Temporarily Lost

On my way to dropping my son off at school this morning, I saw a sticker on the car in front of me that read “It’s ok.  We are all a little lost sometimes”.  I kept thinking about this statement as I drove.  My first thought was, absolutely, I am always lost even with (which baffles my young son).  He never understands how that can happen.  

As I thought about this, I realized that the problem is not getting lost, the problem is remaining lost.  You would think that if you get lost, you retrace your steps and get back on the road, right?  That is logical and sensible.  

We say that in pursuing your purpose or vocation, first define your goals.  Your goal is your roadmap… it provides the direction you want to go and sometimes the destination (remember the popular saying…if you don’t know where you are going, you will not know when you get there”).  Even with the best articulated goals, well defined execution plans, we can still get lost in life.  How is this possible?    Let’s check these steps and see how they stack up:

we miss a turn

we get lost

we get frustrated; 

we get angry, 

we blame everything and everyone and…

we you give up  

With the GPS, you will take the next exit or go round in circles before getting back on the right road (at least that is my experience).  In life, those circles can sometimes be a very long time. Feeling or getting lost is not the problem, staying lost is a problem.  

If you are feeling a little lost today as that bumper sticker said, it is ok.  What is not ok is not realizing you are lost and or giving up.  Tracing your steps backwards maybe a longer journey.  You can move forward from where you are.  Dust up your goals (your roadmap) no matter how tattered and worn by time and weather.  Your lost seasons may not be wasted after all, who knows how the people you met while you were lost, the places you wandered to while you were lost will all come together to get you back on the right road again.