Thoughts From My Desk: When You Feel a Little Lost

A little while back, I was feeling a bit lost. A bit defeated. While I know (and knew at the time) these are all rather normal feelings that many people have, it’s still not the most settling of feelings. I think the most frustrating part of it all was that I had started my own company (back in January), and things were going seemingly well in my life, personally and professionally, but I still felt just a bit like a lost puppy dog.

When things like this happen to me, I internalize a lot of it. I work with myself on figuring out what is the problem. I take time for myself. Time to be alone and with my thoughts. A little soul searching, I guess you can call it. I didn’t have a therapy appointment in the books at this time (but don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my therapist. She’s the cat’s pajamas, for sure), so I really tried to figure this one out on my own. What was causing me to feel this way? Is it in my control to fix? Can I make a change? And so forth and so on.

What I realized during this process of ‘figuring it out’ is that sometimes all you need is simply time for yourself. Time to recharge. Time to figure out what it is that truly inspires you. What makes you happy. Who makes you happy. Who brings out your best self. I found out all I needed was simply time. Time to think.

And during this time, I figured out a couple things. For starters, having friends who lift you up, inspire you, challenge you, and can relate to you on so many different levels is SO important. I have some really great friends here in Houston and in other cities, and they all play important roles in my life. Two girls, in particular, I want to call out in this post, though, because the past many months the three of us have gotten so incredibly close, and I really don’t know what I’d do without them. Friends are so important. True, real friends. Don’t take those for granted, ladies and gents.

Secondly, finding your passion and really honing in on it. What is the thing that makes you the most happy when you’re doing it? Reading? Writing? Painting? Playing guitar? Hiking? What is it? Figure that out, and DO that thing. Do it whenever you can, as much as possible. Find people who love that thing, too, and do it with them. Make your passion a priority. One of my biggest passions is writing. I love to write. Can’t ya tell? This post is turning out to be 42 pages long. I had always wanted to write a book. My dream was to publish one, and now, as you know, that dream is coming true. Even though writing a book is a hell of a lot of work, I love it. I’m passionate about it. It makes me so truly happy. Find that thing you love and DO it.

Perspective. Put things into perspective; it makes a big difference. You’re having a bad day. Well, there are people having worse days. And why are you having a bad day? Is it simply because you’ve hit every red light, your boss is being a ding dong, and your date rescheduled on you? Well, honey, that’s not all so bad when you put things into perspective. I always try to put things in my life in perspective and it makes a world of a difference.

It’s not bad to feel lost. In fact, sometimes it’s for the best because from feeling lost, you then figure out the direction you’re supposed to be going in, rather than the direction you ‘should’ be going in or the direction others think you should be going in. YOU do YOU. Don’t worry about the naysayers. Who asked them anyway?

I guess what I’m saying is if you’ve ever felt lost, you’re not alone. Just take some time for yourself, think, recharge, and just be. You’ll figure it out, you really will. Guaranteed.

Image borrowed from Three Rivers Deep