I think we can learn something about reaching our goals by throwing out the geometry lesson of shortest distances and using the metaphor of sailing. If you’ve watched a sail boat you’ll see that they weave (or tack and jibe in nautical terms) back and forth, rather than take the most direct route. In this diagram, the red arrow shows the direction of the wind and you can see the movement of the boat as it maneuvers on either side of the prevailing wind, but is never facing the force of the wind head on. The result, as noted by Wikipedia is: “The extra speed gained by zigzagging downwind can more than make up for the extra distance that must be covered.”
Imagine that! We might actually go faster by not going in straight line!
I think the sailing metaphor is a much better one for life than the perfectly straight path headed directly for the goal. At least in my life and in the lives of most people I know. And these people I know are NOT just aimlessly wandering, never accomplishing anything with their life folks. As an example, I had a total of six guest speakers in my Purdue class this past semester. All smart. All accomplished. All doing great things. All told a story of a life path that was crooked, wandering, filled with unexpected opportunities and more than a few dead ends. All noted that they had absolutely no idea they would land where they currently were; yet all were quite thrilled with both their current place and the journey that got them there.
The truth is that we’re prompted time and time again to know where we are headed and beat a straight and unwavering path to get there. Very few tell us that this is not the pathway to success. We tell ourselves the straight path is efficient and that our diversions are wasteful and a sign of weakness. We think that we should know both the endpoint and the path forward, yet it is unknowable. We beat ourselves up when we fail or hit a dead end, yet in retrospect we realize that it is just those situations that taught us the most. We agonize over those periods of thrashing about to try to illuminate a path that is dark and shadowy.
So, I hereby grant everyone, including me, the wisdom to embrace the journey. To drop our desire to script the un-scriptable. To stop heading directly into the wind, which only wears us out. To dance and weave toward our aspirations, sometimes taking two steps forward and one step to the side. To learn from our attempts, successful or not. To know deeply that the richness is in traversing the path and that the endpoint is only the bright light that guides us.
