Working through the maze towards your best life

Have you noticed that life sometimes takes on maze-like qualities? If not then you're one of the lucky ones, however, I'd be surprised if anyone to put their hand up and say their life is one of straight, orderly lines; No, twists and turns seem to be the order of the day for most, if not all humans.

Customarily life's destination(s) tend be a little murky the further ahead we attempt to look and whilst we like to think we're in control the eventual destination, once we reach it, it's often very different to the one we expected when the journey was initially begun. Unfortunately life doesn't generally run in straight lines and with influences, good and bad, challenges and opportunities a person's journey is often circuitous. It's a little like being in one of those living mazes where there's few, if any, straight lines, many dead-ends, false routes and little lateral vision. It can be daunting.

Like the maze pictured, life takes us on a journey of twists and turns and whilst it sometimes behaves in a linear fashion, meaning one thing leads naturally to the next and so on, there's always road blocks to navigate, intersections where choices must be made, dead-ends, high and low roads and of course uncharted territory all which must be considered, weighed and measured and then "travelled". Sure, one could just sit in place, refuse to move and possibly be somewhat content, however that would be rare, if even possible at all. Typically we move forward in some fashion, and at a varying rate of speed.

Many people fail to plan for their journey and therefore end up little more than passengers; I call this living by default. Typical examples are: Waiting for things to happen, accepting someone else's opinion as one's own without investigation (the media for example), blaming other's for one's misfortune and failure, and failing to take ownership and responsibility to name just a few. It also encompasses the expectation-ethos and the belief that one is owed something without investing effort of their own. (No one owes you anything by the way...Just saying.)

There's no magic when it comes to navigating a maze made from hedges, just as with life. Waving a wand and uttering "abra-ca-dabra" will pretty much do nothing, except make you look foolish. Taking positive action is required and the application of strategy, acquired skill, effort and understanding. Does luck come into it? Hmm great question and one which I feel is best answered by yes and no.

The concepts of ownership of one's actions, reactions, skills-development, goal-setting and persistence have a direct affect on the results. Ownership together with a high degree of responsibility can bring a person to their destination and create a pleasant, interesting and valuable journey at the same time. Now lets supplant the word life for journey in the sentence above:

Ownership together with a high degree of responsibility can bring a person to their destination and create a pleasant, interesting and valuable life at the same time.

Those of you who regularly read my blog may be familiar with my ethos and how I deploy it as part of my own life. It is a broad phrase that incorporates many different elements, however to make it simple one can take it to mean simply that through affirmative action and applying the correct effort in the right areas life can turn out, if not exactly, but close to as it was planned.

The phrase goes like this:

Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default.

Again, many may have seen me quote it before, in fact I used to sign-off my posts with the phrase back not so long ago. I don't mind repeating it though as it keeps it front of mind for me and maybe someone who hasn't seen it before, or who has but it didn't resonate with them the first time, may pick it up and run with it.

I never write these posts with the expectation that someone is going to read it and revolutionise their life through deploying my ideas. I've gained so much value and understanding through reading other people's concepts and experiences though I figure that I'll share mine and maybe help make a difference to someone somewhere. Maybe it may straighten out someone's maze just a little more effectively.