Map-Reading

We have GPS, we have paper-maps, we have Google-maps and we have hand-drawn maps.  It seems like everyone has someone who wants to show or tell them where to go, and how to get there.  They can be very useful tools, however it is essential that you take a good look at that map and make certain it is the where you wish to be headed to. 
Sometimes we have our parent’s life-map.  We just go tootling on our way using their mind-set, their rules, their goals for us and their morality and beliefs.  Sometimes we are content doing so, but other times, society’s map, the maps of our political party, our religious persuasion or our friends is called into question. 
Tossing the 'baby out with the bathwater' happens almost as often as following blindly.  Whereas people think that just because they didn't come up with a map themselves, and they are doing some introspection, the ‘old’ map must be faulty.   There is a caution here as well. 

One of the very useful tools is to take inventory.  It takes a good honest sit-down look at where you are and where you hope to be, but it is the first step to arriving there.

1.     Where do you want to arrive?
2.    Is the map you are using, bound to get you there?
3.    Where can you make new turns, explore a quicker way or use new roads?
4.    How far away are you? Do you need some mid-stopping points?
5.    What do you expect to find when you ‘arrive’? 
6.    If you end up somewhere else, how will you make course corrections?
7.    When your course is mapped out, you have a destination in mind; do you feel joyful to be on your journey?