Get Lost With Me

I'm the world's worst navigator.

I wish I was kidding, but it seems every time I get in a car, it is never a straight shot to wherever I'm trying to go. Ask anyone that has ever gone on a road trip with me, but I usually get distracted and forget to look for the exit. Needless to say, I've grown accustomed to being lost.

Blame my adventurous self, but I actually love getting lost. For me, it is not a road trip if you actually make it there in the time allotted. I revel in the moments that would cause most people to have panic attacks. Perhaps it is the adrenaline rush I receive, but I love the challenge of finding my way around a new city, or even block of Birmingham. I see these times as a chance to become better acquainted with yourself and the people around you. I see them as chances to get to discover something or maybe someone you never would have come across otherwise. 

In the moments we are lost, we truly find ourselves. The moment we veer from our plan is when we are given the freedom to become whoever we truly wish to be. Only then are we given the opportunity to ask ourselves if we really want what we thought we did or if we only enjoyed the idea of it.

Right now, I'm in the process of planning a road trip to Houston, TX to acquire my visa. I'm hoping to make a few pit stops, perhaps in Gulf Shores or New Orleans. I'm not holding any expectations for this trip because I don't want to be let down--I just want to be. I just want to get lost along I65 (and whichever highway leads to Texas.) 

I hope to find monuments that should never have been built. I hope to make Vines with my friends and create memories that I'll be able to relive while I'm away from them next semester. I hope to find a new favorite snack. I hope to change the words to some ridiculous '90s song, making them (even more) applicable to my life. 

I think about every time I have ever made a "life plan" and I have to thank God that none of those plans worked out. I think about every spontaneous experience I've had that has lead me to meet some of the people who have completely altered my life. I think about the relationships that I pursued that left me brokenhearted and smile because none of those people were right for me. I think about when I realized that I could never be a law student and I was not really sure what talents I was left with.

If I'm being honest--I'm still lost. I'm still constantly trying to make sense of the things that happen to me, or to gain control where there's none to be gained. I still haven't found the person that I'm meant to spend forever with. I still am pondering what I want to do with the rest of my life, and hoping that somehow that will allow me to write and live at the beach.

Your life does not need to be in a constant state of shambles like my own, but maybe getting lost is not that bad. Maybe constantly making the wrong turn could still lead us exactly where we are meant to be. Maybe losing the map could allow us to embark on an adventure greater than we could have ever dreamed.

One of my favorite quotes says, "I marvel at how even the wrong choices can keep us on the right path. How the worst mistake can wind up being the best thing that ever happened to us." 

When Katie Klein wrote these words, I believe she was giving us permission to stop worrying. She was telling us to let go of those anxieties and just live our lives. As long as you know where you want to be, you'll be okay. Even if that changes halfway to your destination, then so be it.

At the end of the day, we have to remember that the first step is to just get in the car and go.