Have you ever been on a long road trip as a child? Do you remember where you went and how long the drive was? All of us experience road trips differently. Some love the long rides that feel like its never ending. To gaze out of the window and admire the sights as the world passes by. Others need to make frequent stops to enjoy something new and create new experiences. Some need a little of both during the long haul. In the end we are happy once we finally get to that special location and put the car in park.

We all are going somewhere. Some of us may not have the destination yet. Many may have the destination but not know how to get there. Others are just going where the road takes them. Neither is right or wrong. Either way, we are eventually going to go somewhere. Luckily for us, just like a highway, as long as we are alive there will not be any dead ends.

For the ones that are just going where the road takes them, there is no way to prepare for the roads ahead. That mindset gives you the capabilities to gain experience and ability to adapt when the time comes but it will bring a lot of frustration in the process because, without a proper destination, it will be extremely hard to find stability and purpose. Do not underestimate that process though because with the experience gained, it will make your transition a lot smoother once you finally put that bullet point on your map.

Most of the time, those of us that do have a destination will get there a lot faster. The earlier that we figure out where we want to go, the sooner we can prepare for the long trip ahead. Figuring out what items to take with us and understanding the environments that we will have to go through will help us determine what equipment will be needed for the storms ahead.

The better that you prepare for your travels and the better that you understand the rules of the road will determine how smoothly the ride can become.

With a set destination, preparation would allow us to be able to see what areas we will need to put more effort in and areas that will be easy. To allow us to understand the rules of the road. Understand that sometimes the fast lane may actually take us to our destination slower.

Have you ever driven in the fast lane and everybody in the middle lane is going the same speed as you and will not allow you over. Many times in life we will be in the correct lane but an uknown obstacle could be slowing us down. Out of fear of falling back, we stay there while everybody in the slow lane seems to be pass us up. Preparation and understanding the rules of the road would easily tell you to just slow down. When you get a chance, ease over into the middle lane and then into the slow lane. Once in the slow lane you will be able to pick up speed and gain enough momentum to pass everybody that were slowing you down and get back on track.

With proper preparation, we will get to our destination smooth and safe and deter many negative emotions such as anger and frustration.

We will experience many turns and many long stretches on this highway called life. We will find ourselves stuck in traffic or gaining distance without any other vehicles in sight to hold us back. Sometimes we will have to make pit stops to rest or get frustrated due to an unknown detour that forces us to go a different direction, but just like you are right here reading this post, you will always get to your intended destination eventually.

Find out your destination early. Figure out what paths that you need to take and prepare for any detours while on your journey. Take breaks. See the sights while admiring the world around you. Slow down if you have to but know when to kick it back into gear. Sometimes doing the drive alone is best. Sometimes having somebody in the passenger seat can make it easier. Regardless of how you choose to get there, if you allow yourself to learn from your experiences and understand the rules of the road, you will surely get to where you want to be.