Most people don’t like getting lost in the city or in nature as it’s uncomfortable and feels a bit unsafe. However, once you survive your brief panic attack, you will never forget how to navigate that part of town again.
I just dropped my daughter off at college and left her thousands of miles away. Tough going as a parent. And it’s not easy for her. But, I know the only way she’s going to be able to grow, learn and evolve is to . . . get lost. What I mean is for her to get out of her comfort zone. Risk a bit. Obviously, not too much as I’m her father, but . . . get comfortable being uncomfortable. When we are able to identify what scares us and then walk towards it we are moving in the right direction. Physically. Emotionally, socially and spiritually. We are challenging ourselves. We are expanding ourselves to new growth.
Remaining safe with our maps in hand is certainly an option. But, we have not tested ourselves. We haven’t forged our self-reliance in the experiences of our own doubts. The illusion is we’ve remained “out of danger.” Have we? Or have we just developed a false sense of security? How are we stronger? Do we know more?
It’s a fine dance between risk and growing. If we are to get into shape, we must constantly choose this dance. As it is our initiation. It’s our baptism into a bigger world. There are no cliff notes for this story.
Besides, why would you want to skip all the intricate details. That’s worth every page turn. Every moment of the day. Each tear and most certainly all the laughs.