Life is a Journey
Life is a journey, not a destination. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Definitely, the most confusing road that you come across is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take?
There Are No Guarantees
This is one of the most essential things you must understand about life. Nobody alleged that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it will be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. There are many potential outcomes, which you cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you react to different situations.
Had you known that you were making an erroneous decision, would you have gone along with it? Definitely not, why would you choose a particular path when you know it would get you lost? However, think about results that occurred because you did make that decision? Was there something good that came from it? Did you learn a lesson?
You can’t allow indecision about whether your choice is right or wrong cause you to be immobile. You need to keep moving along your life’s road and sometimes that means having blind faith in yourself and your decision-making. If you have taken the time to know yourself and what you want from life, you can better your chances of making correct decisions, even when there are unknowns involved.
Life can be an exciting, albeit, bumpy at times, ride. Don’t let indecision find you sitting on the curb and watching everyone pass you buy. Risk it, take that chance, and you will not regret that you did.
Your Life Map
Your life journey is comparable to a map; you must define the origin, destination, vehicle, backpack, landmarks, and route. With a map in front of you, your journey will be a lot more likely to end where you want.
Origin
Who you are right now? To gain insight concerning yourself, you need to look intimately at your beliefs, values, and ethics aside from your economic, professional, cultural, and civil status. Furthermore, also reflect on your skills, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses.
Destination
Who do you want to be? Your destination should envelop all the aspects of your being: the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.
Vehicle
How are you going to get there? You need to make a map as to what methods you have accessible to help you arrive at your destination. Education, money, time – they all play into this.
Travel Bag
You bring with you certain knowledge, skills, and attitudes. These decide your ability and help you in attaining your vision. Given such, there is a need for you to evaluate what knowledge, skills, and attitudes you have at present and what you need to get along the way.
Landmarks and Route
Landmarks confirm if you are on the right track while the route determines the travel time. Therefore, in planning out your life, you also need to have landmarks and a route. These landmarks are your measures of success. These measures must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time bound.
Anticipate Turns, Detours, and Potholes
The purpose of your life map is to reduce hurried and spur-of-the-moment decisions that can make you be unable to find your way. However, often our plans are modified along the way due to some inconveniences, delays, and other situations beyond our control. Like in any path, there are turns, detours, and potholes. With a basic map in place, these little changes won’t be so difficult.
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