Funhouse
We were stuck.
Brian and I had just returned from a trip, and we couldn’t find our car. We had a general idea of where it was, but the airport parking lot is huge. And our recollection was poor. We wandered around, unsuccessfully. The car was nowhere to be found.
Brian asked me to honk the horn. Yes! Great idea. HONK! We walked in the direction of the sound. No car. After several steps and no luck, I honked the horn again. Now the sound was behind us! How had we missed it? We turned around and walked back the other way. The same thing happened. We could hear our car, but neither of us could see it.
HONK—this way. HONK—that way. HONK—in front of us. HONK—behind us. HONK—try this row. HONK—it’s over there!
GAH!
Aggravated, I started honking the horn constantly. It was as loud and obnoxious as you imagine honking in a parking structure would be. The two of us were walking in circles, and the horn seemed to be coming from everywhere. We were in a parking lot funhouse. Only it wasn’t fun. It was exasperating.
Brian decided to go down one level. In my frustration, I stayed put. He yelled from below, “Honk the horn one more time!"
I did.
Our car was right there, a level below where we had been searching.
Sometimes, I feel like I’m the one stuck in a funhouse. Have you ever been in one? They are fun and silly for a while, and then you realize you aren’t getting anywhere. You can run up the stairs and over the bridge and even through the spinning wheel, but you are still in the funhouse. In my life, it looks like running errands, but not getting anywhere. It’s crossing items off my to-do list, but not having an end goal in mind. It’s eating the same things day after day, and questioning why my weight doesn’t budge? It’s wandering…aimlessly.
If this is you, and you’re ready to leave the funhouse…I have a couple of tips.
Set a massive, specific goal, and work backwards to figure out the little things you can do to accomplish it. The bigger the goal, the better. Goals give our brains something to focus on, to work toward.
Make a decision, and just do it. I’m not sure how long I was going to walk back and forth in the parking lot, but I’d guess for quite a while. Thankfully, Brian made a decision to look on a different level. He found our car immediately after. Decide and DO!
Stop lying to yourself. You’re not too old, too young, too late, too chubby, too unorganized, or too stupid. You’re not too anything. You are just the right amount right now.
Don’t stay in the funhouse.
Go down a level.
Find your car.
Get going.
