Maybe We Need To Be Lost?

In the book Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck writes that “To know where you are going, you have to know where you are, and I didn’t”.  I’m sure it comes as no surprise to anyone that line stands out to me but even though Steinbeck is referring to trying to navigate his way down the great American highways, I think to most people it says a lot about riding on the road of life.

When I started this blog, I didn’t know where I was and I really do agree that that had a lot to do with why I couldn’t get to where I wanted to be.  So I committed to taking the time to really work on myself and change who I was.  I wanted to stop living in the past and let go of the things that were holding me back from moving forward.  During that time, it stopped being about figuring out how to get to where I was going and over the past few months, I’ve realized that where I am suddenly became exactly where I wanted to be.

I feel like every day I come in contact with people who are lost.  So many people in my life seem aimless right now and lately I’ve spent a lot of time feeling bad for them, mostly because I feel so amazing right now.  I kept thinking if they could just take the time to change their mindset.  All they need to do is refocus and start to open their eyes to what is right in front of them.  They have to be willing to let go and open to change.  For some reason, this week it all sort of hit me that each of these people will get there but they have to do it in their own way and on their own time table.

What I needed to do to figure out where I was and where I was going was my journey.  It was my challenge and it took me a long time to get to the point where I was strong enough to take the steps to move forward and from reading this blog, you can see that it was not an overnight process to get to where I am now.  Sure, in hindsight it all seems so logical and easy to me but I had to get there all on my own, which gives me faith that others will be able to do it as well.

Maybe sometimes we need to stay lost for a while.  Maybe we need to be aimless to see that going nowhere is getting us nowhere.  Maybe we need to run and run until we can’t run anymore.  It isn’t until we are out of breath that we will be able to come to the conclusion that all running is going to do is get us further and further away from where we want to be. 

Change is a process.  Getting back on track isn’t easy.  The results are fantastic but it’s the getting there that is the real challenge.  We all have to take the steps to get there on our own and that includes running away from the things we are not quite ready to deal with head on.  However, keep in mind that there may be some truth to the old saying that you can run but you can’t hide.

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkein