Getting Lost & Getting Found

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Sometimes it’s hard to find the positive in negative situations. It’s perfectly normal to want to sit back and sulk about our plight! But that doesn’t mean that Life won’t dish out any more lemons to us. Oh no! Sometimes it’s when we are sitting there sulking that Life decides to teach us another lesson!

Kira Redig, an intern from The Adler School, wrote a blog article about getting lost and finding her self in the process. Hope it helps you to “make lemonade” just one more time!

Namasté,
Amy Grabowski

Getting Lost & Getting Found

The other day as I was walking home, I took a wrong turn and got lost. After a minor panic I kept walking the direction I felt I needed to go, and eventually made it home, discovering a delicious bakery along the way. As I walked up my street, finishing the cookie I had bought, I started to think about the benefits that come from getting lost.

Life throws us some difficult curves, and at other times we intentionally step off the clear path to see what else is out there. Both of these can suddenly leave one feeling overwhelmed, scared, unsure, and well, lost. It is at this point you can become overwhelmed with panic and stay right where you are, or you can push though the panic and walk in the direction you feel is right, possibly asking for directions along the way.

Moving ahead when you don’t know where you are going can seem daunting, but it is amazing what you find out about yourself along the way. It is when we really don’t know what to do, or where to go that we are open to trying a new way. It is also when we really focus on our surroundings. Just as a stumbled upon a bakery during my walk, many of my life changing opportunities have presented themselves just after I have been at my lowest, most lost, moments.

Being lost forces us to try things outside of our comfortable routine. It expands our knowledge of our abilities, and ourselves, as we try to find our way. It offers lows and highs, and the heightened experience that comes with the unknown. Over all, being lost presents us with opportunities we probably wouldn’t have recognize or tried as we followed our set path of life.

For me, there is nothing more satisfying than finding my way home after being lost. I feel proud of myself for pushing through the fear and figuring out my way. I learn from the wrong turns and the gifts of experience they have presented me along the way. With all theses opportunities for growth it seems maybe we shouldn’t be so afraid of getting lost, but push ourselves to do so more often. Maybe its is like Justina Chen Headly says in her book North of Beautiful, “getting lost is just another way of saying going exploring”.

Warmly,
Kira Redig
Kira is a master’s level practicum intern from The Adler School of Professional Psychology. She currently leads an Art Therapy group on Thursday evenings. If you would like to learn more about the group or Art Therapy in general, please call her at (773) 929-6262 x13.