Searching for love, searching for truth, searching for that elusive meal between brunch and lunch.

If you’re not exactly sure where you’re supposed to be—if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing on this little blue planet of ours, you’re supposed to be searching for it.

It’s okay not to know where you’ll end up, so long as you’re searching for the destination. It’s okay not to be a good partner, so long as you’re searching for ways to be one. It’s okay to be 38 and not know what you’re going to be when you grow up so long as I’m, uh, I mean, you are searching for the answer.

We are brow-beaten by the media and society at large to believe that what we have is not enough, that we are not enough. Somewhere along the line, someone decided that the state of searching was more worthy than the state of being.

Poppycock, says I!

Now, I’m a believer in self-improvement, and I believe in asking questions—how can I make this world a better place? What were the Coelacanths up to for 65 million years? Where did I put my wine glass? (Seriously, this is a big problem in my life), but although I’ve found lost keys, misplaced shoes, the receipt for my misspent youth, and my high school yearbook (I swear I burned that years ago!) I can’t claim to have found any answers.

My dad would say that’s because I’m a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but (this time) he’s wrong.

I believe that everything we want and everything we need is already there—it’s not a matter of finding it, but rather, becoming aware of its existence.

Happiness?  Check. Love? Right in front of your face. Belief in yourself? Everywhere, all the time!

So why do we put so much time, effort, and energy searching for things that are already there? I’m certain there’s a scientific reason for it, but basically, it’s because we’re dumb bipedals who are so busy searching for something else that we’re blind to what is.  J.R.R. Tolkien had it right—the journey is where all the great stuff happens.

Now stop searching and get lost.

And I mean that literally; go get lost somewhere. Get lost in thought. Get lost in love. Get lost while taking a road trip to see Mt Rushmore and instead, end up at Crazy Horse and see what majesty and magnitude man is capable of.

Getting lost is simple, although not always easy, and you may need practice. I’ve been lost for most of my life, so I’m rather good at it, but don’t despair if you don’t get it the first time. Like flying, the trick to getting lost is to aim towards something and miss.

So go on, get lost—you’ll love it!

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 Assistant Editor: Terri Tremblett/Editor: Bryonie Wise

{Photo provided by the author}