Lost With the Best of Intentions

Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow – Swedish Proverb

I’m not a worrier. By that I mean, I simply don’t fret about things. Life often throws curves, but if we keep our heads and wits about us, we can generally work our way out of most predicaments.

The other day I had to drive down to Everett to sign some paperwork regarding my Dad’s estate. I ran up the address on my phone’s map app the day before, saw exactly where I needed to go, and saved it. The next day I pulled up the location on my cellphone, hit the navigate button on the touchscreen and off we went. The trip was supposed to be about forty minutes, so we gave ourselves an hour to get there.

Why so early? Because I grew up in a home where “early is on time, on time is late, and late is inexcusable.” Now, I am not prone to judging people, but must confess that people who are chronically tardy grind my grits. So that’s why we left the house with time to spare. It’s a good thing, too.

I listened to our cellular backseat driver and arrived at the appointed place with twenty minutes to spare, only there was no there there. The address didn’t exist. Horrified, I pulled over, did a search for the company I was seeking (which is nowhere as pleasant as the company I had – my wife) and it turned out the address I was looking for was not “820 street name” but “2820 street name.” I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and we still had plenty of time to make our appointment.

So I reset the Navigator and it got us downtown to near where we needed to be but, once again, there was no there there. I pulled over into the last remaining parking spot in Downtown Everett (a miracle, to be honest) and called the office I was on the hunt for. I told the receptionist where I was and she gave me quick and simple directions, so we left the parked car and walked a single block to our destination and arrived – ONE minute early (so I was ON TIME)!

There’s an old saying that if we want to give God a good laugh, all we need to do is make a plan. I understand. Life, as I said, tends to throw us curves. But I also know that planning ahead saves a lot of grief. I appreciate map and satellite technology which, up until the other day, is generally dependable, but I also know it is anything BUT flawless.

I was driving along one day in the early days of civilian quality GPS, and the device kept asking me to return to the road I was on. The GPS showed me to be about fifty yards off the highway, but I could see clearly that I was on it AND in my proper lane. That same unit had me drive around in circles in San Francisco as it had no idea how to get me from where I was to where I was heading. So, technology has its place, but it can’t replace human reasoning (completely). I have heard of people driving into lakes or rivers simply because they preferred to listen to their cell phones than to use (and believe) their eyes.

One could say they should use more common sense, but I am convinced common sense is a myth – as real as a Sasquatch and as rare as a Unicorn. Trust me, I’m not pointing fingers here. If there is one thing I know, it is that I don’t have a lot of common sense. That’s why I plan ahead!

Planning ahead removes the teeth from many of life’s worries. Before going on a trip I always have the car or truck serviced. That doesn’t mean we won’t have mechanical problems, but it reduces the chance we’ll have problems. Each day is a journey, according to the old cliché. It’s true, so I approach each day taking care of what needs to be done so I don’t need to worry about it.

Addressing every trouble spot as best I can, I’m free to enjoy my life and leave the rest to God (on time) in this, our valley.