Are you lost?

Is getting lost in the car the same as getting lost in life?

Have you ever been lost in a relationship, lost who you are, lost your job/role, your direction or just “lost it”?

We all react in different ways to situations. Emotion is what makes us human and unique after all.

Applying pressure is often said to show someones ‘true colours’ whilst in a situation. The term “I lost it” or “They lost it” is often referred to when someone reacts badly or in a hightened state within a situation. The fact is, depending on what has happened and how an individual deals with it can be insightful.

Getting lost in the car is a good example of how we can relate to being lost in life…

We have all experienced at some point in our life a moment of being completely lost. The sat nav hasn’t worked or maybe you didn’t have one. You’ve missed the exit you were supposed to come off or missed the sign completely. The fact is you have ended up somewhere that is unrecognisable and you don’t know how you’ve got there or where to go from that point.

So what do you do now… re trace your steps… look at a map… ask someone directions… look out for signposts… all of which are ways to getting back on track…But what would you do?

The feelings that come with being lost differ from person to person. Depending on the individual and how we deal with situations it’s interesting to see how we react. We all know we dont stay lost forever in the car… It’s not like we go out and each time we end up seeing numerous people with overgrown hair and begging for food because they cant find their way… Although it’s sad to know this can happen within someones life. Becoming completely lost in an emotion, a memory of a situation or a feeling generated from finding yourself lost.

How have you reacted in the past to being lost ? For the moment lets concentrate on the car journey… How did you react? Have you been in the car with someone who has ended up getting you both lost? How did they react and how did it make you feel? Likewise, how did you react to being lost and how did they feel about your reaction? Various feelings and situations can result from this situation…

Maybe you drive around until you find something you recognise, re trace your steps to get back to a point before you became lost? Paying more attention this time round to the road signs and getting back on track. What if, however, you cannot find your way back? What if you have driven further down a road where there are less signs and you just do not recognise anything? We’ve all seen people or been that person driving very slow trying to find the right way to go. Or in some cases, as you frantically find something to show you the way, you experience near misses with things. Once your focus has been taken off the road in front of you its hard to see where you are going.

Maybe you have an outburst verbally; either to yourself or towards the people you are with (the old cliche when it comes to arguments)? “Who’s fault is it”, “why didn’t you listen to me”. All familiar arguments I’m sure. Maybe within this blaming there could be shouting and crying? But does this stop you from being lost? Has it ever worked where you shout as loud as you can and all of a sudden you’ve magically arrived at your chosen destination?? Generally not, it just creates upset for yourself and those around you. Only when you start trying to figure out where you need to go from that point and actually acting on that do you then arrive at your destination.

Maybe you reach for the road map? Take a look at where you are, find it on the map, read the road names, re calculate the journey and you are back on track… Sounds ideal and many people can do this but what if you cant read the map? What if you have absolutely no idea where you are or how you ended up there? No road names, no landmarks. Or it could even be you know the road name you are on and see things around you but you never bothered to learn how to use the map! You don’t have the skills to read it. Why have you got a map I hear you ask? Well, it’s what you do isn’t it… keep a map in the car in case you get lost? However it is rendered useless if you have no idea how to read it.

Maybe you can ask someone? Directions received, followed and you are back on track… But what if the person you asked has given you the wrong information? Or what if you forgot what they told you? You could end up becoming more lost. Advise is great but only if they know what they are talking about and you’ve listened.

All of these above situations could happen whilst being lost in the car. They could also easily be related to feelings and actions in general. The way we react in any given situation… The biggest one being – Life. Coming from personal experience I can certainly relate to the feeling of being completely lost – “Where am I and how on earth have I ended up here”.

We all deal with being lost in different ways… re trace our steps and go back to something familiar, blame others, shout and cry, refer to books, start a course and use information available to map out where we want to be, follow signs, ask someone for direction… What would you do? How did you get back on track?

The fact is, to get to where you really want to be, you have to pay attention. You have to read the signs. You have to make sure you have a map or directions you can refer back to… that you understand. Without these tools you can become lost… for how long will depend on how prepared you are and how you react.

You can avoid becoming lost altogether… You just have to pay attention, read the signs and have a map to follow that you can read.

Or look at it completely different; there really is no getting lost… If you end up somewhere you weren’t aiming for – take a look around – what can you see? What can you enjoy and experience? Pay attention to what you are drawn to, follow the signs specifically for you and make your own map that leads you to your destination.

How you feel makes the experience what it is… and for those around you.

What road are you on the way to? Or are you just going along for the ride?

Thank you for taking the time to read to the end of this post… I will be delving deeper into each point and connect more on a mental and spiritual level in another post for you.

With love from the Dreaming Living Being.