The most inspiring ten days of my life, with zero electronics.
Welcome back, I'm happy you're here.
In April of 2011, I woke up looking like I was six to seven months pregnant. My “condition” lasted ironically about nine months. I was not pregnant. The following February my stomach went back to being “normal”.
There is more to this story I'll share on a different Tuesday.
Long story short: I had disregarded and abandoned my emotional needs long enough. My body was screaming for attention.
Funny how vanity works. When I didn't like how my physical body looked, I started paying attention. (My migraines didn't change my appearance, so I continued to ignore them for years.)
For months I went to every doctor and healer under the sun to find out what was “wrong” with me.
September of that year I was at my wits end with every test being negative or normal. I jumped in my car and headed east, into the California Desert to the Vipassana Center. I apprehensively (and in a bit of desperation) signed up for a ten day, silent meditation retreat.
Instead of looking outside for the answers, I started looking within.
Let the record state: I was not a meditator before this day.
This would be the start to my spiritual journey.
My takeaways from the retreat:
I loved handing over my phone for 10 days.
My unhealthy attachment to things.
Impermanence - nothing lasts forever.
Compassion- everyone is fighting their own battle. As much as I'd love to understand, I'll never know their experience.
For ten days I had zero access to my phone, electronics, journals or books. I was to avoid talking and eye contact with the others, even my roommate. This was the first time in my life I made myself a priority.Eat, sleep, meditate and observe my thoughts. Those were my options and it was heavenly!
I had a client whose answer to anything not work related was “I'll do that when I retire.” She was selling one business while starting another one, while being available to every family member, always. She had zero boundaries and zero personal joy in her life. As a young girl, her father constantly reinforced his idea that doing nothing/relaxing is being lazy.
She's been avoiding the “lazy” stigma her entire life.
When we wait for the perfect time, the promotion or when the kids move out, we will be waiting a long time. We are preventing ourselves from enjoying our life right now. We set a goalpost and sadly, when we hit it, somehow the post moves farther back. Rarely do we celebrate our achievements, acknowledge how far we've come or take a beat before going after the next goal.
Impermanence- The state or fact of lasting for only a limited period of time.
I know two different people who experienced horrendous tragedies this week. Loss of a home and loss of a loved one.
Life is short and it's not fair!
My invitation for you:
Bring to mind your life…
What would you do differently if you knew you only had one month to live?
What regret would you go back and change?
Are you proud of the person you are and the impact you will leave behind?
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being very little) how much joy do you experience daily? What number would you like it to be?
A friend/mentor recently said that people need to feel a sense of urgency before they take action to change their life for the better.
I'm not here to scare you.
I'm here to inspire you.
Imagine a life where you can:
Start and finish a book, uninterrupted…
Spend more time in nature.
Leave your phone in the other room while playing with your kids.
Say no to an invitation when you aren't interested.
Start that hobby you abandoned years ago.
Write the book you've been thinking about for ten years.
And so much more!
YOLO- You Only Live Once.
Now is the time to make your mental, physical and emotional health a priority.
Your future self will thank you.
Do you have questions about intuitive readings, coaching, what Joey is short for, what my favorite color is or anything else?
You can schedule a curiosity here.
Let's get curious together.
I'd love to learn something about you.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to seeing you next time.
With so much gratitude,
