BACK OFF!

If you're anything like me you will focus on something (goal / task / anything) and really think it through. I mean really, really think it through. Write it down or draw it on a board and consider the outcomes and really deliberate all the little steps along the way to make it happen. So much so that it almost suffocates the ability for things to happen naturally.

If this sounds familiar I would like to offer the same advice I've been learning to give to myself:

Knock it off.

Consider the concept of space. In nature it is found in such things as rivers transferring into streams and estuaries - trees into branches and leaves - etc. In ourselves we have veins turning into capillaries, lungs depending on the space around cilia to function, and many, many other things that I don't understand and/or am not clever enough to use as an analogy.

I believe this has its merit in our thoughts and actions as well. Let things breathe - thinking about something too much.. well put it on the shelf somewhere in your mind and just let it be. Things have a way of working out if you just give them the space to do so... we can focus on the main "problem" or "task" etc, so much that we do not allow it to spread out and seek its own resolve.

In discussing this with a friend of mine today, she said that "often execution is not in the doing, rather it is in the non-striving that is a powerful force for creation". I take her advice as she's a mindfulness instructor, running her own business on helping people "get their shit together" at The Indigo Project (link here).. backed up by also being a Psychologist.. yeah, there's merit in those words. More so than my average nature analogies.

Funny, I'm typing this in a cafe and "let it be" is now playing... anyway...

The reason this topic has struck a chord with me is that two amazing things have happened in the past 48 hours. These are things that have happened because I just relaxed on them, and they have found their way to resolve...

1. How to spend more time in Latin America. The first of the two amazing things: I had a great meeting here in Buenos Aires by chance with a super inspirational guy that runs a brilliant human-centred design company. He just happened to be here in BA as well (he lives in Mexico) - so a mutual friend connected us. The coffee chat turned into us discovering ways to work together on INCREDIBLY interesting projects overseas and will see me back in Latin America... didnt see that one coming... 
2. Where to sleep before Vasaloppet in a crowded village. Amazing thing #2: I have been stressing about my accommodation in Sweden for Vasaloppet... apparently the norm is that the competitors (most of the 16K people!) cram into sport facilities close to the town the race starts in... so you're on the floor sleeping in the same room as hundreds of other people snoring and entertaining one another with carb-loaded body functions. PASS. Well, this morning I woke to a message from a great friend that lives in Gothenburg, and fellow Vasaloppet racer saying that I am invited to use their spare bedroom in a cabin close to the start line. WHAT! And more, he's in touch with people to see if he can get me an interview in Vasaloparen (The Vasa Skier) which is the official magazine for Vasaloppet. WHAT WHAT!

Two things I've been acutely aware of - finding myself in Latin America more frequently, and finding a place to sleep before the biggest race of my life so far... sorted! Because? I chose to relax and as the song just said, "let them be".

So... whatever your journey is currently having you face, back off of those heavy thoughts and see what happens if you let things chose their natural path.

Buena suerte and as always, thanks for reading.