“I once was lost but now am found…”
John Henry Newton

Have you ever been lost? I don’t mean lost in the woods.  I mean everyday lost; the kind that is so disturbing because it seems to have no cause nor rhyme nor reason.

It happened to me a while ago. I say it “happened” because that’s exactly how it felt. Although some small things were shifting in my life nothing major had transpired. Yet I found myself looking at my everyday routine; my blog, my business, my writing –  my whole life  – wondering what I was doing and why I was doing it.

At first I tried to distract myself by working harder or by planning fun activities. But the feeling persisted. Then I wandered aimlessly in the foggy mist for days wondering what to do. Finally I picked up the phone and called a good friend. I see now that I needed to say the words aloud, “I’m lost!” I needed someone to hear those words even though they didn’t make sense to me.

My friend listened and commiserated with me. Then she delivered a message filled with her gentle wisdom but I don’t remember what she said. What I do remember is hanging up with the feeling that somehow, in time, it was going to be okay.

In retrospect I recognize that I’d done three things which helped me find my way out of the grey mist:

1. I’d identified the problem – I was lost
2. I’d stated what I wanted – I wanted to be found
3. I stayed with it – I accepted it and I waited

Nobody found me, of course. I found myself. I walked out of that foggy mist into sunshine brighter than any I’d ever known. I found my balance, identified my purpose, greeted my inspiration as if for the first time. I felt blissfully alive; exuberant about my path in life.

Have you ever been lost? What did you do to be found?

photo credit: Paul Friel