Waze: Can You Show Me the Ways?

I have an app on my IPhone call Waze. It is intended to rhyme with “ways” but I affectionately call it Waze-eee. It is an amazing little social network GPS app. It will warn you when there is construction ahead, a car stalled on the shoulder and even if there are policeman up ahead. But that is not why I like it.

Because it communicates with other users, when a route is found to be better, it will suggest another path. Driving in Houston, it would often take me off the interstate to travel local streets. It has been so effective that I no longer doubt that Waze will take care of me.

On our trip back from Texas last week, we were headed out of the Hill Country and traveling north to our ultimate destination. Left to my own devices, I would have taken the Interstate. But Waze had a different idea. Instead of going due east and going through Austin and heading north, I was directed to take a two lane road through a series of charming small towns. The beauty of the surrounding countryside was matched by the uniqueness of each town.

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to tell where you are in the country when you travel on the Interstate? Austin looks like Topeka which looks like Denver. All of the typical chain restaurants, motels and gas stations dot the landscape. While it may be handy to find a familiar chain store to get gas or buy food, it is also rather mundane.

I did not experience that once I followed the directions that Waze suggested. To be sure there were several typical chain stores along the way but there were also many, many “mom and pop” stores. If I had followed my instincts, a fascinating drive would have been lost.

Isn’t that like life? I can get in such a hurry to get from point a to point b that I forget to look around at the beauty of life around me. If I am not mindful, I can miss the really important. Life is supposed to be lived, not rushed through. There is a beauty in the “mom and pop” stores along all of our journeys. The chain stores along the way may get us back on the road in a hurry but consider what may be lost in the urgency to arrive at the destination.

The journey is more important than the destination. Have you ever regretted not taking the time to notice all that is going on around you? Have you been in such a hurry that your focus ahead misses out on the beauty around you? Do you feel that sometime life is just mundane?

Wouldn’t it be great if we had a Waze app that would remind us that the typical route we tend to take can lead us to miss out on the depth and uniqueness of life? I cannot do anything about yesterday and tomorrow is not yet here. I have today. I do not have an app to listen to but I do have my heart, my soul and my life. I will not waste today but will pay attention to all the beauty around me. Perhaps I will do the same tomorrow. What about you?