I can’t read a map. At all. I’ve tried many times, but for whatever reason, it’s not my thing. In years past, before navigational applications, going somewhere new would take a lot of time. I would try to write down directions from someone very patient, but I always got lost. Always.

Our kids have no idea what it was like in the “old” days: to scribble directions down, taken over the phone, and then try to follow them.

Over the years, my family has learned that if I “feel like we should be going right,” the smart decision would be to turn left. I’m almost always wrong.

Thank goodness for technology. I don’t know what I would do without it.

Recently, I found myself on a college campus. With a map.

Somehow, I managed to follow the signs to the appropriate parking lot, ask several people where the building I was looking for was located, and find it. I didn’t even try to read the map. I worried about how I was going to find my car after the meeting, but dismissed the thought. I knew the name of the parking lot. Surely, someone would be able to help me find it.

That afternoon, however, the campus was nearly empty, and I needed to find my car.

I walked out of the building with another person, but the direction he was headed in just “felt wrong.” I should have know better.

I went a different way, alone, and hoped it was the correct decision.

There weren’t any signs. There weren’t any people I could ask. For a moment, I just stood there, looked around, and laughed. I had a little time, and my shoes were comfortable enough. Eventually, I would find my car.

It was just me and my memory of which direction I “thought” I came from early that day.

I made a thousand wrong turns. I know it wasn’t the most efficient way, but when I found that parking lot, all by myself, you would have thought I’d just finished running a marathon.

It was a proud moment!

You have to bask in your successes, however minor they are. If you feel like your life is going in the wrong direction, stop and reflect. Take the time to look at where you actually are, and where you want to be. Don’t make a move until you think you know which direction you want to go in. Sometimes, you make a wrong turn, and it might take a little while to recognize you’re headed in the wrong direction. You have to have the courage to go another way.

Part of life is navigating the roads, not knowing if we’re going down the right one, but hoping we get where we want to be at the end. Don’t just keep walking without taking the time to stop and look around, notice where you are, and change your direction, if you think it would be better.

There’s no map to follow for our lives. We have to navigate the best we can.

And, if you happen to see someone walking around who looks lost, help them out.

Find meaning each day,

Dara

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