Get Lost

Yep I said it, get lost. Well, intentionally. Get lost intentionally. As I’m running on the treadmill listening to Timothy Ferriss’s “The 4-Hour Workweek,” he utters these words to me, and I find myself repeating them throughout the day. To get
lost, veer off track, not go according to plan- these are often frowned upon, But why? Is there really anything wrong with getting lost if it is intentional?

I’ve always been a big planner. I’ve known where I want to end up and mapped out steps to get there, never missing a beat. So when I ended a long term relationship and left my job (that I worked very hard for and was going quite well) you could imagine how I caught my family and friends by surprise. I may as well have died my hair green, joined a punk rock band and set off to tour around the world on a bus. “Has Cait gone crazy?” was a common thought amongst many. But no, I hadn’t. I just wanted more than what I had originally intended for myself. I didn’t know what exactly. But I knew where I currently was wasn’t going to get me there so if I were to start somewhere, I had to change that. And so I did.

I made some big decisions that I knew would get me lost, but I did this purposely. I needed to go to the opposite side of where I was headed to help me figure out a new route. It was scary, there were tears and a ton of uncertainties along the way. Heck, there still are. But intentionally throwing what I’d known and worked for to the wind ended up placing me back down in a more grounded space. One that I am grateful for, that is constantly challenging me to become better in all aspects.

In a world that is so focused on planning each day and checking off boxes as you go along, getting lost intentionally is a way to purposely find yourself in a better place than if you had stayed on track. You don’t have to make changes as drastic as mine, start small. Do something that makes you comfortably uncomfortable first before turning your life upside down. Just know why you are doing it. To better yourself, to follow a dream or your heart. Give yourself a reason for uplifting yourself from your current day to day routine, and go get it. I wish you all the best, and I hope you end up where you truly belong.