Not all who wander are lost

It turns out that the bumper sticker notoriously found on obnoxiously optimistic people's old Subarus may be correct....not all who wander are lost. Dredlocks not required, the mantra speaks to our internal navigational system that directs us not in a straight line to our destiny, but in a zig-zag, roundabout path to our future.

I was reminded of this bumper sticker, and the people who decorate their cars with them, by a recent article in Oprah Magazine, "The Art of Perfect Timing" by Martha Beck (December 2009, pg. 81). The article discusses how some people seem to have everything fall into place for them. They are always in the right place at the right time. While others, and I tend to fall into this camp despite how many books by the Dalai Lama I read, seem to think they are always a day late and a dollar short. It is kind of annoying to be around these "bright side of life" people, especially when you want to wallow in the mire of your own self-loathing and desire someone to shake fists with you at the open sky. You lose cool points (otherwise known as your dignity), by trying to throw a temper tantrum, because the universe has closed a door on you.

Perhaps some of our behavior can be explained by our culture's faith in unlimited personal domination. I was raised in a society that told its members that there are no limits in business, in science, in the universe, anything, period. Of course, we are learning and reaping the consequences of such a "king of the hill" policy on life. But, it caused individuals, like myself and my peers, to be eternally disappointed in ourselves because we weren't #1 in our class, attend best schools, drive the best car, go to the best clubs or have the best body. This mirage of "Ideal Being" hovered above each of us, darkening our personal achievements and self-worth.

The writer in the article notes scientific evidence that supports an idea that the human brain is actually quite receptive to picking up and deciphering through clues by citing How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer. "The calculating part of the human brain, Lehrer writes, "is like a computer operating system that was rushed to market. " It's slow, clunky, prone to error - at least compared with the brain region associated with emotions. This highly developed area "has been exquisitively refined by evolution...so it can make fast decisions based on very little information." Essentially, I've been performing manual override on my brain in a vain attempt to "control" my life. All the while, I've had a superior product on-the-shelf gathering dust!

As I contemplate this discovery, I find myself thinking about my dreadlock friends and their bumper sticker mantra. They weren't unmotivated or misdirected as I previously labeled them. They were internally driven, trusting their own subtle clues about where they should go next. For those of us who like to worry, we need to remind ourselves to hum along to Bob Marley's relaxing reggae tunes..."None but ourselves can free our mind."