Looking in the rearview mirror allows us to see what we’ve experienced in the past. Feeling the grip of the steering wheel and feeling our weight on the seat grounds us in the present moment as to where we are now, and looking out the window to the road ahead gives us a glimpse as to where we are headed. It is important for us to reflect on the past, acknowledge our current state, and visualize and set our course toward our next destination. It is not wise for us to drive long distances looking the whole time in the rearview mirror, as this most likely will lead to an accident of some sort. This means that although it’s important to reflect on our past, we should not get caught up in it for too long. We must shift our attention back to where we are now by looking at the road immediately in front of us. Thinking about our current situation allows us to be conscious of not only how far we’ve come, but where we have gotten to. Much like a road trip, it allows us to gauge the progress that we’ve made to get to our current location from our starting point. As we peek out onto the road ahead of us, we see the next little stretch that we will travel getting closer and closer to our ultimate destination. The interesting thing is that a large majority of people know the path that they’ve already driven and can even acknowledge their current location, but they are driving ahead without having a clear final destination in mind. They are driving along and following wherever the road leads them. This way of maneuvering in life can seem empty. There’s no target. So, all of the miles driven seem void of meaning. This void can lead people to wonder what they are even doing in the car or behind the steering wheel…why be driving at all? Is it worth the refueling investment? Is it worth the car maintenance expenses? Why bother to be driving on the road at all? When we have a final destination in mind, then we can gauge our progress toward it and can feel the elation once we actually get there. Our sense of accomplishment erupts with positivity. From that point we can decide on a new destination, and then evaluate the many different paths that lead to that destination. Once we select our preferred path, then we can set off toward our next adventure and destination. All along the way we may encounter challenges or setbacks. Maybe the weather along our chosen path is treacherous. Perhaps there are accidents or construction zones that slow us down. Our vehicle may have some sort of malfunction, which causes us to temporarily go off course in order to fix the problem. Whatever issues pop up along our path to our destination, we will tackle each one as we face them. There is no way to foresee every issue that may arise, so we just carry on hoping for the best and dealing with whatever comes.
Life is exactly like this…we must have a destination in mind and set off toward that destination. The destination is a goal. It can be as simple as drinking more water today or as grandiose as earning a PhD. Once we have decided on our goal, then we can head towards it by drinking our first glass of water that day or researching schools of interest. As we continue further along our path, we may encounter challenges such as not having a water fountain in sight or discovering our internet is down, making researching schools difficult. This allows us to self-adjust our course, at which point we might stop at a gas station to buy a bottle of water or to head over to the library to use their computer to do our school research. By the end of the day, we can look back to see if we achieved our simple goal of drinking more water than we had the day before or the more complex target of reading about the PhD offerings at a school or two. No matter how simple or how difficult our goals are, we are always able to work towards them on a daily basis with small actions and course corrective actions (if necessary). If a destination (goal) is no longer as desirable to us, we can always make a change and establish a new target. We determine our goals and the paths that we’ll take to get there. Just because someone gives you bad directions or tells you not to go to your destination of choice does not mean that we should just give up and forfeit getting to the destination. We can always course correct if someone leads us off our path. Likewise, we can choose to continue toward our desired destination despite the nay sayers. Just because someone else did not like the place that we’ve chosen to experience, does not mean that we shouldn’t still go and experience it for ourselves.
One main aspect of life is what we choose to experience. We can think of our experiences like targets or destinations. There are many different routes that lead to the same destination. We get to choose our route and readjust our course if need be. If other people directly or indirectly try to get us off our chosen path, we have the ability to get ourselves back on it. Once we’ve selected a destination that we wish to experience in our temporary lifetime, then no one should be allowed to dissuade us from actually having that experience. These experiences can be major or minor, but whatever we choose we need to be willing to stand by our choice and be determined to achieve it.
Follow through is vital in our life adventures because without reaching a destination, we will only discourage ourselves from selecting and achieving another target in the future. Every time we reach our chosen destination, we are proving to ourselves that we can not only decide on a destination, but to also do the work to get there. For example, if we decide to take a vacation to Hawaii, but we fail to purchase the airline tickets or reserve the hotel then we are basically sabotaging our own initial decision. We must put forth the effort of buying our ticket and scheduling the hotel in order to prove to ourselves that we genuinely want to go to Hawaii on vacation. Once we actually do fly there and enjoy our time in our hotel and sightseeing in Hawaii, then we further show ourselves that we are capable, and this encourages us to plan another vacation in the future. Life works exactly like this, we must decide on a goal that we wish to achieve, and then prove to ourselves that we can and will accomplish it by following through on the action steps necessary to make it happen.
There are many glorious destinations/goals/experiences for us to explore. Each one comes with its own set of adventures, challenges, and victories. The opportunities are endless. We must choose what we wish to experience, and then take action steps to grant ourselves that experience. Your exciting life escapades await!