Driving in the dark on an unfamiliar road

Last weekend I had a great privilege of being in the company of one good friend. We were doing a drive to a destination that dictated that we drive through a road that was in the process of making it a dual carriageway. The road was so rough with so many diversions, uneven patches but that is not what I want to talk about today.

On our way back, we decided to use a different route since the previous one took us so much time. When we embarked on our journey it was almost dark and we had to drive through another complete dual carriage though still new to us. I almost missed one turn. I found a turn that I was not sure where it headed to but thank God I was not speeding.

The road was better than the previous one but I had a co-driver that was familiar with the road. Within no time I dropped my co-driver and I was to head back home. The journey was awesome until when I decided to take a turn into a road that I thought would direct me into an area I was familiar with. That turn was a big mistake.

I seemed confident as I navigated what I thought was familiar. I confidently took another turn and to cut the long story short I got lost and was headed the wrong direction. I had to ask for direction only to realize that I wasted time as I had gone round in a cycle only to end at the point I took a wrong turn. It was late and I was running late as curfew hour was beckoning.

The parallels that I learnt from this story was as follows:

1.)  It is easier to drive during the day than at night. We have good days in life but dark days do come and sometimes it's challenging to navigate through life in dark seasons. COVID 19 is one dark moment.

2.)   Even in darkness, a familiar co-driver makes the drive easier. Life couches, experiences directors or business entrepreneurs help business navigate at ease their dark seasons.

3.)  That one has used a road before doesn’t make them experts on the route.

4.)  When lost it is ok to ask. It is very difficult for men to ask for directions when lost. Some ex-pats lend a helping hand in difficult situations. We have counsellors who help people through depression, we have consultants that guide businesses through very difficult phases in the business cycle.

5.)  I went round in cycles thinking I was saving myself a long journey only to get lost. Short cuts might not be short at all.