Lost
is a Spiritual Problem
Lost,
but you don't know where you're going.
Lost
is a horrible place to feel. You recognise it because Life
just doesn't seem to be working. Nothing is satisfying, or
at least nothing is satisfying for very long. You look back
and you have no idea what you did wrong. Or you may look back
and see one wrong turn after another, one wrong choice after
another. But when you examine each of those choices in isolation,
you know that you made the best choice you could given the
circumstances that surrounded you at the time.
The
worst of it is, that if someone gave you a magic wand and
three wishes, you know, deep down, that no matter what you
wished for, as soon as you got over the excitement of change,
that you would feel just as lost, just as dissatisfied with
life.
You
may not realise it but Lost is a Spiritual Problem.
By
Spiritual I don't mean religious. By Spiritual I do mean that
it is to do with the essence of who you really are, the essence
of the love that you are.
Entertain
the idea for a moment or two that maybe, just maybe, Life
is a Journey with a Purpose. The map of that journey is coded,
say, in your DNA, or maybe it's something instinctive or intuitive,
but it's there and we can somehow feel it. Then during our
formative years we are socialised into looking outside ourselves
for answers rather than within. We are taught not to trust
our instincts, but to obey rules. Other people always know
what is best for us. Be that well-meaning parents, teachers,
religious leaders, supervisors, managers, politicians. Some
of the people who guide you will have your best interests
at heart; some will have their own. Either way you are taught
to think for yourself, but only if the solutions you produce
are acceptable. When you are intelligent, or curious, or talented,
or playful, or thirsty for knowledge about something you have
an interest in and you ask your teachers questions that they
don't know the answers to, you may be deliberately discouraged
from asking 'stupid' questions.
If
questions are asked with a genuine thirst for knowledge, then
there are no stupid questions.
It
is because we are discouraged from listening within that we
lose sight of what we are here to accomplish. And when we
wander way off the map within - then we are lost. Then nothing
seems to work. Then life seems unsatisfying. Then we feel
unfulfilled.
The
way to get back on the map is to start to look within for
answers. Not answers you get from knowledge, but answers you
get from gut instinct, answers you get from whether or not
something just feels right.
If
you want to start the process right now, then look through
your memories for something you used to enjoy and brought
you pleasure. Something you haven't done for a long time.
Then go out and do it. Make a pact with yourself to do something
you really enjoy for a little while each day. Something as
simple as watching something on tv that makes you laugh, feeding
the ducks on the local pond, building a sandcastle even though
other people are watching. It doesn't have to be complicated
or earth-shattering. Simple pleasure. That's all.
What
this does is communicate a very important message to the forgotten
part of you. It says, 'I'm ready to come home, so please turn
on a light to guide me' and you'll find that magical things
start to happen. You'll find your interest in life itself
returning. You may also discover that you're in the wrong
relationship, the wrong job, the wrong location, and want
to make changes and that's fine as long as the changes feel
right deep down inside. Use that as your guide from now on
and you will soon be back on track.
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