Have you ever been lost

Have you ever been completely lost - as an adult - for example in a city ? 

I remember, while we were undergoing our officer's training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, we had been out on this camp for five days then. We were in real jungles, far from the familiar training grounds. Except for live bullets, this was as real as possible. Poorly fed, without a shower (but with boots polished and clean shaven at 5 in the morning!!) and with hardly any time to rest we were thoroughly fatigued. Days went by in learning in squads through instructions and demonstrations. While nights went by in practicing the drills. The 5 am mark for reporting used to be a couple of hours away, by the time we were dismissed. 

On this particular night, we were navigating back to our camp after a successful raid on the enemy post. We could sense the lack of certainty with which our navigator was taking us back. After several failed attempts and with a lot of regret, he informed our instructor that we were lost. Thankfully, our leader was a Special Forces officer whose unit specialized in mountain and jungle warfare. He had fought in Sri Lanka and was a gallantry medal awardee. He had known all along that we were going wrong and was silently following cues on ground. He shouted a few abuses and then took over the military map. It was pitch dark and we could hardly see the mountains on the skyline. After a minute or so, he ordered us to march in a particular direction. Now this man was good in his job but was also known for his flamboyant military style. So we thought that yet again he was showing off. How could someone be so certain? After all, we also knew our job well. But orders are orders and we followed. In any case who likes to think in such exhausted state. To our surprise, we soon hit a footpath which only widened as we walked along it, leading us to our camp. It was simply unbelievable. We had been lost for hours and this man takes us to our destination in 30 minutes.

In real life, such help is rarely received. So what should one do when one finds himself in a cloud with no sense of direction ? There is something one has to believe in. I have found that most of the times our gut feeling is right. It is a gift that we do not make much use of. We all have this inner voice that is our inner response to situations and we do not need all inputs to figure out a solution, when we are listening to this voice. What is important is to act although we may not have full information. In these times, it is important to choose than to choose right. Say if we started our journey from point A and want to reach point B, but somewhere we felt lost, then remembering that uncertainty is a signpost of possibility helps. We may reach point C which may be a better place or simply our destiny. 

But intuition needs to be developed with practice. For beginners, stay calm and think one by one about the various solutions. The one that is right for you will make you feel good in your chest (literally) and the one that you should avoid will give an uneasy feeling within. Listen to your heart and follow. If it doesn't come in first attempt try once more. Quoting Oprah Winfrey again-"When you don't know what to do, get still. The answer will come".

Staying calm and having patience is important. We all have adequate patience within us; its just that we don't think we do. And as I usually say, with practice everything becomes easy.

Above all trust God, because as our Father, He is always looking after us. And if that be so, then why should we worry. Keep undergoing the daily battle and do the best you can. Because that's what is the best for us.