There's Got To Be A Lesson In Here

There's Got  to Be A Lesson In Here


Unintended Trip or Was It?

Like most of us today, I have an electronic navigational system in my car.  And like so many of us, I have allowed the system to replace my good sense of direction.  Somehow, the warning, "What you don't use, you lose," continues to slip further and further from consciousness.

In any case,  on a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon, a friend and I hopped into my "Trail Rated' car, punched  in directions  to a part of town neither of us had visited before.   All seemed well.  Routes and street names were familiar with the exception of one.  We questioned, but then, we don't know all of the street names in the area.  So, on we went,  admiring nature's glorious Fall palette and being grateful that the gas tank was full since there were no gas stations along the way.

The first indication that something was amiss was when a dirt road suddenly appeared before us.  It was leading into what appeared to be  a forest.  But of course, there must be some houses and some sign of life ahead.   Two miles in ---more trees and more bumpy, muddy road, but only more narrow.  Five miles in , more of the same and no signs of  life.  Flooded roads became more frequent along with fallen trees.

At this point, we tried to call for more directions on the cell phone only to find out that we had no signal.
NO CELL PHONE COMMUNICATION!!!  Time to panic?  No.  We continued on our journey laughing and making jokes, knowing that at some point we would finally reach civilization again. Then, we came a fork in the  road.

The navigational system gave one of those ambiguous  commands: "Slight right turn  then, immediate left ahead".  Nothing ahead resembled the directions.  We made a decision to go right, but there was no possible way to make a left.  So we continued forward until these dreaded words appeared, "you are off specified route". 
Nothing to do but back up.  At this point, I could hear the exasperation and impatience in my friend's voice. 
Backing up a five foot wide trail with nothing but trees and low hung branches is an amazing feat for me. 
As we returned to the turn off point, we vowed to take a more conventional  return route no matter how much time it took to get home.

After approximately two hours of driving through "the jungle", we saw daylight and cars.  What a relief!

What a great opportunity to learn some valuable lessons!  Life has a way of presenting us with lessons we need for spiritual growth.

The first lesson might be:  Looking back and dwelling on the past is not useful or constructive.  We could have focused on what could have happened( the car might have had major damage;  we could have run out of gas; we could have been in smaller car; we could have been stranded without being able to communicate with the outside world,etc.
None of those things happened.  We continued on our trip.  Had a great time and returned home happy.

In life we are frequently confronted by obstacles, some of which are not of our direct making.  We handle them as best we can and keep on going forward.  It is useless to look back.  We cannot change the past.
It is more advantageous to focus on the present.  It is the bird in the hand here and now. The present is all we have for sure.  What we do in the present will shape our tomorrows.  How much better it is to shape today in such a way that tomorrow will be pleasant.

The second lesson might be:  Select your companions carefully. Imagine being stuck on a tedious, treacherous trip with someone who is impatient, argumentative, disrespectful or hypercritical.  How miserable that  would be!  Fortunately, such was not the case for  us.
 Life, though, sometimes creates situations for us to show us our worse self so that we can make corrections.  If we have any disagreeable characteristics, we will learn by the things we suffer.  The characteristics we see and dislike in others are frequently the very ones we need to change in ourselves.
Our companions are our mirrors.  Let us make sure we choose the ones with characteristics and behaviors we wish to emulate.

Lesson three: Life is a journey.  Like the road, it is sometimes bumpy,muddy,flooded, and strewn with  fallen trees and other obstacles.  Even so, life is not the problem.  The problems, or lack thereof,  are are the results of our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and our actions.

So, keep thoughts positive,
keep feelings uplifted,
 let attitudes be well motivated, focused, and clear
let actions be a reflection of the Light of God which shines through you
and most of all, know that the Presence and Power of the Divine live in you. You are always connected.
 When you really KNOW and EXPERIENCE that Presence and Power, you will always be safe.  No obstacle can ever prevent  your success.

 Oh yes, keep a back up map in the glove box.

Peace and Blessings