The Summer That Never Happens

Every year when summer rolls around and the weather gets nicer, I have dreams of all the things I want to do.  Hiking trips, camping trips, road trips to beautiful places to swim.  

Inevitably, life happens, my work schedule always gets crazy, and i'll get caught up in all the complexities of life.

The summer comes and goes, and by the end of it I haven't done any of the things I was planning on doing.  

Its really easy for me to fall into patterns and comforts in my day to day life, and anything unknown feels…. Scary. Or maybe just inconvenient.

But when we challenge ourselves to do new and different things, we grow, and change.  We experience different perspectives on life, and can return back to our life with a fresh and clear mind. 

Getting out of our comfort zone allows us to leave behind the distractions, and to simply be in the moment.  

I remember last year around October,  a daunting 9 months was ahead of me where I knew I would be working a lot and living in the city before I moved out here to the farm.  I was feeling low energy and unenthusiastic about life.  Things just felt rather bleak.

A really good friend of mine I met in Sri Lanka was living about 9 hours away from me.  Even though the weather was cold and rainy, we decided to take a surf trip together to the ocean.  We spent a week living out of our cars, wild camping, and sitting around a warm fire having long talks about life.   Even though  the nights were windy and rainy, and we were all bundled up in our warmest gear, I was experiencing things I had never seen and done before.  Seeing new places, and meeting new people.

After returning home, I realized how much the trip had changed my perspective on life.  I remember feeling so excited that I had this time to spend on myself, and my personal yoga journey for the next 9 months.  I had a set work schedule, and it made me so excited that i had the time to do my practice every morning, to focus on my mental and physical development, and to be in a life situation that was stable. 

Before, I was so saddened by the fact that my life was the same everyday.  I craved adventure, and change.  But i realized growth can still happen even if we are living more stable lives.

Just simply leaving my life for a week, and spending time in nature with good people, completely changed my perspective on life.  It gave me a sense of gratitude for what I had, and allowed me to see the positive things about a life that I was completely missing.

This summer I am challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone.  To do things that are unknown, and scary.  To be more in the moment, and to grow and change with the seasons.

So I challenge all of you to find some places out in nature in your local area that you have always wanted to visit.  And just do it.  Experience life, and to observe the changes that these new experiences bring.  To spend your days outside as much as you can. To be present with yourself and those around you.