I Can Make It Anywhere…

Imagine that you are lost. Your cell phone is dead. It is dark–

In typical 21^st century naïveté, you’ve set out on this journey with no road map, no compass, and too little gas for the trip.

You are confused…lost…exhausted.

If you are a man, there was never any hope for you to stop and ask for directions. If you are a woman, you probably forgot to fill up the tank and missed your off ramp because you were singing along to the radio.

And now…you are stuck. All hope is lost…

                                            …Or at least that’s what you think.

But… there is one thing about being lost that people forget to mention. The one true blessing amid the curse.

Allow me to show you the Silver lining in this cloud…

After being lost, returning back home can be a bit scary. You see, on the way back, the directions are backward. Where you turned left last time, you will now take a right. Where you faced East on the way up, you will need to face West on the way down. And while the sun guided you to this point, the moon will guide you back.

And this creates a whole new perspective, you see.

For now, turning right doesn’t always mean you’re on the right track; and likewise, a left hook no longer leads to a dead end. In the same respect, what looked like one thing in the light now looks COMPLETELY different in the dark.

And maybe, when you find yourself stuck and without a compass, you turn to that gut feeling that you often ignored in the past. Maybe then, you will be led down a path that is not even paved.

And here’s where it gets tricky.

You have now taken a chance…you, now, must make up your own rules and follow your own compass.

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As the windy road narrows and you find yourself in the thick of the darkness, you wonder what you have gotten yourself into…and how you will get out. But something in the back of your mind dares you to go on.

And so you do. Onward and upward- now there is a hill. You don’t know if your car can withstand the coming terrain.. or if the sprinkle of gas that you have left will get you to safety. But you close your eyes- whisper a prayer- and before you know it, you are back on solid ground.

You think to yourself that it didn’t take this long to reach the point where you turned around. Ah, you must be even more lost now than you had been before.

As you near a clearing, your car starts to jerk. It is about to run out of gas. With no way of communicating, and no way to get home, you stop. You throw your hands up in despair, and silently give up.

And  then, as the moon winks at you on its way down, and the sun peeks up over the horizon on its way up, you realize that somehow- someway, you have finally made it to your destination.

You have arrived. And behind you, you have left a trail ablaze with fresh tracks for the next person who will struggle to find their way.

That is the true blessing of being lost. For BEING lost is a part of life. STAYING lost is  what discounts life all together. But FINDING YOUR WAY is what life is ALL ABOUT.

In my lifetime, I’ve learned that despite my frequent tendency to forget my roadmap at home, my incessant practice of giving in to the temptation of singing along to the radio and missing my exit, and my habitual overestimation of the amount of gas in my tank, if I just keep going- if I just keep listening to my heart… I CAN MAKE IT ANYWHERE.