Just Ask...

One day while walking near my neighborhood, I approached an intersection. As I came closer, I noticed a lady in a black SUV lingering a bit too long. I instinctively figured she must be lost. She had that look about her. As I got closer, we established eye contact and she said she was looking for a gas station. I said “you are literally two miles away. Just take a left and you can’t miss it.” She thanked me and drove off.

  As I continued my walk towards home, I figured she had likely been driving around for a while looking for something that was not very far away. With all of the technological resources available today, she could have simply Googled “gas” and several gas stations would have appeared. Perhaps the lost woman tried to Google her location. Perhaps her phone was not working. I do not know and did not ask. Her actions, however, are more indicative of what we often do. We spend a lot of time going up and down roads and paths that look promising. We blindly follow other people without knowing their final destination. The path looks like one we should follow, when in reality, those roads or distractions are leading us further away from our goals and our ultimate destination.

 Based on the direction from which she came, she had likely taken quite a few turns to reach a place that only required her to go straight. Gas was a premium for her at that moment because that is what she needed. Yet, her detours were costing her more of the thing she needed most. Spending time traveling down the wrong roads costs us time, energy, and resources. If you feel like you are getting no where fast in the pursuit of your goals, pause and ask someone who has been there before for guidance. That is usually the most reliable resource.

#Professionalism #Direction #Purpose #ChristyDemetrakis #empoweredspeaker