Imagine you’re going on a car journey. You’d like to arrive at your destination on time and you’d like to do certain things whilst travelling. It’s not crucial that you do, but you’d prefer to because if you don’t, you may have to repeat the journey.
So, before you set out, you look at the map and work out the best route. You can see quite clearly which is the one that will allow you to get everything you want from the trip. You'll also get help and sound advice from the route marshals who oversee all journeys that people take.
The problem is that as soon as you set out from home, you know you will forget the intended route you wanted to take. Sure, there will be signposts along the way, but you know that some may be obscure, difficult to read, point in the wrong direction, or just not where they’re supposed to be.
Even if you do see signposts, you may not recognise them for what they are; or you may think they’re wrong and ignore them. It’s also possible that road closures or accidents may require you to take detours or change your intended route completely.
Unfortunately, the rules of the road dictate that you won’t have a map or directions with you, and you certainly can’t use SatNav. But because this particular journey is so important, before you set out, the route marshals will introduce you to a guide who will have access to the marshals during your journey. Although you won't be able to speak to them directly once you set off, the marshals will be able to tell the guide your preferred route and update them on any necessary changes as you’re travelling.
The guide will agree to meet you at a certain point en route to let you know which way to go. If you choose, they will be available to assist you from that point onwards. Alternatively, you can meet them once and then not see them again.
However, when you reach the place on the road where you’d agreed to meet the guide, the place where you felt you’d need help in finding a direction, you may not feel lost at all. You may like the road you’re on or feel confident that you’re already headed in the right direction. Thus, their services will seem superfluous.
Nonetheless, if you stop to chat, this person will be obligated to give you directions, whether you want them or not. In that moment, the guidance they give may appear inappropriate or even a little crazy. It can even feel like they’re trying to lead you in totally the wrong direction, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. They could well be giving you information you're not ready for yet (even though you had intended to be); so it just doesn't seem to fit.
Once you’ve heard what your guide has to say, your choice is simply a matter of following the guidance, or not. You absolutely don’t have to. You can decide for yourself, because you always have the freewill to do so.
But what happens if you do choose to detour around their advice?
What you won’t remember is that a guide can only ever tell you the best route to your desired destination. That's because it’s the one you yourself told the marshals you wanted to follow; and that’s the one the marshals are reminding your guide of. They know that not taking the advised route inevitably means missed opportunities, or less desirable outcomes for you. For example, if you choose to not follow their directions, you may get a puncture. You may miss seeing an incredibly scenic panorama. You may run out of gas. You may miss picking up a hitchhiker. A big bug may get splattered on your windscreen. You may not be there to help out at the scene of an accident. You may go over a bump and spill coffee on your clothes. You may miss visiting a great village. You may hit a deer. You could simply arrive late. Or you may not arrive at all. In other words, going your own way can be no big deal at all, or a regrettable mistake.
Your guide doesn’t know precisely what will happen if you go another route, because they only know the route you intended to follow and that’s all the marshals will tell them. Since they are the guide for many people, they will likely have seen previous examples of journeys that did not follow the guidance they gave. They know that ignoring what is, in essence, your own advice, is probably not a good thing. They may warn you of that fact. But at the end of the day, they can’t really object if you choose to ignore them. Although they won't want it on their conscience that they failed in their duty to assist you, they certainly can't force you to listen.
If their cautions seem scary and intended to frighten you, or worse, intended to coerce you into following their instructions, you may rest assured that they are not. Route guides are chosen for their role because they care enough to only want what’s best for you. They want you to enjoy your journey and get the most possible out of it. They want you to arrive at your destination, on time, having seen and done all of the things you intended whilst on the trip. Most of all, they don't want you to end up someplace completely different from your desired destination, having to repeat a journey.
Rather obviously, you may conclude that the key to a successful journey can be finding the ‘right’ guide. Yet unfortunately, after you start out, you won’t remember who that individual is supposed to be! To add to the confusion, you’re likely to meet many people on your journey who seem like they could be good guides for you. Indeed, some of them will undoubtedly be O.K. in the early stages of your progress, although as your adventure becomes more challenging and navigation trickier, you may need the help of your route master, rather than someone with rudimentary travel knowledge.
So, it’s important to be aware that some, who appear in the moment to be sound guides, may not have a strong enough communication link to the route marshals to get clear instructions about your intended route. Some may have excellent communications and access to many planned routes; they just don’t have yours because they were never meant to be your guide. And some of them are false guides, people just pretending to know stuff to make themselves feel important. They can only give superficial and directionless input, because they haven’t the faintest idea which way you should go.
Inevitably, some travelers will end up seeking advice from all sorts of different sources and even after they've found their 'right' guide, they will ask for someone else's input. If they like what they hear better elsewhere, they may follow erroneous data or try to accommodate contradictory or incompatible instructions. In fact, it's quite normal for people to follow the information that suits them best. It's what their ego wants. But unfortunately doing so is a decision that is unlikely to keep them on the right track.
So how do you know when you’ve found the right guide?
Well, firstly the universe will seem to conspire to put your true guide in your pathway. You may meet them under the strangest of circumstances, maybe when you weren't really looking for a guide at all. Then it is your instinct that must tell you the truth about them (if you’ll listen to it). Maybe not so oddly, your guide is unlikely to be the person who tells you what you want to hear; but what they tell you will ultimately resonate at a deep level within, even though you may find it uncomfortable or need to deny it at first. Then it becomes a test for your personal discernment whether or not you can recognise the veracity that may or may not lie within their proffered assistance.
As with all things on our journeys, it will all come down to a matter of choice. If you believe you have the right guide, when selecting whether or not to follow their guidance, what should be borne in mind is that you asked for a guide in the first place! That was because you really wanted to arrive at your chosen destination on time, having seen and done all that you intended to en route. You knew you were about to embark upon an exciting, but convoluted voyage and you realised that your chances of getting lost on that journey were pretty high.
So my advice? It's simple: Choose well and listen carefully. (And by the way, an Archangel agrees with me!)
So, before you set out, you look at the map and work out the best route. You can see quite clearly which is the one that will allow you to get everything you want from the trip. You'll also get help and sound advice from the route marshals who oversee all journeys that people take.
The problem is that as soon as you set out from home, you know you will forget the intended route you wanted to take. Sure, there will be signposts along the way, but you know that some may be obscure, difficult to read, point in the wrong direction, or just not where they’re supposed to be.
Even if you do see signposts, you may not recognise them for what they are; or you may think they’re wrong and ignore them. It’s also possible that road closures or accidents may require you to take detours or change your intended route completely.
Unfortunately, the rules of the road dictate that you won’t have a map or directions with you, and you certainly can’t use SatNav. But because this particular journey is so important, before you set out, the route marshals will introduce you to a guide who will have access to the marshals during your journey. Although you won't be able to speak to them directly once you set off, the marshals will be able to tell the guide your preferred route and update them on any necessary changes as you’re travelling.
The guide will agree to meet you at a certain point en route to let you know which way to go. If you choose, they will be available to assist you from that point onwards. Alternatively, you can meet them once and then not see them again.
However, when you reach the place on the road where you’d agreed to meet the guide, the place where you felt you’d need help in finding a direction, you may not feel lost at all. You may like the road you’re on or feel confident that you’re already headed in the right direction. Thus, their services will seem superfluous.
Nonetheless, if you stop to chat, this person will be obligated to give you directions, whether you want them or not. In that moment, the guidance they give may appear inappropriate or even a little crazy. It can even feel like they’re trying to lead you in totally the wrong direction, but that doesn't mean they're wrong. They could well be giving you information you're not ready for yet (even though you had intended to be); so it just doesn't seem to fit.
Once you’ve heard what your guide has to say, your choice is simply a matter of following the guidance, or not. You absolutely don’t have to. You can decide for yourself, because you always have the freewill to do so.
