Is there something you long to do,
something whispering to your soul, but you are scared? Not sure you can pull it off? I say, heed the whisper, and take one step toward your soul. When you overcome the fear to do something that calls to you, in my experience, the world opens up as you take control of your own adventure.
Why you need to follow your passion:
It will get you connected.
It will get you healthy.
It will get you on your right path.
Right now I am nervous about launching my new website and this blog. I have pushed back the launch date numerous times, afraid that my words won’t connect with anyone. I wanted this 1st post to be AWESOME, magical, inspiring, life changing. Sheesh. I am over myself now, and I know I am better off going for authentic. I learned this ten years ago: start the journey, one step at a time. It is not how you start but that you DO start.
I have learned to follow my heart and my soul to create the life I want to live and I want to share this, I want YOU to feel you are living your right life. I love coaching men and women to live fearlessly and with integrity.
Actually, I feel exactly like I did ten years ago when I set out to snowshoe some 150 miles on the Iditarod Trail. I chose to pull a 60-pound pulk sled into the Alaska Range for fun. It was fun. Except for that one sucky part (we’ll come to that soon enough).
After months of preparing and dreaming I took the first few steps onto the trail grasping a quad shot cappuccino (my self-imposed last coffee for 2 weeks), I was nervous. Oh, I had winter camped but I really did not know if I had what it took to snowshoe for 10+ hours a day for 2 weeks, set up camp every night and melt snow for water each day. Exhilaration outweighed my scaredy-cat and I made it to the trailhead. As my partner, Rhonda, and I climbed hills on that first day, a magnificent bull moose appeared beside us, seeming to herald our right place in the world. Everything seemed to fall into place and things went along grand. For a few days.
The yucky part: 3 days in, a blizzard hit near the Yentna River and we lost the trail. I knew where we were on the planet thanks to map & compass but the narrow ribbon of snowmachine track we had been following formed a firm crust and when we lost that track we were postholing up to our knees with snowshoes on. Then the snow got wet and heavy, and then my snowshoe strap broke. Next, Rhonda got sick, very sick. We floundered in deep snow making only 7 miles in 10 hours. She never complained and she made me laugh every day. But I was stressed, my partner was developing a fever and I was watching her carefully and planning how to get her help most efficiently. Finally, a sign appeared like a mirage on day 5 reading: Skwentna 2 miles…It was one of the most beautiful manmade signs I have ever encountered.
We made it to beloved Skwentna and I got my partner on a flight home. I headed out from there and then concluded the trip at 100 miles. The trip did not go according to plan, I did not make the distance I wanted, and yet I felt glorious.
I learned a few things from this trip that may serve you:
1. Let yourself go If you feel both scared and exhilarated then this is the winning combo that may be telling you something, Listen.
2. Take the first step; Buy the sled, mine was pink. What vehicle will help you get where you want?
3. Keep taking steps I gathered food and lots of candy bars. I studied maps. One step at a time, until I was on that trail.
4. People and things will come to your aid An acquaintance approached me wanting to join and I gained a partner. Another friend made me chocolate-carmel-peanutbutter&butter bars and my husband made moose jerky, need I say more?
5. The sucky part is going to happen Try to learn and laugh with it when possible. One night while she was getting sick, my partner told me that her head weighed exactly 7 pounds; she had weighed it with her gear. We laughed throughout the blizzard about that. The hard part taught me definitively, that I could do this.
6. Set your intention I had set an intention for that trip: Have fun, immerse in nature. I found deep satisfying layers of presence and peace out there. When you set intention energy looks for ways to make it happen.
7. You will learn new things about yourself I learned I sleep soundly on snow, and more importantly, I truly enjoy instant oatmeal and Kit Kats.
8. You will experience magic you hadn’t anticipated We were followed one night by the glow of seven pairs of wolf eyes shining in our headlamps. Sweet.
9. You will learn the next path to take to satisfy your soul Like, why the heck pull your own pulk? Huskies enjoy the trail and make wonderful company. Now, my preferred mode of winter travel is skijoring. My wacky skijor videos.
Your adventure does not have to involve camping at 20 below, you will have your own version of adventure and it will seem crazy to others, like, wanting to write a book or learning to do a cartwheel.