"Sometimes when you lose your way, you find yourself." Mary Hale.
There are times we look into the mirror and ask ourselves, How did I get so lost? This feeling of not knowing of what you are doing or who you are is scary. You built this life on continues dreams and passions, then one day something doesn’t work. You begin to lose one battle after another, life seems to be slowly unraveling. Then look into the mirror and feel hopelessness and no control. It is a dark time for many people, some even experience this feeling of being lost more than once in their lifetime. Yes, it is scary, but it is OK to feel lost.
I recently experienced this feeling, I was fulfilling my childhood dream, but something wasn’t right. I noticed I was unhappy, and then I was in a situation that was one of my nightmares. I thought I would never shake the feeling, that I would continue life slowly and continuously losing myself. Then, something strange happened that changed my thought process forever. I, sometimes, like to believe that the universe sends us signals in our time of need, that when we need to know something that it will come into our consciousness. Everywhere I looked more and more people were talking about how before they knew what they wanted to do they felt lost. That some of the greatest thinkers, writers, and musicians, have been lost and they used their outlets of talent to drive them out of the feeling into the great people they are today.
The people who feel lost are the ones who know themselves the best, they know the pain of hitting rock bottom and how to climb back up. Never be ashamed of being in a place of not knowing. Being lost is not a time for self-pity. Yes -- it feels better to constantly say it and cry it out, or sulk around but, instead, use the feeling to discover who you are. Explore the world around you, take different classes, take risks in life.
My mom once told me that physically being lost and feeling lost are the same thing, because to get out of them you have to put yourself out there, to send the flare signal or call for help. And once you do more and more people will offer you help and try to give you solutions. It does suck to feel lost, especially the older you are, but we are still growing and learning every day. Use the feeling of being lost as a discovery period. It is okay to wake up one day and want to do something else. Self-discovery is a huge key to happiness and we are all on the pursuit for it.
Most the people who are reading this are in college, or about to be in college. My advice is that not knowing 100 percent what you want to do with the rest of your life is OK. You only been trying to figure it out for a couple of years. Just know that when someone ask the typical, “What do you want to do with your major?” question, and your answer doesn’t bring a smile to your face or make you excited for your future, then you have you found yourself. Just remember that every day is a learning experience.