But what happens if you do choose to detour around their advice?
What you won’t remember is that a guide can only ever tell you the best route to your desired destination. That's because it’s the one you yourself told the marshals you wanted to follow; and that’s the one the marshals are reminding your guide of. They know that not taking the advised route inevitably means missed opportunities, or less desirable outcomes for you. For example, if you choose to not follow their directions, you may get a puncture. You may miss seeing an incredibly scenic panorama. You may run out of gas. You may miss picking up a hitchhiker. A big bug may get splattered on your windscreen. You may not be there to help out at the scene of an accident. You may go over a bump and spill coffee on your clothes. You may miss visiting a great village. You may hit a deer. You could simply arrive late. Or you may not arrive at all. In other words, going your own way can be no big deal at all, or a regrettable mistake.
Your guide doesn’t know precisely what will happen if you go another route, because they only know the route you intended to follow and that’s all the marshals will tell them. Since they are the guide for many people, they will likely have seen previous examples of journeys that did not follow the guidance they gave. They know that ignoring what is, in essence, your own advice, is probably not a good thing. They may warn you of that fact. But at the end of the day, they can’t really object if you choose to ignore them. Although they won't want it on their conscience that they failed in their duty to assist you, they certainly can't force you to listen.
If their cautions seem scary and intended to frighten you, or worse, intended to coerce you into following their instructions, you may rest assured that they are not. Route guides are chosen for their role because they care enough to only want what’s best for you. They want you to enjoy your journey and get the most possible out of it. They want you to arrive at your destination, on time, having seen and done all of the things you intended whilst on the trip. Most of all, they don't want you to end up someplace completely different from your desired destination, having to repeat a journey.
Rather obviously, you may conclude that the key to a successful journey can be finding the ‘right’ guide. Yet unfortunately, after you start out, you won’t remember who that individual is supposed to be! To add to the confusion, you’re likely to meet many people on your journey who seem like they could be good guides for you. Indeed, some of them will undoubtedly be O.K. in the early stages of your progress, although as your adventure becomes more challenging and navigation trickier, you may need the help of your route master, rather than someone with rudimentary travel knowledge.
So, it’s important to be aware that some, who appear in the moment to be sound guides, may not have a strong enough communication link to the route marshals to get clear instructions about your intended route. Some may have excellent communications and access to many planned routes; they just don’t have yours because they were never meant to be your guide. And some of them are false guides, people just pretending to know stuff to make themselves feel important. They can only give superficial and directionless input, because they haven’t the faintest idea which way you should go.
Inevitably, some travelers will end up seeking advice from all sorts of different sources and even after they've found their 'right' guide, they will ask for someone else's input. If they like what they hear better elsewhere, they may follow erroneous data or try to accommodate contradictory or incompatible instructions. In fact, it's quite normal for people to follow the information that suits them best. It's what their ego wants. But unfortunately doing so is a decision that is unlikely to keep them on the right track.
So how do you know when you’ve found the right guide?
Well, firstly the universe will seem to conspire to put your true guide in your pathway. You may meet them under the strangest of circumstances, maybe when you weren't really looking for a guide at all. Then it is your instinct that must tell you the truth about them (if you’ll listen to it). Maybe not so oddly, your guide is unlikely to be the person who tells you what you want to hear; but what they tell you will ultimately resonate at a deep level within, even though you may find it uncomfortable or need to deny it at first. Then it becomes a test for your personal discernment whether or not you can recognise the veracity that may or may not lie within their proffered assistance.
As with all things on our journeys, it will all come down to a matter of choice. If you believe you have the right guide, when selecting whether or not to follow their guidance, what should be borne in mind is that you asked for a guide in the first place! That was because you really wanted to arrive at your chosen destination on time, having seen and done all that you intended to en route. You knew you were about to embark upon an exciting, but convoluted voyage and you realised that your chances of getting lost on that journey were pretty high.
So my advice? It's simple: Choose well and listen carefully. (And by the way, an Archangel agrees with me!)