Map Your Own Destiny

Life isn’t like a game. We don’t have a game book to tell us how to win. There’s no scoreboard to tell us how we’re doing. And there’s no coach to tell us what to do next. We have to wander around, trying to figure all this out for ourselves, and as often as not, we end up completely lost, not knowing who we are, what we want out of life, or how to get it.

People who are lost need a map. A map gives them the big picture, an overhead view of where they are. Sometimes when people are too close to life, wrapped up in the small details, it’s difficult for them to see where they are, how they are doing, or where they should go next. This is when they really need the outside perspective of a map.

The great thing about a map is that it shows us where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there. We can find out where we are by all the places we have passed, and we can see how far we have to go by the distance scale. All this information would be very difficult to obtain without a map. That’s how life is, except many times more complex. We aren’t simply trying to find our way down a road – we’re trying to discover what makes us happy, how to achieve that happiness, and how far we are from achieving it. We need an unusually good map to help us answer the three questions to go from lost to found:
1.) Where are we?
2.) Where do we want to go?
3.) How do we get there?

Of course many people don’t know they are lost. They think they already have everything figured out. They think they know right where they are, where they want to go, and how they will get there.

If they did, why would they need teachers, doctors, or counselors? These people tell us what we ought to do, what we’ve been doing wrong, and how to get better. They provide an outside perspective of our progress in different areas of our lives, and we rely on them constantly. We require these outside perspectives, like maps and mirrors, because it is so easy to get lost in the complexity of life.

Unfortunately, not even our doctors and counselors can tell us exactly where we are or where we’re going. The problem is, no one knows for sure. Our destination, our current locale, and the path in between are decided by us. They depend upon our goals. Where do we want to go? Where do we want to be? How do we want to get there? In effect, we must draw our own maps.

This may seem like an uncertain way to live our lives. We would like an authoritative answer, an official judge, some final word on the subject. Trusting our own hand to draw the map of our lives seems a bit risky. But in actuality, nothing is more certain.

You are the authoritative expert on your life. You can’t trust anyone as well as yourself. If you turn to someone else for their opinion, how do you know they’re right? They might be having a bad day, or tell you the wrong answer. If someone else draws the map, their pen might slip and you wouldn’t know the difference. You have to draw your own map.

Does this still seem risky? How can we gain the outside perspective on our lives if we ourselves are creating that perspective? It would seem absurd to be lost, draw a map, and follow it to where you want to go. Although this may sound absurd, this is how it works when you need a map of your own life. We are only lost because we have not taken the time to map out our lives.

Think of this self-drawn map as a mirror. Like using a mirror, we can see what we look like now, what is behind us, and what we would like to change. The mirror itself does nothing. It is a piece of glass. It only reflects what we do. But by using it, we can gain a better understanding of our situation.

We rely on mirrors all the time. We check our hair in the bathroom mirror because we can not see that part of ourselves without outside assistance. Athletes use mirrors to view their own performance. In ballet, mirrors line the walls so dancers can correct their movements. By checking this outside perspective, we can monitor our current progress against our future goals. That’s basically what a map does too.

This is the reason we must draw our own maps: they depend on who we are currently and who we want to become. The map centers around our goals.

So how do we draw this map? No one has ever created a mirror that can reflect our purpose, our meaning, our goals. There isn’t a map for our souls or the future. How can we map who we are, who we want to become, and how to get there?

The answers are in E-VOUS:

1.) Where are we?
Once you enter your goals into E-VOUS, you can get an accurate reflection of exactly where you are on the path to achieving your goals.

2.) Where do we want to go?
By working on goals you have set, refining them, and achieving them, you can learn exactly what makes you happy and how close you are to attaining those goals.

3.) How do we get there?
By setting daily goals and working on them, you can discover what steps work for achieving your goals and you can turn those steps into healthy habits.

E-VOUS is your self-drawn map.