{"id":11052,"date":"2007-09-20T14:49:01","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T14:49:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/do_you_know_where_you_are_going\/"},"modified":"2015-10-27T10:22:24","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T15:22:24","slug":"do_you_know_where_you_are_going","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/do_you_know_where_you_are_going\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Know Where You Are Going?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cYankie, I think we are lost\u201d, my wife announced.<\/p>\n

I had recently mastered the new portable GPS navigational device, and I was excited to use it in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaigie, we\u2019re not lost. A GPS doesn’t get you lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t recognize this road.\u201d Faigie grew up in Chicago and had a general recollection of the route from the O\u2019Hare Airport to her sister\u2019s home in Peterson Park. \u201cThis is not the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFaigie, this is a different way\u201d, I insisted. \u201cThe GPS doesn\u2019t have to follow the same roads that you remember. There is an unbelievably powerful computer in this little box, and it accurately computes the shortest path to any destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten minutes later the roads were still not familiar to Faigie. \u201cYankie, why not stop at the gas station to find out if we are going the right way?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have to find out. The days of asking gas station attendants for directions are over. Stop worrying. I know what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, Faigie suggested we might be late for her niece\u2019s wedding, because we were driving in the wrong direction. I was beginning to get upset at my wife\u2019s lack of confidence in my advanced technological skills.<\/p>\n

Fifteen minutes later and still no sight of 5050 North St. Louis Avenue. \u201cYankie, the entire trip is no more than a half hour. If we’re not lost, why aren’t we there yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Faigie had a good point, but I was not to be deterred. \u201cAlright, there was a computer glitch. These things happen you know. Even computer programs can have bugs. Perhaps there is one bug. But this device constantly recalculates based on the coordinates of three satellites suspended in space. It\u2019s an amazing tool. I\u2019m telling you Faigie, it\u2019s not possible to get lost with GPS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faigie knew I wouldn’t be convinced, so she simply stated her opinion. \u201cWe are lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, after more than an hour of wandering through the streets of Chicago, the GPS announced that we had reached our destination. \u201cSee, we made it. We\u2019re here,\u201d I proudly proclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this isn\u2019t my sister\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFaigie, it has to be. We\u2019re at 5050 St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cImpossible,\u201d I countered.<\/p>\n

I drove back to the corner and pointed to the street sign. \u201cSouth St. Louis Avenue. See!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI see, but Shaindie doesn’t live on South St. Louis. She lives on North St. Louis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mystery was resolved. I had accidentally selected South St. Louis instead of North in the GPS system. Once I re-entered the correct address the GPS directed us directly to my sister-in-law\u2019s house, which was now about an hour away.<\/p>\n

I was right all along. The GPS doesn\u2019t get lost. But I discovered an important principle for using a GPS effectively. I humbly call it \u201cLuban\u2019s Principle<\/i>\u201d: \u201cIf you enter the wrong address in the GPS navigation system, you will end up in the wrong place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully, there was some positive value to the deflation of my know-it-all male ego. Although, I probably won\u2019t become famous for formulating \u201cLuban\u2019s Principle<\/i>\u201d, there is a powerful lesson to be learned:<\/p>\n

Traveling through the journey of life is like using a GPS. If you don\u2019t know where you are going, you won\u2019t arrive at the place you hope to reach.<\/i><\/p>\n

Although this idea seems self-evident, most people live their entire lives oblivious of this principle.<\/p>\n

Here is a simple experiment that anyone can perform to see if they know where they are going. Just answer these questions:<\/p>\n