Savor This Moment

Driving through the city, I spotted a peculiar sight as I waited at a stop light. An elderly, well-dressed man carrying a bag and a walking cane ambled down the street. Nothing about his appearance drew attention, except that he was walking backward. Fortunately, the light stayed red long enough for me to watch the gentleman walk a few yards, pause, face forward, and resume his journey. Why would someone do this on a major street? Maybe his knees felt better when he walked that way, or he was making a statement, like this guy:

                                         https://youtu.be/pWe7NbITHnQ  

Sometimes reexperiencing the past helps us reclaim the present. The father in the video may want to ignore GPS, but getting lost is only amusing once or twice. Given the typical Google search requests and the fact that our family owned a set of 1960 encyclopedias, I can tell you those books won’t answer many of today’s questions, unless you’re a fan of history. Bravo for the father’s attempts to savor family time, but at some point, he’s going to want to face facts: addictive technology is here to stay. Progress means appreciating the good parts and managing the bad ones. What good part of life will you savor today?      

Got GPS?

Raise your hand if you use a GPS. Are they installed in all new cars yet? I have a “mature” vehicle and it definitely didn’t come with one. We do own a portable GPS, but I avoid using it because I’ve heard stories about drivers who faithfully follow directions from the voice in the box and end up in the wrong location anyhow. I depend on directions printed out from the online services, I need to clutch that paper and see my route laid out, line by line.

I’m also bothered by that pleasant GPS voice. When I’m in the car and the voice says to turn right, I feel  we should turn left just to make it say, “Recalculating….”  My husband and I joke that manufacturers should design a nagging GPS so when you miss a turn it yells, “Hey! Didn’t you hear me? What’s your problem? Do you want to be late?” Now that’s a gag gift.  Speaking of gags and directions, take a look at this:

   

Like the driver in the video, I will ask for help when I’m lost. Usually, after I ask for directions, I discover that my destination is right around the corner. The other day, I couldn’t find the candy section in a store. I looked around for a little while and finally asked a nearby clerk for assistance. Can you believe he pointed to the shelf next to me and there sat the candy?

Sometimes we’re perfectly positioned to reach our destination, but if we click off the GPS and discard those printed directions too soon we'll find ourselves peering out and thinking, “How in the world did I get here?”   

Who or what functions as your GPS? How do you stay grounded and headed in the right direction?