February Expat Challenge; Day Two

Today's Challenge:  Respond to this quote - “Not all those who wander are lost.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

I have sat and reflected on how to respond to this quote for a while now.  Over an hour.  Granted, I also have a facebook tab open and every notification I get is like a shiny red ball "ohhh....." and the ADHD kicks in.  It's not multitasking at all, lol.  

Anyways, back to today's challenge.

If you are a regular reader of mine, you know that quotes are huge for me.  I have always had a strange love for quotes and still read them on a regular basis.  I find a lot of comfort in quotes and no matter what, I can always find one that I can relate to, for whatever I'm going through.  Same for songs and song lyrics.  So i was pretty stoked to see that every Sunday of the expat challenge is a new quote.  

I do, however, find myself in a new spot.  I've always read quotes/lyrics that speak to me, but I've never had to respond to one and break it down.  Quite thought provoking for myself, as strange as it sounds.

Seriously, back to the challenge this time.

"Not all those who wander are lost".  

I think there is a lot of truth to this quote.  I think "lost" is more of a feeling, than an actual state.  When we take a wrong road and are driving and have no clue where we are, we say we are "lost".  While we may not know where we are, or where we are going to end up, we are still in route.  Does this actually make us lost, or just FEEL lost?  People talk about taking the road less traveled, and again, while on the road less traveled, we feel  lost because we are in new territory.  We have new sights, new smells, new experiences.  But in reality, we only feel lost.  Being in unfamiliar territory is just that, unfamiliar territory.  We must stop pushing ourselves to go outside our comfort zones to turn around and plea that we are "lost".  We are still in motion, and who knows, perhaps the new road will open up more doors and opportunities.  Allow us to meet people who will influence and change our lives (both for the good and the bad).  It's easier to look back on your path and understand why things happened.  When we are going through these situations though, it's much more difficult to understand.  Have faith, push forward, and when life is hard, push harder.  I challenge you to look back at a time when you thought you were "lost"... and mentally track that time and where it brought you, and the lessons you learned from it.  I think you will find that you can relate to a time where you wandered, but you weren't lost.  

When have you been off path?