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Listen Now
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If you lose the way, what will you do?
My sense of direction is so poor to the point of being ridiculous. From home, my office is about five kilometres and I’ve been driving the same distance and route daily for the past ten years. But still even today at some ‘T’ junction this question would spring in my head – ‘Left’ or ‘Right’?
If the inability to get ‘i’ and ‘e’ right is dyslexia, then what do we call the inability to get ‘north’ and ‘south’ right? And this is irrespective of whether the route is short or long, familiar or unfamiliar. People find it so hard to believe that I can be so bad at directions. ‘To me, it is a miracle that my wife comes back home every evening in spite of the possibility of getting lost any moment in between’ says my husband. I seriously doubt that while mixing the clay to create me, God missed out on fixing the essential component, the chip responsible for directions.
Whenever I think of this peculiar handicap of mine, I also remember the family road trips that we used to take when children were young and manageable. In all those road trips my husband would drive the car, while I, from the back seat, would make genuine attempts to navigate, holding a map in hand. Very soon, my compassionate husband would ask, ‘Are you sure you are not holding the map upside down?’ Much to my chagrin and envy, a fleeting glance at the map is enough for him to move on confidently towards the destination.
When I drive and if I feel that I am lost, or if I am in unfamiliar surroundings, I do not fret or fume, neither do I sweat nor shout. I gently bring down the window glass, smile at the passersby and ask for directions. I find that people are only too willing to help out the damsel in distress on the road. So my navigating rule is: ‘Ask, you shall receive’ directions. I have no qualms in asking strangers for direction to my destination and I have always reached the destination safely.
We all definitely reach; sometimes sooner and other times a little later, but we all reach the destination. Isn’t this true with every endeavour in life?
Some may be a natural in navigating life towards their life goal. Some may have an extra sense when it comes to directions; some may be slow; some may lose their way on the way; but all of us reach. In fact sometimes losing the way on the way makes life a lot more interesting – we find alternate routes, we make friends, we relate and we share.
Sooner or later we all eventually reach. So let us listen to the humming of the birds; let’s smell the jasmines; and smile at strangers. Let us enjoy the journey too as much as we aspire to reach the destination quickly. The distance will shrink when we learn to enjoy the journey.
