by Laura Hyatt
They say one day you’ll have to get on planes to see your friends. These are those days. And it is SO worth it. Three days in the Arizona desert with these amazing women in business. We laughed, we cried, we learned, we grew, and we shared our dreams.
Here’s what I have learned from attending numerous retreats, workshops, conferences, and seminars all these years: 1) you have to put in to practice what you learn and 2) these nuggets of wisdom are worthy of being shared with the people around you. It’s called the ripple effect. So, in no particular order, here are some of the nuggets from my weekend in the desert.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” How often do we go through our days and our years just existing? After all, we only get the dash between the year we are born and the year we die. We hope the dash is a long one and yet tomorrow is not promised. How are you living each day? Are you treating it as an investment in the life you want, the people that are important, in creating a legacy? Or are you just wasting it?
“People don’t do the thing they need to do today because they’re afraid.” Whatever you’re holding onto that you don’t want the world to see just might be putting you in a corner; immobilizing you from your dreams. What are you putting off? What are you hiding from? What is the thing you’re mean to do but have kept dismissing?
“I am not my thoughts. I am the observer of my thoughts.” As humans, we often confuse physical pain and emotional pain. Physical pain is pretty straightforward. If someone kicks you in the shin and it hurts, it’s called physical pain. But emotional pain is a little sneakier. Emotional pain is simply you having a conversation with yourself. And if that’s the case, couldn’t you also cease to have that conversation? Or choose to partake in a different one? How would your life be different? The only difference between reaction and response is choice. So practice what you want.
“You become what you think about all day long.” – Emerson. What would happen if you slowed down at least once each day and imagined all of your dreams coming true?
“The bird on the branch does not worry about the branch breaking because it knows it can fly.” This one is my personal favorite. How often do we go around duct taping the branches in our life because we’ve forgotten that we can freaking fly? Repeat after me: “No matter what happens, I am unafraid. I am bigger than any challenge. I choose to be ok. I know that I’ve got this.”
I challenge each of you to spend some time this weekend in a quiet space alone with your thoughts. Bring a journal if you like. What’s the call on your heart that won’t stop calling? What are you truly grateful for? What are you worrying about that doesn’t actually matter? You’re a freaking bird after all. YOU. CAN. FLY.
