Motivation tips for when we feel lost
Nowadays it's common to feel a bit out of place, all things considered. But let's not forget that this current world situation –as messy as it can be– it's also one full of opportunities for new challenges and growth. It's all already inside us; we just got to learn to listen to it and let it guide us.
Whatever obstacles you're seeing in your life at the moment, remember you're not alone. With or without a pandemic, we're trained to follow specific steps in life for us to be happy and, sometimes, those rules simply won't do the trick for everyone the same way.
Unfortunately, the same training also taught us to follow them, regardless of whether it makes us happy or not. This, honestly, is the saddest part and I want to ask you not to do it.
In reality, many of us were faced with rethinking our lives this past year, adapting to a new scenario, which can be terrifying.
Because getting to your set destination, only to realise it's not what you expected, that something is still missing, can be overwhelming. The same way is for a sailor to navigate new seas without a compass.
Listen to it
To all those feeling lost right now, if COVID changed your plans too drastically or simply because you feel out of place, I want to ask you to be patient and attentive. Because everything you see as a loss, it can be precisely the guideline you're waiting for.
Have you noticed when you do little simple things, that you suddenly get a sense of inner peace? That makes you feel happy without further reason? Well, that's precisely your joy, and it's trying to tell you something. To show you that it wants to become your compass in life if you just listen.
To me, it came when I needed the most or at least that's when I first started paying attention. I was at that point where my life's-checklist was complete, all I was taught to work for –get the job, the relationship, the apartment, etc.–, was finally there. Sadly, I didn't feel happy, and I didn't get that achievement sensation I was told. And realising that hit me very hard.
I started looking for answers; for someone who could explain what was happening. It took me to meditation and yoga. And I started listening to a voice inside me, telling me to try new things and do them differently.
I moved to Australia and started living for the life experiences that filled me with joy. And yeah, I discovered whole new happiness I didn't even know I could feel. And it was all already inside me.
How to let it guide me?
We got to learn to recognize what makes us feel joy and trust it. It's like following your own soul guiding you towards people, to chase adventures, moments, new places, to meet yourself. Like little hints.
It feels like something growing in your chest. It's an inner peace of being connected with yourself. And once we experience joy, the next step is to start making those moments something sacred for you. It doesn't matter how long or of what kind, is more about how it makes you feel.
For example, say you really enjoy having tea in the morning, next to the window. That specific action gives you a lot of peace, so you should start repeating it. That way, you begin turning your entire day into a sacred moment.
These habits are feeding your inner voice. You're giving it more and more protagonism, and in that way, you're allowing yourself to be filled with joy, to learn to grow.
Sometimes, it may even take you to get your heartbroken, and you'll wonder why you were guided there. But the truth is that it'll only push you towards something you could bear, so you can come out stronger on the other side, even if you didn't believe you had it in you.
Your joy as your compass will guide you to stop being afraid of every unfamiliar moment and lose expectations linked to some processes. And to live them as a unique situation, stripped from society's teachings because it's all about getting to know yourself in those scenarios.
Here is where a catchphrase as cliché as "follow your heart" comes to place. Even if it sounds like a movie, and we know we're instructed to not believe in a life like that, I want to tell you the opposite. To live it as if it was one because you'll be listening to yourself and there's nothing you can't do if you feel like it's the right thing.
