Wow! What a wonderful and wild retreat I had the last weeks in the Rockies. First, I drove there on the back roads with NO time pressure and NO agenda. This relaxed drive was such a treat, especially the Ozarks and Route 66. I did all kinds of outdoor adventures that I love, skiing, hiking, snow shoeing, and biking. I drove through some of the most beautiful country there is. So, I bought a place and decide to never return to TN. (April Fools!) I did shop for real estate, Baja race my truck, spend great time with my middle son, my cousin and a friend, and a lot of great time alone! I thought that would be the hardest part, spending weeks alone in a house in the country. It was not. That was much easier than I thought. The hardest part was not having any structure or agenda. I was so used to having that structure and pressure of time for my entire life, that not having it was difficult! I had all these cool things to do at right my fingertips and the hard part was choosing. Who would have thought?!
The last session I had with my therapist before leaving, he asked what my retreat goals were. I rattled off a long list with the most important to get clear about what I wanted to do next in my career and life. He strongly suggested that I drop all outcome goals and just practice tuning into the moment and seeing what it or God wants at that time, to practice pure, connected choice. It was hard and I did it! The results surprised me. One morning we had 13 inches of fresh powder. This means I “should” go skiing to make fresh tracks. I love doing that! And when I really tuned into myself to see what I really wanted to do, not what I “should” do, I chose to go snow shoeing instead. It was magical! On another blue bird ski day, I chose to work on real estate spreadsheets instead of skiing and had a great time doing that. I did a Shamanic and a Reiki healing session, spent a lot of time outside and alone, read, journaled, watched a couple interesting movies. I never turned on or read any news of any kind. And through it all, I was not sure if I was getting what I came for or not……Until I got home.
When I pulled into my neighborhood, I was literally speechless from its beauty! When I saw my home, I was in emotional. As the garage door when up and I saw my old Miata, that I have been working on for the last 2.5 years, I literally said, “I love you old Miata.” I was so in love with my life! With all aspects of it, right here and right now! My wife, my dirty garage, my broken-down car, and yes, even my three “teenagers.” I felt like George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life. I have the most amazing life. At that point, I realized I had gotten everything I wanted from the retreat, being in love with the life that I already have. It is not what I expected, and it was everything I wanted.
I experienced many wonderful things including the most epic hike and ski days ever, but the two important take-aways are the following: 1) I am totally in love with the life that I currently have, right at this moment, without changing a thing. 2) I have practiced choosing enough that when the time comes to make decision about my career, or anything else, I have a great path to follow that will lead me to the right choice. May write more on that later. Until then….
Thanks very much for reading and have a great weekend,
Art
