I have been on a long journey. I knew where I wanted to go, kinda. At least I knew that I wanted to go north. But I was lost and I kept getting incorrect directions from people who were trying to help me but really didn’t know the way themselves. I even paid some of them for the directions but they were wrong also. I kept getting lost and found myself going south on many occasions. Sometimes further and further south.
Along the way I kept getting messages from large groups who were trying to sell me maps. They kept telling me that their maps were correct. But no matter which particular route I followed, even if it went north for a short time, it ended up going south again. I was even more lost than before.
While wandering around I stumbled across a new guide. What the guide told me was that all the advice, even if well meaning, was obviously incorrect. The guide told me I needed to do something different.
He said “it’s insanity to continue trying to find your path the way you have been because you keep getting the same bad result. You have already tried all the different paths. No more of that old advice!”
The new advice was simple. I needed to get a compass and locate true north and never look up at the street signs or listen to anymore messages from those people. I was told to continue going north at every opportunity no matter if it was only on a small lane. If I did that, I was told, I would soon end up on a two lane road, then maybe a thoroughfare, then maybe a county highway. And finally, I would enter the on ramp to the super highway heading due north.
Of course there were stoplights and detours along the way. Sometimes I would get distracted and hear the bad advice again. It seemed I was always looking for a shortcut and I would heed the bad advice again for a while. But soon enough I looked at the compass again. Sure enough, I was going south again.
I had talked myself into thinking I could find that short cut, stop where I wanted and do whatever I wanted, at least for a while. I was deluding myself.
I got back to looking at the compass, and I got back to thoroughfare after a while. The biggest problem was that when I looked at my progress it was too slow. Finally I was going the right way, but I was still going off track sometimes, so I wasn’t much further north than when I started. It seemed like I was going fast sometimes, in spurts, but I really wasn’t.
I was in my beloved old jalopy. I was used to it and hoped I could stay with it, but I really needed to get a race car if I was going to take advantage of the superhighway when I got to it.
I had abandoned the short cut idea. For quite a while I had been on the right path but had just been poking along. At least I was finally going the right direction back then. But now on the interstate, I got into the left lane and was sailing along.
I had also finally figured something else out. I was using the wrong fuel. However, even when I filled my tank with the right fuel, I kept adding back the wrong fuel to the tank from time to time. I’m not sure why, but it slowed my progress and made my journey longer and harder. When I kept to the right fuel, it became easy.
I had always thought it was hard to use the right fuel because people kept telling me it was too hard or too expensive or I couldn’t stick with it. For a long while I believed them. I no longer do.
I’m human so I continue to be tempted by the shortcuts and the wrong fuel. But now I know better. There are fewer road blocks than there used to be.
If you have been on this same journey as I have and thought you were sailing along only to end up stuck or even back where you started, it’s okay. Live and learn. “Never make the perfect the enemy of the good.” as the old saying goes. Get back on track and continue north. If you do, you will finally reach your destination.
You and I are on the same metaphorical journey. I’ll be with you along the way and I’m certain the view gets better and better as we get closer to the goal.
God speed on your personal journey to good heath.