Sometimes I’m just not sure what my next step should be. I quit, procrastinate, get stuck in a busy job… My creative side really comes out… I can find a million things to do to take my mind off the action.
Usually all it takes is taking the first step. When I’m not sure what to do, I encourage just do something Maybe Nike is up to something… just do it.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that course correction is always an option.
As long as I have a destination in mind, I can start, take a few steps, if I seem to be going off course, I can simply make adjustments to my course of action, as long as I am moving towards the end result. I’m progressing. Sure, some routes can be more direct, but on the other hand, ‘wrong turns’ can be more scenic.
I remember taking my children to California to go to Disneyland many years ago. We rented a cute little convertible mustang and I handed the map to my 12 year old daughter and with just a few minutes (maybe seconds) of map reading instructions, I expected her to help me navigate from LAX to Disneyland. Needless to say, my already anxiety-prone daughter was overwhelmed and ready to fly home before we found the first freeway exit. A good reminder of how different personalities see things in such a different light.
My experience was that we were on an adventure and we knew where we wanted to end up (our destination) and we had a map to show us when we were on or off course. His experience, when we asked him how he enjoyed our vacation was “we got lost… A LOT”.
I remember thinking, “Lost?” we never got lost. We were in uncharted territory for sure, we sure made a lot of wrong turns but WOW here we were our first time in California with its 6 lane highways and spiderweb like overpass structures and we got to Disneyland, Universal Studios, San Francisco Zoo Diego and SeaWorld. We found the 2 different hotels that we had made reservations for. And we’re back at the LA airport with time to spare (well, okay, not much time to spare, but what’s a short jog through the airport with your luggage when you’ve had a great week in California?)
I’m comfortable in a car, make course corrections, and can easily adjust to wrong turns, even if it means stopping and looking at the map to reorient. Life can’t be that different, right? As long as I can find my destination, I can hop in my little convertible and head in the right direction. I may wander into some neighborhoods that I would normally try to avoid, but sometimes that’s where the biggest learnings are found. I can misread the map and turn left instead of right, but maybe that little coffee shop I stop at to correct course is where I meet a new friend. I could miss my exit ramp and need to navigate back down that country lane that takes me past the beautiful garden where I stop to take the best photos of my trip. But ultimately, knowing my destination and heading towards it is how adventures are created.
So where do I go from here? I go out in the direction of my dreams. And see where this adventure called life ends.