Where Are You Headed?

by Ryan Biddulph

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I drove from outside of Boston to Western Connecticut today.

I snapped the below image in Massachusetts.

I mapped the trip on my phone but also made a hard copy of the directions via pen and paper. Circling the globe for a long time taught me to have backup in case service is spotty.

I knew where to head because I mapped out the journey. But imagine if I did not map out the journey at all? I would have a terrible time attempting to drive over 3 hours across two states based on:

guesswork
asking strangers on the street
winging it

Imagine if I asked a stranger in the Boston suburbs how to get to a specific section of Fairfield County, Connecticut? Few if any could give me directions off the top of their head. Picture me guessing or winging my way to CT. Both approaches simply make no sense because charting your course pre-trip is the effective way to get where you want to be.

Imagine if I had no end destination in mind in the first place? How chaotic would things have been?

Life Journey

Where are you headed in life?

Do you have an end goal in mind? Or do you have *any* goal in mind?

Hey; it is your life. Choose whatever goals you wish to choose. But think long and hard if your chief goal is to make enough money to survive, to stash some away and to spend the rest of the day sitting in front of the TV or a computer. The main issue with this life is most folks who live mainly to survive meet early sickness, disease and often death because a human body outlives its usefulness if the mind directing the body solely aims to survive, or focuses on any old goal flowing toward the mind.

Observe mother nature. Flora and fauna gracefully, simply “be's” flora and fauna without mental interference. Instincts rule. But after playing their cosmic role in the Universe these life forms die and move on to some other stage. Similarly, if you closely observe people without a fun, freeing, fulfilling goal-purpose far bigger than self survival, most tend to be unhappy, get sick and die at a fairly young age as their role has been fulfilled swiftly.

However, people who pick a fun, freeing, challenging goal far bigger than their self survival tend to live enjoyable, peaceful, prospering, rich lives well into their golden years. Why? Aiming for something worthy, fun and freeing gives you:

clarity
confidence
trust
knowing

in knowing where you are headed. Rather than driftlessly, aimlessly being tossed about on a sea of circumstance, you get to work, develop skills and have fun generously helping people because you are heading somewhere worthy and have that place firmly fixed in your mind.

Even better? The steps – or directions – reveal themselves as you get clearer on your goal. Mapping out the journey feels easier as you listen to your internal guide for directions.

I would never guess a path toward my predominant intent. Nor would I “wing it” or ask some stranger on the street for guidance on where I intend to be in life. I picked my own unique, intimate destination in life then between mapping out some steps and allowing other steps to flow to me, I began my journey of living life by my design.

Nobody maps out every step but you better choose a goal or predominant intent because if you barely know where you're headed, looking for directions is fruitless, anyway.