At some point or another, we’re all going to feel a little lost. Life is going to throw us into the middle of an obstacle course and quite often, it will take all of the strength we have, just to make it out the other side. Not just physical strength though, but an overwhelming mental strength. A strength that before all of this, we would have never thought possible.

I suppose that’s life though. It’s designed to bring us so close to breaking, that in order to shape us into the people the world needs us to be, we have no choice but to stop, reconsider and rebuild.

The obstacle course though, it isn’t always going to be quick and chances are, it is going to be far from easy. It isn’t always going to be over in a matter of days, weeks or even months and we aren’t always going to come out the other side unharmed. Sometimes we’re left wandering through that obstacle course for so long that not only do we lose all track of time, but quite often, we begin to lose ourselves along the way.

If we’re lucky though, somewhere close to the finish line we stumble across a newer version of ourselves; a stronger version. One that brings with it a new sense of purpose and a clarity like never before. A clarity so beautiful and so surreal that it’s as though we are seeing the world for the vey first time.

Now while sometimes, unfortunately, we are forced to face these obstacles alone, other times we are lucky enough to have people there to travel alongside us; people who we could not have possibly survived without. In my opinion, it’s those people who make all the difference. All the difference in the world.

At the end of the day, without those people, not only would there be a completely different person walking out the other side of that obstacle course, but there’s a chance that none of us would have ever made it out the other side at all.

So while it is often said that it is not until we are truly lost, that we can ever begin to find ourselves, I am beginning to think that more importantly, it’s not until we are lost with the right people by our side, that we are able to find both the strength and the courage to not only find ourselves, but rebuild ourselves.

Luckily for me, I just happen to have a Mumma who is an absolute angel, a Dadda so brave he is kicking Cancer’s butt, a brother who can always, always make me smile, a boyfriend who is my own beautiful little ray of sunshine and a handful of friends who have stood by me through it all.

Luckily for me, I managed to get thrown into an obstacle course with just the right people. People who were not only able to point me in the right direction, each and every time that I managed to wind up a little lost, but people who gave me the courage to walk out with a smile on my face and the strength to face the world again.

Luckily for me, I had just the people I needed to not only help find myself again, but to rebuild a life more wonderful than I ever could have imagined.

I suppose it really is true what they say; you always want what you can’t have, because growing up, all I ever wanted was longer legs. All I ever wanted was to wake up one day to find a pair of legs that no longer appeared as though they belonged on the body of an Oompa Loompa.

Strangely enough, at the time, I really didn’t think it was too much to ask for. All of the other kids my age seemed to be growing taller at a pace that was almost impossible to keep up with. Yet still, each time that I would grow, it seemed that somehow, my legs had decided not to.

However, despite the constant disappointment, I continued to hold out hope. I continued to pray that somehow, someday, I would wake to find that my legs had magically stretched themselves into the normal, appropriate length.

Unfortunately though, as you are probably already aware, that someday never came, the magic never happened and to this day, my legs never stretched themselves into the normal, appropriate length and while quite often, I still find myself dreaming of the day that my legs finally begin to grow, I am starting to come to the sad realisation that the chances are, that day will never come.

To be quite honest though, after stumbling across a photo of a rather cute little three year old me, I am beginning to think that I never really stood a chance in the first place. It looks to me as though those short little legs of mine were always, always here to stay.

Despite time being the only real concept that we have ever known, I am still adament that right now, it is moving way, way too fast.

Thinking back though, I am certain that there was once a time that it didn’t. A time when the days just could not go fast enough and the weeks would drag on for an eternity. Yet now, here we are already welcoming in the first day of June. Here we are already halfway through a year that I could have sworn had only just begun. Halfway through a year that I was really, really hoping wouldn’t disappear so quickly this time around.

Unfortunately however, it seems to be doing just that.

Despite there being exactly three hundred and sixty-five days in every single year, I am beginning to think that as each one of those years passes by, slowly but surely someone is taking those days away, twenty-four hours at a time.

In fact, maybe that’s the secret.
Maybe that’s the part that we’ve been missing all this time.

Maybe we should be looking for that sneaky little rabbit who is obviously working for the Mad Hatter; the one who has been stealing our days away.

Maybe if we can find him, then we’ll find all of our long lost days. Maybe if we can find him, then we’ll find that magic pocket watch and time can finally begin to slow down again, at least for a little while.