonight I’m driving the shortest route from Nashville, TN to Greenville, SC.

Because tonight my objective is home. And while there is an enormous part of me that wants to see and experience the world, a part of me that would be down to walk across the pedestrian bridge at the Petronas Twin Towers or check out a funky coffee shop in Providence - that’s not my goal. Not tonight.

My goal is clear and evident. Tonight I will take an undeviating path to get there.

Tonight, I will take the shortest road home.