Are you on an insane trip?

To start things off, today, I'd like us to play a little game of make-believe. It may seem a little silly, but I promise, it is relevant.

First, let's imagine that you and all of the people close to you in your life decide to take a trip together. Now, there are quite a few of you, so you decide to rent a bus. You agree to take turns driving so nobody gets too fatigued to enjoy the journey.

You handle all of the normal life complications like time off and house sitting and all that. You get packed up and start away on this wondrous journey. Everyone is all excited to be going on vacation and there is this huge air of anticipation for all of the fun you are going to have.

At first things seem to be going great. People are getting along together and everyone is having fun. Then you notice something is wrong, but at first you can't quite put your finger on what it is. So, you decide to observe what happens and see if you can figure out what is wrong. After foregoing sleep for a couple of days you finally discover the problem.

You notice some differences in the habits and patterns of the drivers as each one takes their turn. Some are using a road map and others just seem to be taking random turns as if they have no idea where they are going. That doesn't seem to make any sense so you start to pay even closer attention to what is happening.

Each driver, when it is his or her turn, sets off in a completely different direction than the one before. You catch a glimpse at some of the maps and see that one driver is heading to Tijuana, Mexico and another to Las Vegas, Nevada. Two others are going to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Buffalo, New York.

What would happen at this point? What would you do?

By now, I am sure your logical mind is screaming at the lunacy involved in all this and declaring that this would never ever happen in real life. People would never go on a journey like this without agreeing on their destination or destinations ahead of time. With any large group of people surely more planning would go into the trip to ensure it was actually possible to get where you were going.

That certainly sounds reasonable. Yet, I submit to you this question. Isn't life a journey? Isn't life a journey that you take with all of your friends and loved ones? And aren't most of our lives run pretty much exactly like this insane example?

How much time have you spent planning out where you are going and how you are going to get there? Are your friends and family aware of the direction you are travelling in? It really doesn't matter how much planning you do, if those around you have their own mutually exclusive plans. You will never get anywhere that way because you can't lead every minute of every day. And when it is some other person's turn to lead, they are going to go in their own direction if you don't have a previously agreed upon course to follow.

Essentially, there are three main choices available in life. Go it alone. Be lonely but have total control on your direction and velocity. Endure the insanity above. Or take the time to involve those that you care about in coming up with a plan that enables all of you to move together in the same direction.

Which sounds like a better choice for your life?