After roughly two months of traveling, I’m grateful to be back and share some fun stories, learnings, and experiences with you. I started my trip in California to see my Guru’s various temples and spiritual sites. I visited a few friends out West, built our Burning Man camp in the Nevada Desert, and traveled to Ibiza for conference events and my breathwork certification.
While I have loads of stories, reflective thoughts, and synchronicities to share with you, something more immediate struck me in the first days I arrived back in New York City.
A couple days ago, I was walking down the street by Madison Square Park. I walked past a little girl, probably no older than five, and her mother. They were both carrying grocery bags and the little girl was notably struggling with the very full bag she was carrying.
Just as I passed by them, I overheard the little girl say to her mom, “Every step we take, we’re one step closer.”
I briefly glanced down at the girl who was very preoccupied with her grocery bag. She was clearly using all the strength in her two little arms to hold up the bag as she walked.
I smiled to myself and continued on.
Through my travels in Ibiza, I met incredible entrepreneurs working to make the world a better place. I heard about businesses in regenerative farming, people serving indigenous communities, visions to eliminate plastic waste, and communities focused around conscious living.
At the UP Game, I actively participated in curating a week of activations to bring the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into reality by reverse engineering the 2030 world we live in from the standpoint of living in that time where all the SDGs are realized.
While the majority of these changemakers in consciousness were older than me in chronological age, I found that they almost all possessed a fervent childlike wonder. They brought this view of childlike play to the world, their projects, and the possibilities of what was to come. They were excited, driven, and most importantly, were having fun along the way.
Somewhere along the majority of our lifepaths, we lose this childlike approach to the world.
Maybe it’s in school, social structures, households, religious institutions, societal belief systems, economic needs, or ideological stances.
Something happens when we’re spit out of the educational system and thrown into the world to focus on making money and living the vision of a “dream life” we’ve been fed all our years.
Maybe it’s gradual for some, and more sudden for others, but somehow, the childlike fascination is zapped out of us. In exchange, the need to consume and fit into an expectational mold becomes the subconscious train ride we find ourselves taking through the days, weeks, and years of our life.
Our perspective shifts from one of upbeat optimism with resolve to move forward, to one of apathy, and disgruntled obligation.
I recently heard the story about how my one-year-old niece was fascinated and excited by just touching and looking at a glass bottle. Sure it was likely new for her, but in those eyes, in that moment, was the wonder of a brand new experience.
How can we approach every situation in our lives, with wonder, amusement, excitement, and enjoyment?
Sure, maybe not every situation will command those feelings, but more often than not, we have the ability to choose to make the mundane something extraordinary. Extra-ordinary – something unusual or remarkable.
My guru, Paramahansa Yogananda once said, “Life is meant to be lived in a worthwhile way. When you came into this world, you cried and everyone else smiled. You should so live your life that when you leave, everyone else will cry, but you will be smiling.”
Going through your life trading a paycheck for your time, while only being moderately pleased with how you spend the other hours of your day is far more commonplace than you think.
I can’t even remember the number of times I’ve heard, “I do ______ and I’m good at it, but I don’t feel like it’s my lifelong calling.”
Actor Jim Carrey tells the story of his father taking a safe job as an accountant, only to be let go when Jim was 12 years old. His lesson from the story is that you can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance at doing what you love.
The story of Jim’s father goes to show how when you have obligations and householder necessities piled on top of you, it’s often easy to lose sight of the things that make you feel exuberantly joyful inside – like a child.
Yes, it’s said that some jobs are there to help you earn, some are there to help you learn, and if it’s doing neither then you should look for something else.
Even in the midst of this view, I challenge you to see how you can bring more childlike play and fascination to your life in and outside of work.
In many areas of life, often it can feel like you’re not making the progress you want because you don’t tangibly see the results immediately.
When the little girl and her mom were walking to the car with groceries, the child took the view that every step was progress. While I didn’t hear the mother’s view, I would venture to guess that a majority of adults would solely be focused on being in the car and zooming off to the next errand.
The child was present and focused on each step in the journey, while as adults we are often just focused on the destination.
The end destination is 1% of the entire process. It’s about the 99% along the way that you must be all-in for. The experiences, setbacks, breakthroughs, learnings, and integration that occurs along the way is where the growth is truly felt. It’s when you look back once you’ve reached the destination (or a better one!) and are in awe of the person you are and all you have been through to get to that point.
If life were without troubles, trials, and vicissitudes, how would you grow? How would the muscles of willpower, resilience, determination, and progress have pressure exerted on them in order to grow stronger and help you move through life?
While it might not all be easy or straightforward, what you have the ability to predominantly control is your disposition, attitude, and approach to the situation. Choose to bring more play and enjoyment into it on your own accord.
Your life is what you make it. How you spend your days is how you spend your life. Enjoy the journey – all of it. Bring childlike wonder and fascination in where you can, and allow the lens through which you see the world to grow brighter each day. With every step, you’re one step closer.
If you’re feeling stuck and ready to upgrade your outlook heading into 2023, book a discovery call with me to see how coaching can get you to elevated states of consciousness and where you want to be.
