On Being Lost and Found

All human beings are inherent seekers, depending on their situations and their predispositions. What do most people seek? The range is vast; the perfect life, relentless pursuit of fame and fortune; political power, goals and ambitions in whatever sphere there may be. There are thrill seekers, who fearless in sky, water and land, challenge themselves and put their lives at risk. Then there are seekers of transcendent dimensions beyond common understanding;  tireless service to others. There are also those whose circumstances place them in poverty and perpetual despair. Whether we raise our eyes to the stars with longing for the unknown, search in our existing world or cast them down accepting the vagaries of life, everyone is seeking something.

While on this journey of seeking, is it possible to lose oneself? The answer is a resounding yes. However, the forces at work underlying this notion are profound. We don’t disappear, we’re not on a missing person’s list, no one is searching frantically for us. We go about our daily routines, at home, at work, eat meals with family and friends and even watch our favorite TV shows. Sadly, if we are one of those whose poverty makes us invisible to the rest of the world, we slowly fade away from sight and remembrance.

So, where are we? Since no one is looking for us, do we have to find ourselves? How do we do this? Experiences that we have been through personally are the best trackers of our inability to live life fully. By living in the past, blaming others, blaming life, blaming circumstances for everything negative that has happened in our lives and by refusing to accept the truth about ourselves, we suffer inwardly. We sift through the emotional baggage that we have been carrying for years and some, even a lifetime looking for that basic ingredient of life called happiness.

The fact is that most of us don’t really know we are lost and desperately unhappy until, we are jolted into awareness that something is not right in our personal world. We have been taken hostage by ambition, greed, empty pleasures, and denial of our own mistakes in our relationships. We have surrendered to the negative emotions of anger, hate, blame, jealousy, fear and the futility of ever finding true happiness.

Unfortunately, many of us have been looking in the wrong places.

Happiness is not elusive; it is closer than we think; one just needs to stand still and look inward. Isn’t that something worth seeking?