Roads We Follow

Last weekend I spent engaged in a different kind of studying. I went to the Salt Lake City area and spent some time being taught by a friend a little bit about myself. Her lesson was to help me develop a more positive way of thinking with regards to my self-worth. Her emphasis was on changing the direction of my thoughts from a negative direction to a more positive direction. After my visit I had a long drive home with plenty of time to think about what I had learned. I realized that the directions we choose in our lives will determine our destinations. If I travel down a road where I think negatively about myself then my destination will inevitably be a place where I feel no self-worth or value. That’s really not a road I want to travel, but the path is easily followed because the road is familiar. Now granted, changing mental direction is much easier said than done, but I am hoping with some training, and practice I will be able to create a new road map and travel down a different path.
While I drove I spent some time reviewing the road map of my life, and I became very aware that many of my destinations were a result of bad directions. Maybe the words directions and choices are interchangeable, but regardless of which word I use the result is always a destination.
Most maps show the direction or the road one must follow to arrive at a predetermined destination. When I prepared for my trip to Salt Lake I used map quest to give me specific directions so I would not get lost. It was a simple entry into my computer listing my beginning point and my ending point.
Throughout my life I often chartered my own course, but I wonder if I would have detoured around many of my challenges if I would have heeded more to the spiritual GPS offered to us through scripture and prayer. In an article in the Ensign, Elder Richard G. Scott wrote, “You can ponder and let the Lord establish the direction of your life”. I truly believe that we can find the right direction if we search the scriptures and pray for guidance from the Lord. The road may be rough sometimes, but I know if we continue to follow His directions we will not get lost.