David and I were
reflecting on this trip and the opportunity it gives us to reshape our lives in
whatever way we want.
For much of my
younger years I was bound in the core belief that "I wasn't enough"
and was always striving to be "successful" (what does that even
mean?!) according to the standards expressed by those around me and in popular
media. I pushed in the ways I was told to push myself and pursued career paths
(finance) that didn't match what interested me (directly serving others) or my
skillsets (teaching, managing, …) because I was told that this sort of
lifestyle would bring me joy. But, guess
what….it didn't (surprise, surprise).
When I first learned about nutrition and exercise, I latched on thinking
it would be my ticket to prove myself once and for all, and I threw myself in
the fruitless pursuit of eating the cleanest, most healthy diet and becoming
the fittest version of myself. If my job
couldn't bring me joy, I reasoned that my stellar "health" would. I kept pushing harder and harder in this
realm. However, what I learned is that
when you push too much in one area of your life, you're draining other aspects
of your life. Not only was I suffering
in my career, but spending all my time obsessing about food and exercise (with
all the planning/routines/rituals this required) compromised my relationships
and connections with other people. What
I learned from all of this is that, for me, happiness thrives in a space of
balance. I believe balance looks very
different for all of us. We have to look
at all the things in our life we value (the things that make us come alive) and
make sure those pieces all have a place in our life, and in the appropriate
measure. At times we might find
ourselves pushing harder in one aspect of our lives, but eventually the
incremental value of our efforts will no longer bring us the same sense of
satisfaction as it once did (law of diminishing returns). If we've cultivated balance in our lives,
then we are protected from the loss of our sense of self when the thing we
value most goes away.
Giving ourselves
this year to explore is helping us continue to weed out all the things that
weigh us down, and cultivate the kind of life that feels most satisfying. Each day we have the opportunity to
experiment….what/when/how much food, exercise, meditation, fun time, work time,
together time, solo time, social time, etc.
I am so grateful that we will be able to try new things, create/solidify
new habits/behaviors/perspective, and create the life of our dreams. However, the truth is that it doesn't taking
leaving the country to take inventory of our lives and adjust. We can all do this anytime, anywhere. What are some of the things you'd like to try
weeding out or incorporating more of in your life? What is one small experiment you can start
today?
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