Have you ever felt you’re following everyone else’s map… and still feel completely lost?
- David H Nafarrate
- Jan 18
- 3 min read
There were moments in my life — actually, many of them — when I could no longer pretend I knew where I was going.
It wasn’t a single fall.
It was many.
Always close to the edge.
Like the lost sheep that doesn’t just wander off,
but walks dangerously close to the cliff.
Like the prodigal son who doesn’t get lost out of ignorance,
but by betting his life on false values,
and wasting the real ones.
For years, getting lost was my way of existing.
Sometimes, getting lost is how meaning begins.
The problem is keeping maps that were never yours.
From the moment we’re born, we inherit ready-made routes:
what “success” is supposed to mean
what gives a life its value
what we’re expected to want
We walk those paths with discipline, with good intentions, even with faith…
until one day, something stops fitting.
Not because you’re broken.
But because that map was never true for you.
The real breaking point isn’t action. It’s surrender
For a long time, I thought I needed more clarity,
more willpower,
more control.
I didn’t.
What I needed was to accept something far more uncomfortable:
My own understanding wasn’t enough to guide my life.
Not because it was useless,
but because it was incomplete.
That’s where the shift began.
Inner guidance isn’t passive out of weakness — but out of respect
When I say this guidance acts in a passive way,
I don’t mean inactivity.
I mean something deeper.
We were given free will.
And not even the Creator — who has placed a fragment of His own spirit within us — violates it.
That inner presence doesn’t push, doesn’t force, doesn’t take control.
When you turn towards her with simple attention, she begins to meet you halfway.
And here lies the core of the human struggle:
Real change begins the moment we choose to align what we want with that deeper inner voice that fully respects us.
Until that choice is made, guidance waits.
It doesn’t disappear.
It doesn’t abandon.
It simply doesn’t interfere.
Listening isn’t a technique. It’s a decision
I’m not talking about listening to opinions, advice, or theories.
Listening at this level means creating silence on purpose.
It means quieting the inner noise — fear, urgency, automatic narratives —
and consciously establishing a living relationship with the presence that dwells within you.
There are many forms of meditation, but the difference is here:
It’s not the same to mechanically repeat a mantra
as it is to say, with full awareness:
“I know you are within me. I know your understanding is greater than mine. Guide me in the way you know I can understand.”
That’s no longer technique.
That’s relationship.
And when that relationship begins, communication becomes two-way.
Listening transforms action
This is where getting lost and moving forward come back together.
You don’t act in order to stop being lost.
You act from what you hear in the silence.
And that action is usually:
more humble
less spectacular
more demanding
Because listening doesn’t give you the whole map.
It shows you the next true step.
And that step almost always requires letting go of:
identities that no longer support your growth
learned values that no longer feel true
false maps that once promised safety
There are no shortcuts.
Being human is hard.
Leaving survival mode and choosing conscious evolution is hard.
But it’s not impossible.
The path reveals itself by walking
Today I can honestly say: following everyone's map got me nowhere..
I didn’t find myself despite getting lost. I found myself because I got lost.
Because only when I stopped trusting exclusively in myself
did I learn how to listen.
And only when I learned to listen
did my steps begin to align.
They weren’t perfect.
They were true.
And that was enough to begin.
Your turn:
What noise do you need to turn down so your will can hear something deeper?
If this resonated with you:
At Yoam, we share reflections for those who are done with prefabricated maps
and ready for a conscious relationship with their inner guidance.
One message.
No embellishment.
No empty promises.