Why do so many people feel lost in life, not knowing who they are, where they are going, and if there is a purpose or meaning in their life? Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? I have.
This is why I decided to write this blog post, in the hope that it will bring some clarity to people’s lives and help them find their way back: to themselves, to their hearts, and towards the path of their life. Discover the 10 reasons why people feel lost in life:
If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, come back to yourself, who you are, here and now and when you get there you will find yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, beautiful and strong.
~ Masaru Emoto
Table of Contents
1. They have lost connection with their heart and soul:
One of the many reasons people feel lost in life is because they have disconnected from their hearts and souls. They pay too much attention to their rational mind and what everyone else has to say, and now they can no longer hear the voice of their heart, nor connect with the wisdom of their souls.
It is only when we silence the blaring noises of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it knocks on the door of our hearts.
~ K.T. Jong
2. They live life according to others’ beliefs:
Another reason people feel lost in life is because they live their lives based on what other people think is right for them, based on what other people think is true. They shape their lives based on the thoughts, beliefs, and ideas handed down to them from an early age by their parents, family members, teachers, friends, society, and everyone they have interacted with.
And because they never took the time to question the authenticity of these beliefs, and if they had anything to do with who they themselves are, they continued to build, fabricate and shape their life based on what others think is right.
Don’t believe anything just because you’ve heard it. Do not believe in anything just because it is spoken and spread by many. Do not believe in anything just because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything just under the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions as they have been passed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that something is in accordance with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of all, accept it and live up to it.
~ Buddha
3. They value others’ opinions more than their own:
Even though they have a very wise and trusted advisor within, their heart and soul, they don’t seem to trust themselves. They are constantly seeking advice from others, and the opinions of those around them always seem to be more valuable and important than their own.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t get caught up in dogma, which lives with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.
And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition. They already know what you really want to become. Everything else is secondary.
~ Steve Jobs
Recommended: Ask Yourself These 5 Questions to Discover Your Life Purpose
4. They live in a state of fear:
Their hearts are closed and fear seems to reign over areas of their life. Fear seems to be present in their minds, in their hearts, in their home, in the work they do, in the decisions they make, in the relationships they have, and in everything they do. They live in a constant state of fear and, as love is no longer welcome, they feel lost, disoriented, disconnected, and very unhappy.
There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we withdraw from life. When we’re in love, we open up to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We must learn to love ourselves first, in all of our glory and our imperfections.
If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open ourselves to our capacity to love others or to our creative potential. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest on the fearlessness and open outlook of the people who embrace life.
~ John Lennon
5. They have a distorted sense of self:
People who feel lost in life tend to have a distorted sense of self. They no longer see their beauty, their light, and their perfection, and they can no longer accept this truth, that what they are is enough! Their view of reality seems clouded and distorted. And all they seem to “see” is how small, unworthy, and insignificant they are, and how nothing is good enough.
Make up your own mind to be yourself. Know that he who finds himself loses his misery.
~ Matthew Arnold
6. They spend time with people who let them down:
Spending too much time with the wrong crowd is another reason why so many people feel lost in life. When you surround yourself with people who drag you down, people who whine, blame, criticize, gossip, and complain about everything and everyone, poisoning your mind, heart and life with their fears, doubts, and their negativity, they will eventually derail you from your life path, and this will make you feel lost.
People tend to be generous when they share their nonsense, fear, and ignorance. And while they seem pretty eager to feed you their negativity, remember that sometimes the diet we need is spiritual and emotional.
Be careful with what you feed your mind and your soul. Feed yourself with positivity and let that fuel propel you into positive action.
~ Steve Maraboli
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7. They are heavily influenced by their toxic thoughts:
When you believe every toxic thought that crosses your mind and when you insist on building your sense of yourself and your whole life on the basis of those thoughts, you can’t help but feel lost. Eckhart Tolle put it so well:
The mind is a superb instrument if used correctly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive. To put it more specifically, it’s not so much that you are using your mind wrongly, you usually don’t use it at all. It uses you. All the things that really matter: beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace – come from beyond the mind.
8. They think logic is more important than imagination:
People who suffer from a lack of imagination feel compelled to rationalize everything that happens to them. Constantly seeking to give logical explanations, to themselves and to others, why they cannot go on with their lives, why they are not as happy as they would like and why their present and future life will be nothing else than a replica of their past. And that’s just another reason people feel lost in life.
Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
~ Oscar Wilde
9. They are stuck in the past:
They are very attached to their past and everything that happened there. And they just can’t seem to find a way out of it, they don’t want to.
People find it difficult to let go of their suffering. For fear of the unknown, they prefer the suffering that is familiar to them.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
10. They try to have everything under their control:
They don’t seem to understand that life has a natural flow that always works with them, and so, they choose to fight this by trying to control everything and everyone. As a result, they become out of balance, they become disconnected from their own heart and soul, and they begin to feel more and more lost with every day that passes.
You who cannot even control yourself should hardly aspire to control the universe.
~ ACI
We all get lost every now and then, and while you might not always like it, you need to understand that this is all part of this adventure called life. It’s all part of your journey. If you fully immerse yourself in every experience and interaction life sends you, whether good or bad, there is so much to gain.
And when the time comes for you to return “home”, you will never come back empty-handed, but with many valuable lessons, great insights, and much wisdom. So always remember,
It’s good to feel lost … because it proves that you have a navigational sense of where “home” is.
You know that a place that feels like being found exists. And maybe your current location is not that place but, Hallelujah, that unsteady and eerie feeling of loss has just brought you closer.
Recommended: These 5 Signs Mean It’s Time for a Drastic Change in Your Life
Recommended Book to Read:
Purpose Driven Life
Living the Legendary Life.