Lost | Confused

There are moments in life when you are lost. And there are moments when you are confused.

Confusion is a state of mind when you 'think' that there exist more than one equally good or bad option and you got to choose one out of them. The question being- "which one"?

Being lost is a state when you don't "where are you standing", "where do you want to go (next)?" and once you know the first two, the third is "how will you get there?".

To give you an analogy: Consider that last night you slept in your bedroom but today when you opened your eyes you found yourself in a jungle. You don't know where you are, where you should go next (search for a highway or a tribe or a river bank to seek help from fisherman. You don't even know if these options exist or not) and you don’t know how to get there. In simple words you are "Lost".

Being confused is a similar situation where you have a GPS device. So the confusion is which way to follow. Should you climb the mountain or cross the lake. Which is less risky and easier?

You are lost when you feel that there are no boundaries to distinguish between right or wrong, good and bad. It’s a situation of complete darkness. In darkness you can’t see the boundaries. You cannot see what exists and what doesn't. You cannot even see yourself. In the battle field of Kurkshetra, Arjuna was lost. At such times one has to ask the most difficult yet the most important questions. The answers to these questions provide the light needed in such darkness.

There are three ways to avoid confusion. First: following someone blindly; second: avoiding the knowledge of existence of other options. But a better way to avoid confusion is the third way:  understanding the technicalities, utilities and risks associated with the options and select the one based on suitability. Be it your career, business, relationship, life or a small thing like buying a smart phone you must be smart enough to the cumulative effects of different permutations and combinations i.e know the options and the effects in detail.

In simple words to avoid being lost one must look inwards. To avoid confusion one must look outwards. But to take the right decision one must look at both the sides simultaneously.

You are lost when you ‘feel’ that you don’t know anything. You are confused when you ‘think’ that you know but you are not sure.