North – South – East – West

Directions- Let me just get this out there, I am awful at directions. If someone says to me- Oh just head North on State Rd X and then head East on X street. All I can do is just smile and nod. I mean I legit have no idea what they are talking about, and it’s easier if I just let them finish talking and say thanks. Then I can get to my vehicle and type the address into my Google Maps! Baaaam! I have instant directions. Technology is a beautiful thing!

I don’t know about you, but I still haven’t received my GPS for life in the mail yet. That means that each and every day there is a new direction to take, a new detour, and unexpected catastrophes that can and will change your entire day and entire life. Let’s choose to handle them from a place of how and what!

We never really know if we are making right decisions: instead we just make choices based on analysis and understanding that we have been able to experience up to the point of that decision. Some people make choices based on what the people before them did, they might have a philosophy of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is a true statement and one that should be taken into consideration however, sometimes we can never know if something is broken until we step outside of that. I also do a lot of praying! This allows me to have a one on one conversation with my Heavenly Father and he really does help in the direction department- I try not to question him, but there are times that I look and think- Are you sure about this… lol

If you live in a small town your whole life and you never travel more than 30 miles outside that small town. Maybe you work the same place your Grand Pop worked and so forth. I am sure life is beautiful, but maybe just maybe stepping outside what you do know into something that you don’t know you might get a different perspective, idea, or maybe just confirmation that the way you are doing things is correct. The same is true if you live in a big city and you never leave the city- You might want to try stepping away from that and trying to understand how that small town operates.

Until we are willing to turn off the GPS of life, which is really just people following in the exact footsteps of people before them, and take a new path the likely hood that you can grow is very low. Because you can’t grow into something you don’t know or understand.

We as a people are scared of change, but we have to understand that change is good and necessary! I am glad that our country has made the changes that it has, and I hope that it continues to make more and more changes in the directions of loving people! Take a look at your community, church, and family. I bet there are areas that you can improve on. Maybe as a community you can be a little more welcoming to new people and ideas, as a church you could stop pointing fingers, as a family you can step outside of what you have known your entire life.

The biggest thing I think all youth can do is spend at least one semester in college! Not online college, and maybe not a college that is 10 minutes from your home, but a change. It’s there that you can meet people from different cultures, people with different ideas, you can experience life unlike what you have experienced before. I say this because once you step outside of the comforts of “home” you can start to make up your own mind and maybe purchase your own GPS on how to get through this crazy thing we call life.

Legit- the world is your playground! Go out and Embrace it! Experience it! Enjoy it!

Be open to taking a new direction because sometimes your GPS won’t always have the answer. Just because something is new doesn’t mean that it’s better or worse, just means different.

Stop asking Why you are on a certain path! Start asking What can I do different to change my situation! Start asking how can I make something good come of this situation!

We all take different directions in life. We all have different expectations of how life should or can be. We all set limitations for ourselves either because we don’t want to put in the hard work or we just haven’t figured out how. Our way of life will continue to change- Will you change with it?

The facts are that the directions are not as simple as North, South, East, and West.

Different is good! Different is necessary! Different is healthy!