A couple of years ago in Croatia I learnt a valuable lesson about following your own path.
Here’s the story…
My girlfriend and I were driving though a sleepy village in Hvar.
The sun was blazing through the window…
And Google Maps was helping us navigate the winding streets.
We were told to take a left turn…
And as
the car rounded the corner…
The road suddenly became very narrow.
The further we drove, the narrower it became.
And as we crept forward I could see the wing mirrors were now centimetres from the walls.
I glanced at my girlfriend.
This didn’t look right.
But we could see the end of the road up ahead…
So we continued.
And as we got to the end…
The road opened up…
And suddenly we were by the side of a harbour.
The blue water glistened as boats bobbed up and down…
And cafes were filled with locals sipping coffee and slurping ice cream.
Only thing was…
This wasn’t
a road.
We’d somehow ended up on a pedestrianised path.
And we could tell from the looks on people's faces…
A car was the last thing they expected to see.
A couple of tourists stared as we figured out what to do next.
Going backwards wasn’t an option.
We’d avoided scraping the car once by the skin of our teeth.
Doing
so a second time would’ve been a miracle.
The only option was forwards…
Inching past tables and chairs on one side…
And hugging the water on the other side.
I lowered my cap and put on my sunglasses.
Trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible.
And as we continued driving, the cafes started to disappear…
The number of people reduced…
And the vibe became more residential.
There were no left turns or right turns, just forward…
And up ahead, a metal pole protruded from the ground.
We could see the main road on the other side.
Only the pole stood in our way.
I jumped out of the car and marched forward…
Praying it would somehow come out of the ground.
I leant down, wrapped my fingers around the pole and pulled…
And thankfully it came
loose.
Victory!
I did a little jig in celebration.
Now, you might be wondering where I’m going with this.
So here’s the bottom line…
If we hadn’t been
following Google Maps, we never would’ve got in to this mess.
And I think this is a useful parallel for life.
It made me realise the importance of figuring out my own
path...
And not blindly following someone else's.
A well-trodden path can have a lot of advantages.
After all, it’s well-trodden for a reason.
But I know if I’m on a path just because it’s well-trodden…
It might lead me somewhere I don’t want to go…
And I could end up at the wrong
destination.
My advice?
Make sure you’ve thought things through…
You can see the direction you're heading...
And you're clear on where you'd like to end up.
That way
you’ll know the path you’re following is the right one for you…
Instead of following a path just because it was right for someone else.
Make
sense?
I hope so.
That’s all I got for you today.
Catch you tomorrow.
- Tom
p.s. Whenever you're ready, here are the ways you can connect with me