Are you feeling lost? Frazzled? Like you have no idea where your life is going or what you want to do with your life? Don’t despair. Feeling lost might be the best possible thing to experience right now.

When you are lost, you can explore your options, get to know yourself, and learn more about what your next steps should be. It’s a time to take stock of your surroundings and reassess the decisions you have made to get to this point.

Here are 7 reasons why feeling lost can be the best thing to happen to you:

1. Feeling lost makes you stop and assess the situation

If you’re going along in life and things seem to be going okay, you might stay in a job you don’t love. You might stay with a partner you aren’t in love with. You might avoid new experiences and challenges because they’re not worth the risk. When you feel lost, none of those things hold you back anymore.

You can really stop and assess every aspect of your life and rebuild it from the ground up. You can take notice of things that you previously brushed under the metaphorical carpet. You have to take ownership for who you are and how you got there. But the great news is that you can also take ownership of where you go from here forward.

“I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.” – Vincent Van Gogh

2. Failure and loss are important for your growth

You’ve surely heard the expression “without the rain, there would be no rainbow.” In other words, you would never notice the good things if you didn’t also experience the bad things. Well guess what? Failure and feeling lost are in the “bad things” category.

But that doesn’t mean they are inherently bad. These experiences shape who you are. They lead you to discover parts of yourself you would have otherwise never known about. They are important things to go through. So, embrace them!

3. You have time to explore options you may have ignored

When you feel lost and alone, it’s a wonderful time to try new things. Have you always wanted to take an aerial yoga class? Have you ever wondered if you could make a living as a chef? Why not give it a shot?
Have you always had an itch to travel? Book a flight! This time when you’re spinning and trying to find your center is the perfect time to have fun and see if you find anything that sparks new joy in your life.

4. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain

When you feel like you’re sitting at the bottom of your life pit, it’s time to grab a rope and climb out. This is what feeling lost is like. If you feel that your life is spinning out of control or that you’re not heading in the right direction, you have nothing to lose by changing your path. And you just might find the path to your success!

5. You can get to know yourself and what you really want

This is a great time in your life to get to know yourself. You can do this through meditation, prayer, journaling, hiking, counseling, or just spending some time with yourself. Some people like to dine alone or go to the movies solo. This time you spend getting to know yourself might lead you to discover new goals or things you’d like to pursue.

6. You can volunteer your time and energy

When you feel lost, you might want to come home at the end of the day and watch TV. But a better alternative is to use your free time to help others. When you volunteer, you don’t just improve the lives of others, but you also make a lasting change in your own life.

You learn the value of your time and your energy. Volunteering is also a great way to network and meet people who could lead you down a new path. If you have a particular interest that you volunteer for, it might lead to a career with that organization.

7. You can embrace the freedom

When you don’t know which direction to move, sometimes it’s best to stop worrying about it so much, throw up your hands, and embrace the unknown! This time is really yours to explore, learn, try, travel, and just be. You can blaze your own path. Right now, that path might not lead anywhere special; it might be a path in a circle.x

But the lessons you learn along the way will become a part of you. They’ll guide you to new opportunities. They’ll inspire you to get involved with new people or organizations. They will lead you to success!

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl

Hopefully, you’ve learned that feeling lost is sometimes the first step on the path toward your biggest successes. This notion that you are lost, and therefore you should be sad or helpless, is wrong. Take this time to reassess every area of your life.

Break free of your comfort zone, try new things, meet new people, and welcome the listlessness. These are the moments when you can find your joy and discover the path to success.

So, what will you do next? What great adventure is waiting for you on the other side of the fear? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!