Yes! The secret is out! I am directionally challenged, and there are many, many more people who are just like me!

 We may act normally, but we don’t think normally. Truth be told, we don’t really act normally. If we did, why would we sometimes leave our vehicles parked at home, or in a remote location, and thumb a lift to the city center?

 Why are we more comfortable taking public transportation when we could very well drive? Why would so many of us rather live and die in a metropolitan area, when we know that at least for our health’s sake we should relocate to a more suburban, or even rural area?

 I’ll tell you why. Doing, or not doing those things would mean that we would have to commute longer distances, and the commuting we currently are doing, is all that we can handle!

 Many of us are ashamed of the fact that traveling out of our familiar surroundings is an overwhelming feat. Many of us are ashamed of the fact that when we are given directions, they make very little sense to us, especially if there is a plethora of turnings! Which way is left? Which way is right? How can we know east, west north or south?

 How can we cope, when in a moment, even places that are supposed to be familiar, can appear brand new?

 These are just a few of the vicissitudes of the directionally challenged person.

If you are not directionally challenged, yourself, chances are, you know someone who is. And if you can’t identify that person, that is testimony to the ability we have to compensate for our foibles, or simply, to explain them away.

But, the time has come for the world to be let in on one of the worst kept secrets of all times. There are millions and millions of persons, the world over, of every ethnicity, culture and language, who  cannot competently navigate from one location to another, without stopping several times, either because they really are lost, or they just feel lost.

 There are multitudes who cannot naturally identify which is their right or left hand. Most of these people have a formula that they use, effectively or otherwise, to navigate from place; to know which way to turn, and to appear to act as “normally” as they can.

 I, for one, have never hidden the fact that I am directionally challenged, because I have never felt that this fact detracted from my intelligence in any way.

 But, I really believe that the time has come for public discussion on this topic!

 I am now issuing an open invitation to all who want to join the conversation, with a view to either educating others about your experiences, or to learn how it feels to be directionally challenged.

 Please come along for the ride, at the end of which I hope all will know. Those who are not directionally challenged will have a greater awareness of the difficulties we face each day. Those who are directionally challenged will, hopefully, lose the shame in not being able to competently navigate, and those who can do something, anything, to alleviate our suffering, will step up to the plate, and bat!

 Let’s go change the world!