You May Find Yourself

“You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack … and you may find yourself in another part of the world.  And you may ask yourself, well … how did I get here?” – Once in a lifetime: The Talking Heads.

If any of us were blindfolded and two days later, dropped in the middle of a desert or a forest, we’d have no idea how to get anywhere. Even if we had a map, we’d have no direction.    

Where we came from, doesn’t matter.  That information is of no use.  Having a destination is useless as well, because we don’t know where we are. 

We need to know where we are.  Without that, north doesn’t mean anything.   

See where this is going?

We may find ourselves in life, wherever “here” is and think, how did I get here?  Is this where I truly am?  Is this who I am?  Maybe it was, but no longer isn’t.  Maybe it is and never really was, but we just ended up here.  And it’s not bad; in fact, it’s pretty nice, but something’s missing.  We’re here.  Now what?

The journey.  Which way?  After taking some quick inventory; immediate surroundings, instincts, and feel, it’s a matter of going.  Too much analysis is paralyzing.  We’re very good at talking ourselves out of things.  Meanwhile, our soul is a bit disappointed. 

As we travel; literally, metaphorically, or both, information begins to present itself.  Maybe we take a trip to Europe and while we’re there, we travel inward.  Clues provide direction and along the way, we gather intel about our philosophy, beliefs, sociality, physicality, health, mentality, psychology, spirituality, character, and personality.

Levels and positions of prioritization and importance change.  Some things we throw away altogether and some new things are adopted.  Maybe those “new things” were always there, but never acknowledged until now.     

Some journey’s begin on a grand scale; two flights, an SUV, and a Sherpa.  Many others are a yoga class, a 5k, or starting a blog.  Whatever and however it begins, go.  Take that “journey”. 

The song continues, “… and you may find yourself …”

Yes.  You may find yourself.

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash