RE-CALCULATING!!

Mom’s Moment

July 15, 2012

Have you ever noticed how a car GPS can be compared to our lives and the way we live them?  Well, neither did I until this morning when I heard the analogy on Music and The Spoken Word.

Think about it a minute.  When we are driving somewhere and we take a wrong turn, does the GPS shout, “YOU IDIOT!!  What were you THINKING!!  Now you’ll NEVER get there!”  No.  The GPS simply says in a matter-of-fact voice, “RE-CALCULATING…” and proceeds to find you an alternate route to get to your destination.  It might take you longer to go the “detour” sort of way, however, if you don’t stop driving, and follow the directions, you WILL eventually get there.

The same is true with life.  If you make a “wrong turn,” it isn’t the end of the world unless you give up.  The shouting in our head often says things like, “YOU IDIOT!!  WHY did you do that?  Now there’s NO HOPE for you!  You’ll never be able to fix THIS!  It’s the end of the road!” 

What we need to realize is that the TRUE GPS, also known as our Savior, Jesus Christ, is lovingly saying, “Re-calculating…just keep trying; don’t stop ‘driving’ just because you are in a rough patch because of taking a wrong turn.  Trust the directions; follow the course I’ve set, even if you stray from the most direct route, you can make it back to the presence of the Father because I have paid the price for every one of your detours.”

We need to remember that our experiences and choices do not define us.  They are the things that help us learn and grow.  We are given commandments to live by to help us know the most direct route, with the least amount of detours.  However, every road CAN lead back to our Heavenly Father IF we accept the Atonement of Jesus Christ, repent, and do what He has commanded us to do, whether it be from the beginning of our trip, partway through it, or close to the end. 

I hope, when we make mistakes, we will be a little kinder to ourselves.  Rather than condemning us, perhaps we should quietly remind ourselves that we are “RE-CALCULATING…”