On Saturday I went to a child’s B-day party. My soon to be 8 year old daughter was invited by her friend, the B-day girl, to Bounce U – a place to jump in bouncy houses, eat pizza and cake and have fun the way 8 year olds do.
My 4 year old son came too and he really tore it up. This is his happy place. At the end of this very commonly structured party, there were “goody bags,” as is the norm. Now remember, this was an 8 year old girl’s party.
So my son reaches into the bag to see what has been bestowed upon him. And he finds, drumroll… a bath bomb. Every kid had been given one. To my surprise, not only was this four year old, rough-and-tumble dude, not put off by the turn of events, he exclaimed, “A bath bomb!” Then he looked right at me and said, “Tonight I’m taking a bath and I’m using this bath bomb.”
Now it’s cute and kind of funny. But what I noticed was how my son was simply living in the moment. Life came to him and he embraced it – right there and right then.
And it had me think about the ways that I get taken out of the present. Show of hands, how many people have something “saved” right now? A special outfit or a special bottle of wine or something they’ll enjoy at some random future moment? When it’s appropriate, or deserved, or whatever our version of that is?
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with this. I totally get celebrating special occasions. But it makes me aware of how we relate to the here and now. Eckhart Tolle famously talks about the present moment in his book the Power of Now.
All of our discomfort, anxiety, concern, and stress, exists either in the thoughts and feelings we have about our past – which we can’t change – or our anticipated future, which we can’t control.
There are no problems right now. Truly. Problems only exist outside of now.
Ok great, so what do we do with this? Well, consider that there’s a pretty good chance we’re all carrying some stuff around that’s not actually helping. It may be some charge around how something in the past has gone. It may be related to how we think the future may go. And it could be both. I invite you to take a look in your own life and see what you find.
And when you find it – even if at first glance it seems unrelated to what you’re up to – I invite you to map it over your business and your goals. Because we tend to show up similarly across our lives.
Even if it’s just for today, how can you let go of something you’re carrying around from yesterday? And how can you choose in the moment, from possibility – not probability – so as to not limit tomorrow?
Make those calls. Send those emails. And create some integration. Connect people in here to the ones you know out there. And introduce the people you know out there to the brilliant minds and open hearts sitting around these tables.
Here’s a pro tip: if ever you feel overwhelmed, ask yourself, “Where can I integrate my life?”
It will generate business for the individual and the chapter, and it will create energy and momentum for you and your business.
And that’s good for everybody.
