When you are unsure, do not stop. It sounds counterintuitive, isn’t it?
Let’s look at the story of Carlo and Magno and see the three groups of men who would be in a similar scenario.
There was a man named Carlo whose plane crashed in the middle of the desert. He paused for a while and tried to track. He pointed into a direction and started walking. After walking for days in the seemingly endless sea of dry hot sands, he suddenly asked, “Am I headed to the right direction?” He paused for a while a tried to track and attempted to locate any sign that will point to the right direction. “I think I was slightly right. I just have to shift a bit. I’ll go this way.” Then he proceeded to walk again.
There was another man named Magno whose plane crashed in the middle of the desert. He paused for a while and tried to track. He pointed into a direction and started walking. After walking for days in the seemingly endless sea of dry hot sands, he suddenly asked, “Am I headed to the right direction?” He paused for a while a tried to track and attempted to locate any sign that will point to the right direction. “I think I was wrong. Oh, I’m lost. Where shall I go now? Perhaps, I’ll just stop here and wait for a rescue.”
After a week, Carlo with his aching feet and crying eyes finally saw a train track. He felt reenergized and after walking for five more kilometres, he arrived at a train station where a lowly traveller saw and helped him go back home.
Magno’s story, on the other hand, was not heard of after that plane crash.
The tendency to stop and sulk is dangerous. To pause and ponder for a while and continue moving is daringly more appropriate, wouldn’t you agree?
There will be times in our lives when things do not go as planned. There will be times in our journey when we feel lost. There will be times in our work when drudgery could drain us to death.
When this time comes, three groups of men would do three different things.
The first group of men would follow Magno’s strategy. They would stop and sulk. Eventually, their story ended sooner that it ought to stay.
The second group of men would follow neither Carlo’s nor Magno’s. They would just keep on going and let things be. Eventually, they would find themselves done but in a destination they never would have wanted. They would reach a station but it would be located in the opposite direction of where they ought to go.
The third group of men would follow Carlo’s strategy. They would pause and ponder and then proceed. Eventually, they would find a train track, then a station, then a fellow traveller that is headed to the same direction they are ought to go to.
Carlo and Magno are fictional characters but their desert problem could be factual. And the three groups of men and their response to such similar situation could be happening.
The question now is which group of men are you part of? Which strategy are you taking? What response do you take when things seem unsure?
(Chris Dao-anis would love to hear from you. Email him at chrisdaoanis@ymail.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisdaoanis.)
