There’s always a naked guy…

I love to ride my bike here in Florida, especially in the winter months when it’s not quite so humid.

When I’m feeling especially daring, I’ll take off peddling toward my office located 7 miles away from my home. It’s a bit fatiguing, but exhilarating as well. I’ve found the shortest path to get back and forth, and there’s a wonderful trail along the way with truly breathtaking views.

Well, one view was breathtaking for all the wrong reasons. One day as I rode my bike past, I glanced to my left. There was a man walking around his thickly-forested yard. There was a lot of vegetation, and he was watering some plants with a hose.

Oh, yes. One other detail. He was stark naked.

I did what they call in comedy the “double take”. That’s where you look at something, look away but then realize what you just saw and look back again. Yes, that was exactly what I thought it was. I kept my eyes forward, and peddled quickly on down the street.

I’ve always been a very modest guy. I was never comfortable in gym showers or the locker room growing up. So I’m always a bit surprised when my 5 and 6 year old daughters run naked through the house. Usually they’re chasing each other from the bath in our master suit back to their bedroom. I remember when I was a new father, seeing it was a little awkward for me.  

On one such escapade, my wife exclaimed something like, “You’re buck naked!” Not sure where that expression came from, but it didn’t matter since our kids immediately misunderstood it. As they ran around the house in nothing but their “birthday suits”, they yelled, “We’re naked bucket! We’re naked bucket!”

There was a sign out front of Naked Guy’s driveway in Spanish: “Casa Del Something-or-other”. Not sure what the translation was, but it should have read “House of the Naked Guy” just as fair warning.

Or perhaps, “House of Naked Bucket”. My kids would have known immediately what that meant.

What was almost as surprising was he seemed so nonchalant: just a dude out watering his plants, ya know. And before you ask, he was indeed watering them the normal way.

I believe most nudists are no one you’d ever want to see naked. I’ve held this hypothesis in the past, and the man I saw that day was no exception to the rule. He was not doing the world any favors with his exposition.

You may think I made a mental note and now avoid that area. But you would be wrong. Years later now, I still ride past “Casa Del Whatever” and shudder a bit at my “Naked Guy sighting”. And in spite of the chance I might see him out “gardening” again, I always take the same route.

“Naked Guy” has a good life lesson to teach all of us (in addition to the importance of wearing sunblock evenly and comprehensively). He reminds us you will never get an “all clear” in this life.

There will always be obstacles in your path. Always.

That place where you think you’re job will stop being a struggle, and life will finally settle into an easy routine – that place is a mirage. It simply does not exist. No one ever “arrives”. We are all “becoming” until the day we die.

When you see the next obstacle in your path, you need to just nod your head and say, “Yep, I was expecting that”, even if that obstacle is buck naked. Because you should be not only expecting it, you should be looking for it. Obstacles are often important indicators we are on the right path.

If you are blazing a new trail, you should not only expect obstacles but also celebrate them. No obstacles means you’re on a easy path that has be worn down by previous travelers. But distractions and bumps in the road mean you are a pioneer in a new world.

Obstacles are also there to keep the wimps out and reward those who persevere. They persuade the less passionate traveler to settle for the low-hanging fruit. But they don’t realize the sweetest nectar is reserved only for those willing to climb to the top of the tree.

Thankfully, Naked Guy wasn’t climbing any trees that day. Count your blessings.

Somewhere out there right now, there’s a “Naked Guy” with your name on him, just waiting to jump out at you and scare you off the path toward your goal. Trust me on this. Something will always be standing in the way of your success, watering his plants with the garden hose.

Near my favorite coffee shop there’s usually a homeless man who hates my guts. Once he asked for something I couldn’t give him, and his instability has given him an unreasonable hatred for me. Now and then as I sit there writing, he walks past. Occasionally, he taunts me with some hateful remark, trying to goad me into an argument.

Do I stop going to my favorite coffee shop because of him? Do I opt for a less desirable spot and try to write there instead?

No, I do not. Why? 

Because I’ve learned to be expect circumstances being less than perfect. Obstacles should be no surprise.

There will always be some naked guy hanging around (sorry, bad choice of words) your favorite bike path. There’s always the fly in your soup, the stump in your plowing row, the monkey in your wrench (perhaps my analogy just died there).

But you know what I mean. Circumstances will never be perfect. So embrace the likelihood of obstacles, and keep pedaling along to where you’re going. One of my favorite Old Testament passages says:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!

I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength!  He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. – Habakuk 3:17-19 (NLT)

That means in spite of disappointments, God is your strength and life is still worthwhile. There’s joy to be found in every season, even if your crops fail. It’s your faith in God that will keep you “surefooted” in those times when you’re going uphill and the air gets thin. 

It’s in those high places that your view is grandest and vision is clearest. 

Not only expect the obstacles, learn to celebrate them. Their presence actually validates the value of your destination. When obstacles threaten to distract you, just peddle on past. Sip your coffee and write while the angry man sneers at you. Be encouraged that while these obstacles might keep others away, they serve to thin out the crowd on your path forward.

That homeless guy’s presence guarantees there will always be an open chair for you left by others!

One other thing: don’t take your eye off the road. You don’t want to have a wreck in front of a naked guy’s house. Waking up to mouth-to-mouth resuscitation could be awkward, to say the least.