Not all who are lost…. Wander

The title may sound like a cliched attempt to changing the meaning of the popular quote “Not all who wander are lost” and in all truth, it might be. But it still is something that I have lost sleep over because it has every possibility of being extremely true.

Now I won’t say that I have ever faced something so horrible that I was completely lost but then again, everyone has their share of burdens to bear.

It’s not about being lost though. It’s about the inability to acknowledge your helplessness, let alone try to reduce it. For many, they might even not understand their state of being lost while for others they might be long accustomed to it for it to bother them again.

The feeling of being lost is very hard to qualify let alone quantify. For me, it’s the helplessness of not being able to do anything to grant me peace from something that may cause its loss. But this might not be the same for all. But yes, it is a very common thing to happen and the feeling of inferiority, loss of happiness, and the general depression something that occurs as an aftereffect for all.

Although the world may seem cruel, most are very capable to lead an upbeat and happy life. For those people who have known the bliss of peace, take it granted even, when faced with a hopeless situation tend to easily break down. Hence the whole saying, as if they were wandering, looking for someone or something that can help them. This wandering can be internal as well.

But I’ve seen people, people very close to me, lead their days as if no struggle, no pain can graze them yet carrying burdens I can never imagine of having. It’s not normal for them to share it as well, as most of these people tend to be private about their problems and deal with it on their own. After much hassle one of them did share. And the helplessness in that voice sunk my heart.

The point I am trying to make is that these people aren’t rare. There are many of those who never show the suffering side of their lives. They, in the terms of the saying, will never wander. For them, being lost isn’t chaotic, its not volatile. For them, helplessness is like emptiness. Its stagnant, quiet, silent. For some, they might act out but not these people. They’ll halt themselves, bury it all, and keep moving.

It shouldn’t always be a bad thing, right? Because nothing in this world is truly black or white. The silence shouldn’t mean inactivity. For instead of being inactive one can start working on it. Focus on their problems, identify it, reduce and in time remove it. Work on themselves with help from themselves. Maybe that’s what they re doing. Who knows…..

But in the end, all this just further proves that our minds are something that we can’t grasp. And the diversity that each human show makes it very hard for me to even consider any of us to be similar except for maybe being the same species.

All this taught me something else too. That we, being insanely judgemental of everyone and everything despite showing we aren’t, can’t be judging anyone because we run the risk of being judged. It’s not possible for someone to truly know about someone else. Heck, many spend years without knowing themselves at all. Without knowing about the demons that haunt them, we can’t be become angels in their lives, trying to be al exalted with our advice brimming with confidence and certainty. Life doesn’t work that way.

Easier said than done, right? Let’s try doing it then. Might not be as hard as you are thinking. All we can do is try after all.