Living WOW Framework: System 6~Navigation

I spoke briefly of the navigation system during the introduction of the Driver of System 5. Remember that the driver does what it is told with the purpose of getting you to your destination safely. But how do you know where to go? Your navigation system!

Of course, you will see navigation helps all along the journey. This may be in the form of signs, maps, or even other drivers giving you information that was useful to them. What is unique and personal to you, however, is your personal navigation system.

Your navigation system is beyond high-tech! Your navigation system knows not only where you are going but also all of the side roads, detours, and re-routes that you may need to encounter on your journey.

It is critical that the driver tunes in to the navigation system because it can easily be drowned out by the noise of the journey and the driving conditions.

Every time I think of this system I reflect back to when I first learned to TRUST my navigation system. I was on a quick weekend trip to watch my oldest daughter play tennis in a community 6 hours from our home. I was somewhat familiar with the route but had not driven the road before.

It was spring so I packed accordingly for myself and my other 2 children, ages infant and 11 years, for our fun weekend getaway. We left after my son got out of school but most of the drive would still be in the dark. I had my reliable atlas with me because I wasn’t completely sure of the route details and I always made sure I had it with me for road trips.

My husband had bought a Garmin GPS and thought this would be a great opportunity to use it. We had played with it a little around town with lots of “rerouting” and buffering and funny pronunciations of some local roads. This new technology was mostly entertainment at this point but a road trip was the perfect opportunity to give it a go.

So I set my hotel address as the destination in my GPS, kissed my husband goodbye, buckled up the kids, and off we went! Everything went as planned until we were about 2 hours away from home, darkness had set in, and as we started into the mountain pass we were greeted by an unexpected snowfall.

Initially, I talked to the kids about the snow and how it was not in the forecast. It was dark so we really couldn’t see the beauty of it and the kids fell asleep.

I had not prepared for snow. I had only considered the weather at home and the weather for the tennis tournament. What I thought was a spring flurry became a white-out. Zero visibility. On a mountain road that I was unfamiliar with I was beginning to get nervous. If we ran off the road we were not prepared for these conditions. If I pulled off the road it would be just as dangerous potentially causing an accident because there was no shoulder and no visibility.

I then begin to realize that not only did I have zero visibility, but the signs were completely covered with snow. They offered me no anchor as to where I was, how much farther I had to go to get to civilization, or what kind of help may be ahead.

After what felt like an eternity, I heard a somewhat familiar voice tell me to turn left in 10 miles. That was when I realized that my GPS was still navigating and could “see” through the storm what I could not. It had been quiet for hours because there was nothing to tell me as we navigated over the pass with no turns or stops required.

I started watching the map on my GPS to give me information about where I was on my journey, when I would be able to stop and get gas, and what my ETA was. Despite being on a mountain pass with no cell phone coverage, the GPS navigation system worked!

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