Get Lost and Feel Small
At one or many points in your life, you should get lost and feel small.
Not at the mercy of another human, or to the point where you can’t find yourself [eventually] again.
But in the way that directs your mind to peace, where your worries melt away and you realize how large the world is and how minor your stresses are.
This doesn’t mean you’re belittling your issues, or not taking your life seriously. This is a mechanism of the coping variety; take in the world, breathe, sit for a while, and then take on your life with a fresh and clear perspective.
My advice:
Drive to a beaten path – one that you’ve walked along many times, once or twice, or one that you’ve just discovered.
Don’t let other people’s presence deter you – they are on a journey just as you are.
Walk, jog, run down that path and find a body of water. A river, a pond, a lake, or the ocean. A naturally existing body of water.
Sit there on the rocky bank, the hill above it, in the woods around it, or on the sand and direct your gaze outwards.
Think about the natural processes that are occurring, and have occurred, to make that place the way it is. Watch a water bug skate across the glassy surface; try to spot the rings of water that indicate a fish breaking the surface; or watch the waves crash onto the shore and crawl back out to sea.
Be amazed at how small you feel, and at how lost you can get in the rhythms of the quiet world around you – and how oddly comforting it is to know you are just a small piece of an incredibly large and impossible jigsaw puzzle. Don’t think about the five bills you have to pay on this week’s paycheck that is already spent, or that your relationships aren’t what you wish they were, or that you feel like a failure for not following through with something even though it was sucking the life out of you. Think about how those trees are standing there, supporting worlds you may not be aware of, or how those waves will crash and flow time and time again.
Think about how lost you are – and how okay you are to be lost, because that just means you are on an unexpected journey, one where you’ll learn and discover more than if you knew your every next move.
Think about how small you are – compared to the vastness of the ocean, the layers of this very earth.
It can be comfortable to feel confident, found, and larger than life. But you have to come back to Earth at some point, so when you do get lost and feel small.
10 Comments
Shailaja V
Loving the positive spin on the term ‘Get lost.’ We all need it, from time to time, for our own sanity. It keeps us grounded and grateful for the blessings in our lives. Right? I’ve been meaning to get away from it all for a while now. Perhaps it’s time I actually did it.
kmac14
Absolutely! It can be challenging to look past obligations and responsibilities to just clear your mind and breathe, but whether it’s for ten minutes or a day (or more!), I think it’s important to do.
Phil Taylor
For me sometimes, I get small and get lost in other peoples blogs. It’s a wonderful way to remind myself that there are others out there living lives like mine with a lot of the same stresses and worries. Reading your blog post was like walking down a path that was knew to me.
kmac14
That is a great point! When I decided to share this post for BUYB, I was hoping people would share their ways of getting lost and feeling small – thank you for sharing yours!
Parul Thakur
I had those exact same thoughts when my husband and I did a road trip in the Himalayas. The term ‘getting lost’ made sense and you are right – it was not belittling the stress that surrounds us but realizing what all we miss when we don’t get lost. Great positive post!
kmac14
Exactly. That sounds like a beautiful trip! Thank you for reading. 🙂
Parul Thakur
It was lovely. If you are interested to know more, check this out – https://www.happinessandfood.com/12-day-road-trip-ladakh/
kmac14
I am – thank you!!
Midlife Smarts
Oh I am going to try that and shake things up a bit. Love the advice. Thanks
kmac14
Happy to hear it! 🙂