I bought my GPS about ten years ago. Back when I made my purchase there were no free lifetime maps available. The cost to update those maps is about the price of a new GPS.
OK so fast forward to this past February. I had signed up to take a course in Raleigh NC. I decided to drive to Florida to visit a cousin I haven’t seen in too many years. My plan was to spend a few days with him and his family, then drive north to Raleigh, take my class and drive back to NJ. I printed the directions from Map Quest and took my ten year old GPS without the updated maps.
Once free of a traffic jam in Delaware which held me up for a few hours, my drive was uneventful as I headed south on RT 95. Everything was great until the next day when I got off Rt. 95 in Florida. Within 15 minutes the GPS was telling me to make a turn where there was no turn. I looked down at the tiny screen and I was no longer driving on a road. Then it hit me…no updated maps. There were new highways and roads that did not exist when I bought the GPS… brilliant. I pulled out my printed directions and completed my journey.
What good is an outdated GPS or road map? If we are trying to get somewhere we need reliable up to date information. We don’t need outdated directions that no longer apply. This my friend can be a metaphor for our lives.
In the ten years since purchasing my GPS there have been many changes in my life. There has been personal growth, a new set of hips, new skills, a new CD and on and on. The maps I would have used to define my life then are longer valid. And I should not use this outdated information to make today’s life decisions, that would be foolish. Yet some people do, because they get stuck; stuck in their thinking, their old ways, their old responses, their old views.
So here is my challenge, get an honest view of where you are. We all need a valid starting point. Get a reliable take on who you are, not who you were ten years ago. Stop using outdated mapping. If you need help, ask a trusted friend, or coach. Now with this valid information you are ready to go.
“Anyone who has ever asked for directions knows you need two crucial pieces of information to get good results: a starting point and a destination.” Mike Quigley
Note to self: Buy a new GPS before you take another road trip.
