Traffic was a mess and my nerves, nor my car could take the sitting so I bailed off course. A place that was familiar suddenly became unfamiliar and I became disoriented, driving around in circles and passing the same landmarks repeatedly. I could see the headlines:

ATLANTA TRAFFIC CAUSES NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.

I was lost in a place that I knew well and as an over-thinker, questions surfaced. How did I get lost when I know where I am? Was I not paying attention to something? How in the world did I get so turned around? Is there a reason for this?

I was LOST.

Literally and figuratively, because during all the driving some things surfaced, I mean there was nothing else to do except think about how to get out of it. So this is what I did.

Turn on the navigator –which did not work. The turns guided me right back to where I started.

Turn off the navigator and reorient –which did work. I was able to get my bearings and figure out which way to go to avoid that traffic snarl and make it home.

Sometimes we go off course. We do so out of what we perceive as necessity, we do so because we’ve been advised to or we do so simply because we want to. When going off course there is a possibility of becoming lost, frustrated and caught up in foolishness (whatever that may be). In order to reach the original destination you sometimes have to turn off all that is on the outside and look within to get to the place that you desire. Looking in instead of looking out can take some time and some patience but if you stay focused…

You can reach home.