Confusion
However carefully I've studied the map, a multi-lane roundabout often becomes a place of confusion. (Roundabout = traffic circle or rotary intersection if you speak American English. Correct me if I'm wrong.)
I know where I want to go, but there are too many signs and I can't see any indicating my destination. If I have a navigator with me, he will probably have chosen this moment to fall asleep. Which lane should I be in? I don't know. Where should I exit? I don't know.
As stopping on a roundabout is forbidden, there are only 2 choices. The first is to exit by the most likely looking road, hope it turns out to be right or will become obviously wrong very soon and there'll be somewhere to turn round easily. The second is to imitate an aircraft pilot with no permission to land yet and assume a holding pattern. This means driving all the way round the roundabout again (and again) until the right road makes itself obvious. I know I'm not the only person who sometimes does that occasionally. Should I get GPS?
Finding the best direction for the next step in life can be equally confusing. As a Vocations Adviser (in the Church of England) part of my role is to work with individuals who sense God calling them to move towards a particular vocation but may be unsure what this is or how to proceed. Sometimes my part is simply to be a prayerful companion as they travel around the roundabout, unsure which way to go. I might help them see various new routes and where those might lead. Why that road? Why not that one? Sometimes the exit from the roundabout becomes obvious quickly and a next step can be taken in that direction. Sometimes it is important just to keep going round the circle for a while and live with the confusion, or take the exit marked 'Services' to park up and take time out for refreshment.
Why am I thinking about this now? Probably because I'm facing some confusing choices, not all of them mine to make. I cannot see clearly where to exit the roundabout. So - it's holding pattern mode for now. Have you been here? How did you cope?
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