Making a U-Turn
I was recently on vacation and driving in an unfamiliar city. Like most folks, I was using GPS. I wasn’t paying attention and missed the cue to exit left. The nice GPS lady did not yell at me, call me an idiot, scold me for not paying attention, questioning whether I should have a driver’s license or not. She just calmly said, “at the next intersection, make a U-turn.”
We are all walking a path. Sometimes we veer off-course. This is not the time to take the experience and turn it into some reflection of who we permanently are as a human being. “ugh, I’m such an idiot,” “why do I always do this?” “I can’t do anything right” etc…. When we turn what happens into a permanent aspect of ourselves, we are attaching the event to our ego. We take something that is transient and make it a static, permanent trait of our selves.
Another approach is to focus on our actions. “What am I doing and how is it going?” By focusing on actions, if I notice I am “off course” I simply make a change to get back on course. “Make a U-turn at the next intersection.” It would be nice if our internal voice was more like the nice GPS lady, less like a know-it-all critic. Think about what internal voice you are listening to. Now have a great rest of the day!
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