In the story “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, under the pen name Lewis Carroll, popularized a fictional character, the Cheshire Cat. The story goes like this: “One day, Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire Cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. His response was a question: “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know,” Alice answered.
When read, this interaction between Alice and the Cheshire Cat seems unusually simple and even promotes a “duh”- type response. As you contemplate the deeper meaning of going through life without clear direction, you might find there are far more circumstances where we just go through life unaware of where we are going. Do you know that you alter your path dramatically if you veer off course just slightly on long voyages? If you were to fly from California to Hawaii and were off by one degree, you would miss your target by nearly 29 miles on arrival in Hawaii. Even with short distances, being off course slightly affects the outcome dramatically. On a short walk, say a mile; if you were off course by 5%, you could be as much as 50 feet off on reaching your destination.
Life is rich with opportunities. Think how long it may have taken you to find a target if, when you started, you were not sure where you were going. How long did it take you to get back on track? How long were you aimlessly wandering or back-tracking? Those with direction in life will achieve far more than those left wandering, unaware, and guessing—all with no more energy spent. The energy used to succeed is not much more than that of being complacent if it is directed properly.
Find what you want, set a path, and start moving. There will be distractions and maybe even a course change, but it will be for your betterment as you have direction. You will get there when you know where you are going and what you want!
Jaren
