A Moment of Gratitude & Intentional Rest
I am writing this particular blog post sitting on a plane as I travel to Punta Mita, Mexico, for Thanksgiving with my love. We’re off to celebrate my 40th birthday and Thanksgiving while we soak in some sun and chase some waves. We’re kid free - which is bittersweet; we relish our special time together but our hearts also ache because our children are with their other parents for the holiday.
The plan is to take the week off entirely from work, to truly recharge. To not only get reconnected to my own why and passions but to also to pour energy and connection into our marriage. There’s magic in this choice, in the power of intention; it breeds a new energy that minimizes effort and magically creates more time. Slowing down to speed up is one of the ways we can transform time. I know this because every time I allow myself this gift of slowing down the payoff is profound.
But slowing down, dang is it hard! I have a list of to-do’s that I didn’t quite wrap up before we left. However, I will set a boundary and only work the first day to get the critical things done, and then I am going to step fully into joy. I’m going to delegate a bit more to my team, and save other things for after the trip. When I touch them again, I will be able to do so quickly and efficiently. I could easily step back into my old patterns and tell myself any range of excuses for why I should just keep getting things done.
“It will be more efficient because I already have momentum.”
“My clients need me and they are depending on me.”
“It will only take a few minutes.”
“I’d rather not have it looming over me the entire trip because then I won’t have fun anyways.”
All of these statements are choices. By writing this, I am realizing how far I have come with my own relationship with work, time and energy over just the last few years. It is what I am most grateful for this year - this profound shift. When I close my eyes, the stress of my old life working for a school district as the Director of Human Resources floods my entire body. The physical work load and emotional toll were all encompassing; no matter how hard I worked there was always more to be done. There was always another personnel matter to solve and most of them were demanding of my emotions whether I was at work or at home with my family.
I left this corporate, HR job just in the nick of time - September 1st, 2020. I had started this business, Dot Rock Consulting, in February 2020 right before COVID left us on stay at home orders for months. I had set a date to resign - July 2020 - prior to this random shift caused by COVID and I stuck with it. My soul was begging for me to slow down, to be more present with my son and my new family, and to work less all while making more. My soul was craving doing this work with clients to help them experience a life of adventure and joy and to be able to also work less. Leaving a steady income was a tall order, but one I knew deeply to be possible; all within my own mindset to shift and step into.
My old workplace has been in the news over the past several months - a slew of HR nightmares. I imagine how overwhelming and all encompassing navigating these issues, amidst COVID, would have been on me and my family. I am so deeply grateful that I listened to my gut and took this huge leap of faith. I left a steady job, one which I enjoyed in many realms, to start this business. My motivation: I wanted to pick up my kids from school and cook dinner without my cell ringing with yet another HR issue to navigate.
My gratitude: I did it! I left my job and created a business that I am in love with. I am living the life I dreamed about. It is a continued effort to keep these boundaries in place to protect my emotional and physical wellbeing and to be present for my family. I could easily work each morning in Mexico. It’s actually far harder to go for the long beach run, to gently do some yoga by the pool, to go play in the waves. My old self was programmed to perform. To produce. To keep going no matter what the cost to my well being. Work was far more important than doing things that lit my soul on fire and made me feel alive. But not now. My new self is being programmed to recharge. To live in the present. To allow some things to more gently fall into place instead of forcing them.
The truth is, we all have a choice - each and every day . Life, and business, will continue to serve us dozens of lemons. The growth -the lesson - is in what you make out of the lemons. This week, I am choosing to make mine into a delicious coconut, lemon drop martini!
