January 14, 2021

Finding Your Way: Use Your Map and Compass

There are many times in life where finding your way involves a decision.

Which path to take? Do I turn right or left? North or South?

The way I see it, there are two ways to go about making your decision.

The first involves just picking a direction and seeing what happens. The other is to take in all of the information before turning.

Let me tell you a story.

Last weekend, I was having a particularly difficult weekend with my partner and needed to get outdoors and clear my head. I opted for a hike that was planned to be around 5 miles.

It was a gorgeous day in Maryland. Cold, but sunny without a cloud in the sky. Hiking makes me feel alive, so I like to do it often. This was the perfect day, because I really needed to feel alive after the week I had, but also because in the winter, you need to take advantage of the nice days!

I have the app All Trails, which has maps for thousands of trails and will show your GPS location on the map so you’re always able to see where you are in relation to your route. But when you’re hiking, it’s really wise to download the map layer with the trail on it… because sometimes in the forest, or in the mountains, there is very little to no cell signal.

I thought I downloaded the map.

I did not download the map.

I left the paper map in the car.

Shit.

I really didn’t think it would be a big deal because the trails are well-marked. No biggie.

Then I lost cell signal. I could no longer see the trail on the map or my location.

I came to a road, which I wasn’t really expecting. Left was uphill and right was downhill but there were no signs directing me to the trail. I figured it made sense that I would have to go downhill to pick up the trail since I had just gone uphill for what seemed like forever.

As I made my hasty decision without stopping to really consider what was in front of me, I headed downhill, noticing a couple who were also faced with the same decision as I was. I heard him say should we take out the map?

Genius.

I don’t need a map, I thought. I’ve got this. It’s downhill. Duh.

Long story a little bit shorter, I took the wrong turn. When I finally got my map back, I realized that I had been going the wrong way for at least 3/4 of a mile. I made my way back uphill and found the correct trail, which, if I had just turned left, it was just a short distance further.

I was stressed and tired and quite frankly a bit on the cranky side after what seemed like an ordeal.

So, what’s the lesson?

The lesson is that it’s a good idea to slow down and take in the information before making a decision. To realize you don’t have to decide so quickly.

My instinct told me to go downhill, but without all the information, my instinct was wrong.

The lesson is that you should listen to your instincts, but have the appropriate information first. Sometimes you need that.

Another thing that would have been helpful in this situation is a compass. With a compass, I could have easily known I was headed in the wrong direction, even without being able to view a map.

I totally forgot I had a compass app on my phone. Duh.

The second lesson is that it’s helpful to have something to keep you moving in the right direction. Something to guide you. A compass.

In this lesson, the compass is your values. Values light your path. They help you make decisions. They help you know what you want and what you don’t want.

Values help you decide which direction to go when you come to a fork in the road.

There is also a third lesson in this story.

We’re all bound to take at least one “wrong turn” in our lives. And when we take a “wrong turn”, things can feel difficult, overwhelming and stressful. I experienced stress and a little bit of fear while I didn’t know where I was or if I was going the right direction.

But, I softened into it and reminded myself that I would figure it out and that I can still enjoy the beautiful day even though I was on the wrong path. I didn’t resist the feelings of stress and fear – had I done that… they would have felt worse and I may have reacted differently. By softening into those feelings and allowing myself to feel them without judging them, things didn’t seem quite so bad.

I just corrected my mistake and moved on.

The lesson is that even when you take a “wrong turn”, there is still so much to be gained.

You learn and grow when you are put in situations you have to overcome. And those situations – that learning and growing – is sometimes necessary so you have the tools for the legs of your journey that are in the future.

There are really no “wrong turns” if you think about it. You choose a direction that’s difficult, you course-correct and get back on track. You learn something and apply it to next time. The difficult situations don’t stay difficult forever. They ebb and flow.