The Wrong Way

It is said in the Thai proverb: "You waste your time when you get lost". It is true. Life is a journey. If we get lost on our journey, we lose valuable time during our life. Everyone should know, more or less, what their intended destination is in life, so they can head straight for that and not delay or lose their way. To further our understanding, there is a Chinese story from the Book Jan Kau Zer which offers a good example of this. Here is the story:

Once upon a time, there was a man who wanted to travel to Chu Province. Everyone knew that to go to Chu you had to go south, but this man went northwards. On the way, he was told that he had gone wrong way. But he said, "Never mind, all the people of my horse are fast". The fellow traveler said, "No matter how fast the people of your horse are, you will never reach your destination." Still he said, "Never mind! I have much money for this journey." He was told, "No matter how much money you have for this journey, you will never get to your destination." That man did not know what he was doing worng. He still headed south which was totally the wrong way.

When we read this story, we can see precisely why he will never get to Chu province no matter how fast the people of his horse were and how much money he had for this journey. The longer he traveled, the further away he was from his destination. This story teaches us that our destination must be clear, so that we can map it properly. If it is not clear, we can get help from other fellow travelers. The thing is, however, we must accept the advice. We should not be stubborn like the man in the story. It is not so bad if we don’t know our destination. It is worse, however, when we know, but won’t change from the wrong way to right way.

Learn a map before you travel and learn about life before you live your life.