Hop off that mind-ride
Hi Friend
What a wonderful week. I was in Ft. Lauderdale for two days with ImpactEleven - the professional speakers group I've enlisted with for another year. The place they hold their events are always rather posh. This one sat on a canal and wasn't too far from the ocean - or so I thought. Actually getting to stand on the beach, took over 30 minutes of walking for me to achieve.
Between canals and private property, I kept having to take alternative routes. Eventually I found a hotel I could cut through, so I could stand near the ocean and listen to the waves. It's quite a serene experience. I love the sound of water, whether it's a river running or crashing waves.
It might have been the biggest beach I have ever been on. From the hotel to the water took forever to get there. I could hear the ocean, I just couldn't see it, even though I was traipsing through the sand.
Have you ever had that sensation that you know something is just up ahead, right around the corner, and it eludes you? It's weirdly disheartening. To be so close and still not experience the expected payout. Sometimes life feels like that beach - I know what I'm moving towards and hope to see; I can hear it and taste it, yet... I just don't see it.
FRUSTRATION
When we don't get what we want, we get frustrated. Our thoughts tell us that we should be there by now. That it shouldn't be this hard. That other people seem to go to and fro their ocean with great ease. We see others standing by the water, enjoying our dream! In a room full of professional speakers, who all seem to be killing it, I was offered that mind-ride.
"Hop in" he says. "I'll take you on a journey of all your mis-steps, failures and poor choices, while magnifying the appearance of everyone else's success. Heck, I'm going to pick up a couple of friends - jealousy and envy to come along too." HARD PASS! But the invitation still comes. When we take that ride, we always end up feeling alone, resentful and self-pitying.
You know why that's so hard to do? Because the conductor is quick to point out all the reasons our life is harder, more unfair and disproportionately disadvantaged.
Besides gratitude, which we both know is the antidote to disappointment, I find that reality is another great combatant of the conductors lies. Talking to others, learning their stories and struggles, brings an equalizing revelation that they too are working extremely hard to get to their ocean front dream.
INSPIRATION
Did you know EVERY single situation can be used for inspiration or disappointment. LITERALLY. When we find ourselves discouraged, we're also given the chance to take courage. It's extremely difficult to do because our mind is zooming along the frustration train. But like any subway system, just across the way, there is another train going in the opposite direction. We can get off the one and hop on the other.
When I go to these quarterly Masterclasses, I have a consistent aspiration: I want to meet one or two exceptional people and I want to walk away with something I can incorporate in my business immediately. That's happened every single time, so I'm grateful.
I also tend to walk away thinking "dang, there are so many things I haven't done that could have moved my business forward, further, faster."
Learning is awesome that way. New knowledge gives us the opportunity to shift the way we've been approaching life. When applied to the past, it also reveals what we could have done differently, if only we had known. I love that.
This week when you find yourself frustrated or disappointed, I dare you to say or think "I'm hopping off this mind-ride!" Then jump on the one that shows you possibility and opportunity. THAT ride is always available too. You can make that shift!
