Sitting on the window sill of the coworking lounge at Outsite Biarritz, I look back with perspective and a clear mind on the last three months since I last shared with you. I often find that it isn’t until I am somewhere outside of my regular routine, detached from the daily structure and demands of life, that my inspiration returns and words flow on the page like the competition-sized waves here. It is my first time here on the Basques coast of France, the South western part of the country, where lengthy stretches of beach meet delicious traditional food and the vibe is friendly during the off season. I arrived the same day that the French championship of surfing ended (it ended 2 days early due to an incoming storm) and have been enjoying crossing paths with pro surfers over lunch at the coliving space. Originally, my plan was also to jump into the Atlantic ocean and try out the famous waves of this part of the country. With the storm, wave height predictions jumped up to 25 ft and I am happier on land admiring the brave and experienced souls braving what must be a technical yet fun challenge. At night, all of us surfers and non-surfers go out to get a taste of the local cuisine and Basques specialties which include the famous “pinxtos”, a local version of Spanish tapas.
The rest of the time, I am continuing to work wholeheartedly towards expanding my coaching practice which now includes ecotherapy in the form of nature coaching. I now know that loving your work immensely does not guarantee immediate livelihood and I continue to be stretched in the ways of entrepreneurship everyday but nevertheless, wake up grateful on the daily to be at this stage of life. Perhaps that has been the biggest shift in my thinking and attitude towards life this past year, I used to think everything had to happen in a certain order at a specific time. I had internalized these beliefs and always felt like I was unable to attain these expectations. What’s happened since, is that I completely let go of these conditioned expectations of how a new coaching business has to look, and embraced me for who I am, and my path, for where it is taking me. This shift led to some incredible unexpected opportunities like being hired as a meditation coach at a leading wellness app named “Aura”, being asked to mentor the future generation of mindfulness leaders, and even guiding meditation for a group at Microsoft. Me from 6 months ago would not have thought that that’s where my coaching would take me, and yet I learned to embrace the multi-faceted nature of my business. Opening new doors and increasing my impact on the world through my positive intelligence coach training has been a gift, and I trust that by taking the time to build solid foundations, I will continue to wake up grateful for my career every day for the next thirty years.
If I had one perspective to leave you with today, it would be to allow yourself to trust in the unexpected twists and curveballs that life never fails to present us with. At this point, even when these events happen and throw me off guard, I consciously choose to see them as a “redirection” from the Universe. This shift in perspective allows me to take charge of my own response to life’s events and let go of an internalized need to predict and control. More often than not, what comes after these curve balls is more beautiful or impactful than I could have ever imagined. May this be true for you as well and may you have the courage and strength to trust in what’s to come, whatever that looks like for you.
