Did you ever lose your direction?

Yes. And I’m still not back on track. I’m looking forward to reading how others were able to do so.

Yep, I got back on track after I realized I’d end up in a very bad situation if I don’t… My direction was different, you just can’t keep yourself in the same path, something has to change for good or bad

yup. And I’m still wandering…

Sometimes it’s not that you are lost, it’s just that you have not take a step in any one direction. I know, sounds so touchy-feely, but the truth is that if you just do something rather than nothing you are making progress.
The worst thing we can do is not try, even if it means that we fail a few times. Take a risk. What have you got to lose? You’re not making any progress anyway…at least that’s what I’m assuming. So, do anything that will get you out of your comfort zone and looking at things a new way. Who knows what might inspire you to find your path, passion, goal, ambition?
I don’t think we are ever done finding ourselves. Our lives are our greatest journey.

Yes, I spent nearly a year after my sister died just going through the motions aimlessly. Toward the end of that period, I started to be more and more aware that I did not like my current path. Then I slowly began to think about what I did want. Finally, I started to make the transition, which—as they often do—took longer than I expected or hoped, another several months.

Thanks for the insights. Guess it makes a lot of sense to step out of your comfort zone and give yourself time to think, even if you feel completely bored and plateaued in your everyday routine, responsibilities and commitments.
Sometimes it’s tempting to think; if this is all there’s going to be, why keep repeating?

I beleive that any person who thinks they have never lost direction just does not knwo what direction is. The real question is: how do you get back on track, and often, what ‘the right track is’. My personal finding is to not deliberate and agonize to long, just start acting and listen to your soul. For everything else – there is GPS

I sometimes lost direction early on——well, come to think of it, I grew up and didn’t have any direction. . . All I knew how to do was survive, not life. It was tough, I felt stagnant, yet didn’t know where to go. All the ‘books’ said, “Make goals.’ So I did. But more often than not they either turned out to be a source of frustration [and beating myself up as a failure] when I didn’t meet the goals, or they turned out to be…well goals. I met them then they were over and I was back to square one.

One day I decided that it wasn’t life that was going to ‘direct’ me, it was me that was going to direct my life. Instead of goals, I made life-changes—or, in other words, I changed my direction. To me, making goals was all about the ‘destination’ and changing directions was more about the journey—the long haul.

A small example of this is the difference between ‘dieting’ and ‘eating healthy.’ Dieting is a goal, and if I don’t meet it, I’m a ‘failure.’ If I do meet it, it’s over, and I go back to unhealthy eating. Healthy eating is a directional change. I try and eat healthy everyday. If I have a cookie at one mean, it’s not the end of the world. I simply, pick up healthy again and go on.

The broader stroke of what do I want to do in life—took more time. But why shouldn’t it? How can we know unless we try? So I gave me permission to try. Try this job, do it for a while. Do I like it? Is it what I want to be doing in 10 years? If not, what can I try next? Then the job I leave is not a failure; it was a try. I went to college because it might help me decide what I want, and along the way I learned a lot that broadened my view.

Sometimes my behavior tells me how I really feel about a direction. I had a great job once at a well known coat manufacturer. With my newly minted thought of I will be the director of my life——I did well at this job everyday. Doing my best at any job meant a lot to me. Eventually, though I knew I didn’t want to be checking on customs regarding coats in 5 years…I didn’t really care about the coats. I got another job working with retarded adults, which I loved. When I quit the coat factory said, ‘oh but you are sooo good. You don’t get all upset at customs, yell, or become frantic. We’d like to keep you.” I said thanks, but no thanks. The reason I was good——was partly because I didn’t care if the material got stuck in customs. No body was going to die over it;-]

I don’t know if this helps, but sometimes just changing the way we frame up the words to ourselves makes a huge difference. And as long as you are trying any direction, you are moving, learning, living, you are okay.

Hmmm…Take comfort in not knowing; I think that just shows you’re open minded to life. Don’t get discouraged it will come to you. Obviously you’re already on the right track if you can realize that you are maybe a little off track… I wouldn’t even really call it that.