"I don't need to completely understand the big picture to know that my role is important. I don't have to know the destination to know I'm headed in the right direction. Though I may not know where I am going . . . I'm not lost, I am exploring."- - Jana Stanfield

I'm not lost, I am exploring!

As my wife, Diane, and I jumped into our rental car at the airport in Kona, Hawaii, we took a few minutes to study the map and directions our friend, Mark, whom we were going to visit, had e-mailed to us prior to our arrival.

We were excited to be headed toward the other side of the "Big" island, which we were told was about a 2½-hour drive. Well, after five hours of driving we found ourselves literally at a dead end. The one-lane road on which we were traveling had been covered over some years earlier by a lava flow. Clearly, we had turned left somewhere in the past 130 miles when we should have turned right.

It seemed we were lost somewhere between the ocean, a whole bunch of lava and a really large jungle . . . on a one-lane road to nowhere.

The sun was setting, our cellphone had no reception, and it was beginning to rain. At that point things were starting to feel a bit tense. Then Diane looked at me and in a most serious voice said, "Honey, we are at choice here, and we need to change our perspective; in the words of our friend (and songwriter) Jana Stanfield, 'Though we may not know where we are going, we're not lost, we are exploring!'"

The longer we thought about the wisdom of that statement the more we began to giggle, which then erupted into uncontrollable laughter. A slight shift in perspective and our mistake instantly turned into an adventure.

We took a moment and did a prayer for a shot of divine guidance, and then in the spirit of the adventure we continued, "exploring" the only other road we could find in the darkness. Finally, we saw a light ahead, which led us to a landline phone- located at what turned out to be a nudist camp- and Mark was on his way to rescue us. What an adventure that was.

Such are our daily lives, yes? At one time or another most of us have found ourselves thrust into an experience where we have felt lost (or at least not in control of conditions), and the uncertainty of the outcome was a prevailing concern that kept us from fully being present in the moment.

It doesn't have to be on a road trip- it could be in the midst of a job transition, a relationship or health challenge, or for that matter, even as one goes through the process of dying. It's easy, isn't it, to get lost in many areas of life, not knowing where we are going and at times feeling very much alone.

This is when we can choose to shift our perspective and see ourselves as "explorers." It has been said that in a confrontation between a stream and a rock, the stream always wins- not because of strength but because the stream is willing to explore new territory by simply surrendering to the call of gravity, flowing over, under, and around the rock in order to follow its purpose, which is to be a stream that, in time, serves a larger purpose called river and, ultimately, ocean.

While the stream effortlessly follows the guidance and call of the law of gravity, you can rest assured that in those moments when you might feel lost in life, you have guidance calling to you as well- you just need to be open to it and invite it to be revealed.

It's actually the same intelligence, working at different levels. God's guidance is Omnipresence, meaning that wherever you are, Infinite Intelligence is also.

When you become willing to explore the experiences you encounter on your journey through life remembering this truth, especially in those moments of uncertainty, it sends a signal to the universe that you are receptive, open and able to go with the flow.

It's then that, almost magically it seems, whatever guidance is needed to serve the purpose at hand is revealed when it's needed with grace and ease: That's the way it's supposed to be for us explorers!

So, the next time you find yourself at a dead end somewhere along the road on your life's journey, remember to take time to stop, breathe and say to yourself, Hey, I'm not lost, I am exploring. With that simple shift in perspective you can have faith that life knows where you need to be and how to get you there.

And so begins the real adventure.

Dennis Merritt Jones is the spiritual director for OneSpirit Center for Conscious Living in Simi Valley. His website is www.OneSpirit.org.