Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about the feeling of being lost. Have you had the experience of feeling lost, the feeling of not being sure what your next step is or where your life is headed? It can sometimes even feel like, how did I get here? Not really sure how you fit into it all. It's an uncomfortable feeling, sometimes even painful. So I want to share a poem called Lost by David Wagoner, which is based on the teachings that the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest gave their children if they were to ever be lost in the woods.

It's so it goes like this. Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger, must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes.

Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, you are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you. So notice how this lands for you.

From your perspective, you may be lost right now. From a friend's perspective, you may be lost right now. But from the perspective of this much larger family of things where you reside, you are not lost. You are here. The only truth to being lost is the truth we give to the thought that we're lost, but it's just a thought, just a felt sense.

Every hero or heroine's journey includes lost moments, but they weren't actually lost moments. They were key steps in a much bigger story. They only feel lost because we can't yet see how the story will play out. So take a breath. Feel where you are right now, explore where you want to go next.

But remember, you're not lost. You're right here. And here is always part of a much bigger journey. I'll talk to you in the meditation. Thank you for your practice and take care.