The Modern Road Trip

   "106th to Farmer to East Allegan to Grant...106th to Farmer to East Allegan to Grant..."  Soon I will be on my way to Otsego High School for another cross country meet and I am memorizing my directions.  With today's marvelous computers, finding where to go is easy.  But I have yet to latch on to modern navigational tools and all of their programming skills.  When I am traveling I still rely on a basic sense of direction to get me to where I am going. But I know the methods I use to find my way in this world are becoming archaic.  With Siri and all of her technologically-advanced friends like MapQuest and Google, getting from Point A to Point B has never been easier.  Plug in an address and wait for a device to tell you where to go, when to turn, what you will see along the way, and what the color scheme will be when you get there.  No longer is it necessary to know names of streets, how an address system is laid out in a city, or the landmarks to watch for along the way.  Now one does not need to have any familiarity with any town or city to feel comfortable in finding one's way around.  Gone is the need to ask for directions.  Gone is the need for the intuitive and the old "north-south-east-west" innate sense that I have.  Gone too is the challenge of getting lost just to see if I can find my way home.  While it used to be an asset, my sense of directional skills has been superseded by a talking tool.  I now can leave my mantra of "106th to Farmer to East Allegan to Grant..." at home and never again do I have to know where I am once I leave the house.
   I wonder if we are now living our lives in much the same way as we navigate.  I feel many have no idea of where life is leading them until they get to wherever they end up.  Do we have a clear understanding of our landscape, our goals, our priorities before setting out in life?  Or do we wait for machines and computers and navigational systems to set the course for us?  What do I think about an issue?  Let me get on line and see what others are saying.  Do I know what my goals in life are?  Let me glean from the internet what the different possibilities are and I will just blindly follow.  I may be directionless, but I think I am on my way to somewhere.
   This cancer experience has reminded me my days are numbered.  I want to use what I have been given to encourage and bless other people.  I don't want to be told by machines what to think and where to turn and what I should be doing and where I should go.  I wonder if there is a metaphor here in these navigational tools that points at how our children are growing up directionless and just waiting to be told to go somewhere.  It may be a stretch.  I may sound like an old foagie in this not-so-subtle rant.  But I think about these things and wonder.
   Today I will not be using any technology to find my way to Otsego High School.  I know what milestones to look for and I have my innate ability to find my way around.  No thanks, Siri...I  will do it on my own today.

   P.S.: I am back home now.  I made it there and back without getting lost or stopping to ask for directions.  Siri?  She stayed home all day.  It is possible.