Looking back, looking forward, looking in…
In almost everything we do, we spend most of our time looking forward, so you may ask why it’s so important to talk about it here. Well, think about the last time you drove to work. Most of the time you spent looking at the road in front of you. Occasionally you checked your mirrors, and looked around at the traffic around you, but most of the time you were looking at where you were going. So, ask yourself, how many times have you made that trip. How many times have you found yourself pulling into the parking lot with only a vague memory of how you got there? That’s what happens when we become to familiar with what we’re doing or where we’re going. We know the path so well, we hardly notice it as we travel.
In Scouting, and indeed in life, we need to review where we’re going occasionally, just as a reminder. For many long-time Scouters, the job they do is very familiar. They’ve been there, and done that so many times they’re hardly surprised. Reviewing the things we do helps us keep our eyes open. When we take the time to review our goals, If we’re familiar with the path to our goal, like the route to our place of work, reviewing helps us look for detours that may crop up, or problems we may encounter. When we couple that with evaluating, we’re better prepared to deal with sudden changes that need to be made. Reviewing is mentally going over the route or path, and helps us anticipate the things that might come up as we travel.
