Have you ever thought or said, “I should have seen that coming?”

One day, you look around, and suddenly, everything makes sense. You are finally able to connect the dots. It should have been easy to be able to predict the mess you got yourself into. You should have seen it coming.

Most of us have said or at least thought the same thing about someone else: “I saw that coming. They should have seen it coming, too.” Your friend seems surprised. They can’t believe the mess they’ve gotten themselves into, but you are not shocked and neither is anybody else because everybody saw it coming.

Sometimes, we can see what others can’t see. Sometimes, they can see what we can’t seem to see. The truth is that most of our personal problems can be avoided.

Let’s learn to avoid the pain that can be avoided today so we have less to cope with in the future. There’s already enough pain in life, and so much of that pain can’t be avoided.

There are certain principles we can apply in life. A principle is a fundamental truth that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior.

Once you recognize a principle, you have a decision to make. You can pay attention to the principle and it will benefit you or you can reject the principle and suffer the consequences. It’s entirely up to you.

When you are lost, you don’t pull over and ask for a solution. You ask for directions. If you can’t find somebody’s house, you don’t call up and say you need a solution. Instead, you ask for directions. When you’re lost, you don’t need anyone to know where you are. You need to know how to get to where you’re going.

There’s no instant fix or solution for being lost. We get to where we want to be, where we should be in our marriage, our family, our finances and our relationships the same way we got to where we shouldn’t be. We got there by moving in a certain direction.

Unfortunately, many people are living their lives in the wrong direction. Just think about what might happen if you would choose a new direction for your life.

We are all on a path that is leading someplace. Are you headed in the direction you want to go? If not, are you willing to change direction?

Over the next few weeks, we are going to explore a simple principle that could quite literally change your life. I hope you will join me here next time.

Steve Greene is the lead pastor of The Point in Seymour. Read his blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or email him at [email protected]. Send comments to awoods@aimmedia indiana.com.