In fact, I had a great day at my buddy, Ken McArthur's JV Alert Live in Orlando. I met several dynamic new people, finally had a chance to see Stirling Valentine speak (been wanting to for a while .. and he did NOT disappoint - superb) AND had a chance to visit with some old friends like Dawn and Michael Angier and Brad Semp - All three of whom have actually moved to Florida since the last time I saw them.
Had a fun conversation with Brad at breakfast - mostly getting caught up on what's happening with our businesses, families and churches. One theme seemed to emerge that I believe is particularly relevant and universal ... That of moving forward when things go radically different from what you had planned.
You see, we both had been sharing 'war stories' of business - those times when we both had gotten involved with companies or people and had adjusted our life plans around them ... moving, building houses, uprooting families ... only to suddenly have that situation radically change through a contract termination, partnership dissolution or otherwise sudden end of the road for where we thought we'd been headed.
Have you ever had anything like that happen ... job loss, divorce, failed business, etc... ? If you're like me, your first inclination is to think "Boy, THAT was a mistake. I should have never taken that position" (or whatever it happened to be for you). Then, I start regretting the fact that I had made major shifts in my life - like moving or building a home - with THAT position or situation in mind.
Frankly - I want a "Do-Over Button" ... something I can do to reset the situation back to where it was and let me take a different route.
But, life's not like that ... a road or a track that you can just make a U-turn on and go back to the last intersection and choose a different direction -- with no consequence other than some lost time.
No, our lives are much more like an oceanic expedition. We chart our course and set sail (though many are on a voyage with no clear plan of where they are going at all). Then, whether through our own mistakes or character flaws or outside conditions or other people, we get off course - sometimes a little and sometimes it's an encounter with a tsunami that leaves us with a damaged vessel and heading in a completely different direction.
It's at those moments, I believe the wise person takes these actions (at least they are the ones I'd take if I were wise ;-) ...
1) Renew - Ask ourselves if there was any mistake we made or personal character flaw that may have contributed to getting off course. And, if so, what will we do to make things different as we set our sails and resume our voyage.
2) Re-evaluate - Determine if you still really want to venture to your original destination or has the things you've experienced along the way changed your heart and desires so you don't even want what you thought you did at first.
3) Resume - If you decided that the original destination was not what you wanted, decide on a new one and set sail. But, if you decided you still want to reach your original goal, then look at your current location and determine if there is now a better path to reach it. Often, what we think has blown us completely off course has actually shortened our trip but with a new path that we hadn't anticipated. (As a driver, I've found that some of the best shortcuts I've found over the years were the result of a wrong turn.)
I believe the Bible describes it this way in Proverbs 16:9 when it says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps."
To me that is such an incredibly cool verse. Our Creator, the God of the Universe allows, even encourages us to decide what we want - what our intended course and destination is. But, He will often allow and even cause different circumstances to occur in our day to day lives that will alter that path that we take - so that we experience, enjoy and grow in our journey in a way that we could never have imagined, nor would we have planned in advance.
Okay... didn't mean to go off on that subject. It's just always nice to know that we're not the only ones who ever feel hopelessly off course and in need of re-navigation.
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