Know Jack #485 Maps

Before the advent of TomTom, Google Maps, and GPS, I navigated around the Western United States as a travel nurse. I am tempted to say here that “somehow” I managed to get through large cities, make highway connections, and traverse thousands of miles to places I had never been. That I had never been to these places was a huge part of their appeal.

But there was no “somehow” about any of it. I got to where I needed to go by learning the way there. I once moved from a tiny rural community in Oklahoma to Nashville to work at Baptist Hospital in the heart of downtown. Some people were a bit amazed I got around so easily and so quickly. Did I make wrong turns? Oh yes. Was I ever lost? Absolutely not. I knew every major street, where they intersected each other, and which direction they led.

Then, I got lazy and fell in with the crowd and the “new” way of doing things. I let my phone and Google Maps tell me the way. That is, until one day on my way through Memphis on a new route, the phone went black, and there was no Google to help. It wasn’t the first time it failed at a critical junction. It was the last.

The point I’m meandering around to is that if you have a destination in mind, learn what it takes to get there and drive yourself. Rest assured, drive is the right word. Any endeavor worth undertaking requires unrelenting effort—drive to get you through the hard parts.

Journeys, like battles, never go completely as planned. When the unexpected happens and you need to use a side street, know how to get back on the highway. Study the map before you start and refer to it often to keep you moving toward your destination.