When you have lost your way, sometimes it is scary finding your way back to the right path. Most vehicles today have onboard navigation to help you find the best way to where you are going, but in life, it is a little more difficult. The GPS will redirect you, but in life, you may need to go back to where you missed the turn.  The following story is a metaphor for what I am talking about.

Back in 2003 we bought a lake house on Lake Lanier north of Atlanta. We closed in February of that year, and I had the dock people coming to install a new boat lift in early March. They needed the boat there at the dock to make sure it was installed correctly. It was cold and raining that morning, so I put the boat in the water at a marina about a mile away and was going to drive the boat over to the house and tie it up for the dock folks.

I knew it wasn’t far from the Marina, but I had never seen the house from the water but felt sure I knew how to get there. 15 min later I am in the big channel of Lake Lanier and didn’t recognize anything or even where I am. I took out the lake map and was trying to find the land line markers but couldn’t see anything. It was a miserable feeling to really have no idea where to go.

Finally, after about 10 min of debate with myself, I decided the best course was to simply go back the way I came and hopefully I would see the house. Well, I missed it again on the way back but finally found the dock and tied the boat up.

Sometimes in life when we get lost, we just need to go back the way we came until we can see where we made the wrong turn. If you are honest with yourself, you will recognize when you get to the place you missed the turn.  KT