“Just because you don’t know your direction doesn’t mean you don’t have one. Sometimes lost is where you need to be.” –Leoben

As we grow through life, we develop characteristics and values that keep us safe and help us connect to others. Sometimes, these characteristics and values that keep us safe can end up preventing us from connecting to others later on. Sometimes our values don’t mature with us and they can lead us to doing and saying things that hurt others. This can also result in disconnecting from those around us. We begin to feel lonely, but hold on tighter to these characteristics and values assuring ourselves of their Truth and their eventual path to happiness. The problem is, sometimes they are just obsolete and need to be replaced with their 2.0 (or higher) version.

When we begin to take a step back and evaluate the usefulness of these values and characteristics, we suddenly feel lost, not really knowing what to do. After all, these characteristics and values kept us safe and feeling happy for so long. One way they have done this, I believe, is by preventing us from being our true, authentic selves. Maybe at some point they have even rewarded us by gaining the approval or admiration of others. Without them, we don’t know what to do, how to act, and what to believe. But still, it’s important to be aware of the impact we have on the world and those around us. It may not be as insignificant as we think. Who do we hurt, even indirectly, by our beliefs, by what we say, or what we do?

Image by entr’acte

Feeling lost is an important step in this process. If we don’t feel this way, we likely already have some destination in mind, which may or may not be the best destination. Allowing ourselves to feel lost gives us the opportunity to search, explore, and freely choose areas that we may not have intended. So often, it is within these areas that growth happens: we become a step closer to being and accepting our inner self.

I believe that this process should take place several times in life. The journey of being and accepting ourselves never ends. I’m grateful it doesn’t, it gives us a sense of adventure as we go through life.