*giggles*
Oprah Winfrey
It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn - which is what life is all about.
For those of you who read this journal regularly you'll know that recently I've found myself in a very unhappy situation. Things were looking pretty bleak and I couldn't see how I could fix things.
But this weekend I had the opportunity to spend the entire weekend with my family, who I don't get to see very often. I'll be honest, after all that's happened in the last fortnight what I really wanted to do was curl up in my bed and wait for it all to blow over. But I didn't. I packed my bags and escaped in my little car and do you know what?
I'm really glad I went!
John M Ford
We're not lost. We're locationally challenged.
Driving along in my little car I cranked up the stereo, sang along at the top of my tuneless voice and pootled along on a road I've never driven on before, no troubles, no worries, no map.
That was the most important thing! Not having a map!
Sometimes I look at my life and kick myself. I spend the whole time trying to plan everything out to the last detail, I feel like I have to know exactly where I'm going. And I panic if I find myself in a situation where I have no idea where to go next.
But it's strange, because when I travel I absolutely hate having my journey mapped out. I have an uncanny sense of direction and as long as I have the name of the place where I'm supposed to end up and a rough idea of it's general locality I can always get there.
Even if it is eventually!
When it comes to travelling there's nothing I like more than being lost! For me, getting there is more than half the fun.
I get to see places that I'd have missed if I'd gone on the direct route, I feel like I'm having an adventure, not just trying to get somewhere and at the end I experience the inner satisfaction that I did it all on my own with no help from anyone! Well, except for a few befuzzled people who look at me like I'm mental when I ask them for directions to a place 200 miles away! And not only that, but when I'm on a mission with no map I've noticed that I'm looking at my surroundings, appreciating where I am, instead of worring the whole time about where I'm going and wether or not I'm in the right place.
And on my 23rd u-turn of the day I suddenly wondered why it is that I can't live my life like I travel?
Barbara Hall
The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.
The place where I was going is about a 4 hour drive from where I live, and given that I took the scenic route, I was alone in my car for the best part of 6 hours. This gave me plenty of time to think about all the trouble that's been going on in my life, and why it is that no matter how much I plan ahead I always seem to end up stuck!
The only reason I could give for being afraid to live my life with the lack of planning that I apply to journeys, is that in life you can't make a u-turn. In life there is no going back. That in itself should be reason enough to plan ahead. Or is it?
I mean, let's face it, even with planning, I always seem to end up in situations that I never expected. Life's got a really sick sense of humor in that respect.
But when you really think about it, in life there really are no dead ends.
Charles M Schulz
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?
So I'm going to have a go at throwing away my life map, I'm going to try embarking on a personal journey with no route planner.
Sure, I'm probably going to have to make a few detours, no doubt I'll get stuck on a windey road behing a tractor, I'll probably miss a few exits and I may even, god forbid, have to stop and ask directions! But I'll get there in the end, and I reckon that maybe taking the scenic route through life for a bit, I'll see some beautiful places that I'd never have seen if I'd been concentrating on going the right way.
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