It’s that busy time of celebration when many of us are willing to go the "extra mile." We’ll go out of our way, no matter what it takes. Why?

Because we won’t stop to ask for directions. I know I’m not alone when it comes to being lost. My husband is in the car with me.

For years, we’ve been making wrong turns to Christmas parties. Usually with a tray of hors d’oeuvres sliding back and forth on my lap. The only solace is in the knowledge that getting lost doesn’t only happen to us. It happens to our friends — wherever they are.

I was going to ask about their experiences with not asking directions, but the last I heard, they took a wrong turn and ended up in Dade County, Fla.

Confusion seems to be a normal part of life. Just ask anybody at one of this year’s holiday parties. That is, if you get there.

It’s a great conversation starter, guaranteed to elicit a horror story about refusing to ask directions. If the couple is married, each version will be somewhat different, depending on which spouse is in the room at the time.

Frankly, I’m embarrassed to admit that telling me to go west for a mile, then south for another two, just isn’t going to get me to the social gathering. The last time a host did that, I ended up in a farmer’s wheat field. I really felt like a silly goose. And I had plenty of company.

Following road signs isn’t much better. Last year, when my husband and I were frantically searching for a co-worker’s home, he asked me if that was a bicycle rider up ahead or a rural mailbox.

Certainly, that diminished the credibility of the compliment he’d paid me earlier. Something about looking young. It also reduced my hopes of his reading a street address at dusk.

But just in time for the deluge of holiday social engagements, there’s help for finding our way. It’s a GPS Pathfinder. It’s like a wristwatch, but it uses satellite data to give ultra-precise navigational advice. In an instant, you know right where you are and how to get where you need to be.

With this gadget, you’ll be the first couple at the party. And, best of all, you’ll arrive still speaking to each other.

Traveling to other places to rejoice in the season is a long-standing tradition. If you recall, the first Christmas celebration over 2,000 years ago brought shepherds and kings to Bethlehem. From all accounts, they stopped several times to ask how to get there. As a result, they arrived in time to see the babe in the manger.

Wise men still seek Jesus today, and he’s anxious to get together. But he knows how we feel about finding the way. So, Jesus will meet you at your place. In your heart.

You’ll hear him knock. All you have to do is open the door.