Remember using the folded maps we kept tucked in the glovebox? One would often use a highlighter to mark the trip? I remember how hard they were to fold and how the creases would wear and begin to tear from continual folding and refolding. Now, we have GPS. Don’t get me wrong. I would be lost without GPS. (Pun intended!) But, there is something lost in the move from paper maps to Mapquest to GPS.
I loved using my Garmin when I first got it. Then, my maps would become outdated and updating was a bit of a hassle. I upgraded to a smartphone and now have access to any number of apps that will show me the way. Presently, I prefer Waze. I type in my destination. Waze tells me when to turn, how fast I am going (and how fast I should be going), and where there is road construction, stranded vehicles, police, camera cameras (I guess for if I was inclined to run a red light?), etc. It tells me the best route to my destination and what time I will arrive. It is great, but we have lost the art of planning.
It seems as though we have carried this into our lives, as well. We are no longer inclined to plan our trip and welcome the surprises that come along the way. I see it in my college students. They arrive at college with the notion someone gave them that they need a college degree; they can borrow money, get grants, and will somehow figure out how to pay for it; they take the courses they are advised to take in a major that sounded interesting; and upon graduation they ask: “Where do I go next.” Now, I am not knocking my students. After all, it is the way society is going, after all. They are just caught in the current. We are all (mostly) caught in the current. We just go where life takes us. We have abandoned maps in favor of GPS and trust it will get us to the right destination.
There is much to be said for returning to maps. In the days when we used maps, we would sit and plan our trip. If it was a long trip, we would be on an adventure. We were at the mercy of detours. We would eat at restaurants that caught our eye (rather than using an app and looking for how many stars someone we don’t know gives the restaurant). We would stay at the first hotel with a “vacancy” sign lit. (My little sister will get mad, but I can’t help but recall her blurting out in the car when she was a few years old: “Sleepy bear is everywhere”—seeing the iconic sleepwalking bear for Travel Lodge.) We would gamble that we could make it to the next gas station before the tank went empty. (My 1987 Toyota Tercel could go exactly 440 miles from Long Island to Pittsburgh on a tank of gas. I know this because I made a detour one trip and thought I could make it just a bit farther to a preferred station. I coasted into the station. Adventure!)
In life, it is better that we go forward with a plan—a map for where we want to go. Undoubtedly, there will be unexpected challenges (opportunities) along the way. We should be prepared to deal with these on our own and not rely on someone or something telling us where we are supposed to go. Perhaps, we stop and ask for directions, but we need to make our own decisions. Life is not a voice on a smartphone telling is to “in 100 feet, turn left”. Life is looking ahead, planning, anticipating, responding, and adapting to changing circumstances.
Personally, I don’t want to know everything that lies ahead. I don’t need Waze directing my life. I have a plan. I have mapped my route. Now, I go forward on the adventure that lies ahead.
Carpe momento!