It was the last couple weeks of my junior year, and I was sitting in Saturday School for excessive tardies and whatnot. It was 10:30 in the morning, and I decided to take a little potty trip to get away from the deathly silence that is Saturday School.

    As the year was coming to a close, I was in a slightly contemplative mood, and upon popping a squat in our beautiful facilities, some graffiti caught my eyeball.

    "Lost" it read.

    Some girl felt it, and in one way or another reached out for someone; it just happened to be on the bathroom stall. Maybe seeing the letters so real and visible made her trust the reverse of her current reality. I’m guessing she found security and confidence in knowing that someone in the school might hear her.

    Granted this was an indirect cry, but maybe that’s what gave it so much power and integrity. It was secret with no strings attached. There was no room to judge, no room for attention, no room for advice.

    By choosing anonymity, she enabled her listeners to feel the natural human feeling of compassion but spared her travelers the suitcase filled with obligation. Her listeners didn’t have to help or to worry; they just had to feel. And she took comfort in that…that someone was listening.

    That bathroom trip hit a nerve.

    It’s now the first day of my senior year, and as the editorial editor of The Sailors’ Log, I’m faced with a lot of empty space and a chance to say a little something to the population.

    Being lost is something we all experience. I’ve tasted lost. It lingers; it’s always hungry, silently striking. It eases me into its cozy grasp then spits me out into an empty territory.

    I’m not happy, not sad – just mass: a piece of science taking up, standing up, walking, sleeping, eating up space.

    Having been there, and fully believing that you have as well, I believe that from the depths of lost comes the out: inspiration.

    It’s a new year with new situations, new opportunity, new accomplishments, and new mistakes. But if I’m going to trust anything, it’s that "new" element.

    We can grow from "new."

    I’ve been exhilarated by a sense of possibility. What can happen when you have faith in yourself and your imagination? What can happen when you don’t place unnecessary limits on what is possible?

    When you allow your ambitions to lift you up on wings of power, the power of potential, you can do anything you put your mind to.

    So I send you my message.

    Take this year and inspire or find your personal inspiration. Use this fresh beginning and hone in on what makes you tick. Celebrate the things you have to say.

    There are a million different paths to take in this life, and I don’t claim to know which is best.

    But I truly believe if you manage to put yourself in a place with people who are smarter than you, who are more focused than you, and who are more interested in life than you, you will rise up to the standards that surround you and discover that you are capable of achievements you never dreamt possible.

    Coincidentally, if you choose to be where the living is easy, you may never discover your true gifts and that empty territory – lost – is where you will stay.

    These are beliefs I have collected through the years. Some of them are my own findings, but many happen to be advice given to me as I create myself.

    It’s my hope that I reach the girl in the bathroom. "Lost" is no way to trot through life. And it scares me to think how many people frequent that empty world.

    I leave you today with words from my uncle. He has facilitated much of the inspiration I share with you today. It was advice given to me, but I hope to allocate some of its magic to you.

    "Desire brought out the best in me that I had to offer. Then I lost sight of it while I was in high school, and I squandered those parts of myself that I was most proud of, those parts of me that made me think I could conquer the world.

    "It is my sincere hope that you stay connected with the best parts of yourself and not give into needing approval from the nonsense high school can supply.

    Have fun, yes. Make your own fun, yes. But never lose sight of the bigger picture. Muskegon, high school, is just a blip on a much larger cultural map. You can conquer the world. I see this in you. I hope you see it too."

    All of this can seem quite cliché on paper, but I challenge you to think about it and apply it. Be creative and find the relevance.

    Each and every one of us has the opportunity to be inspired, and when we finally taste it, each of us will wake up to a different perspective, and "lost" will be gone.

    It’s the first day, and it’s a new beginning. I don’t know if the girl in the bathroom ever found her way out of "lost," so if not for personal gain, do it for her: get out of "lost" and get "found."

    Be an inspiration to others, but more importantly, be present and be an inspiration to yourself.