After an incredible day of creating a new home office space, I woke up the next day excited to complete the project. I went to yoga, had breakfast with a friend, dropped my old desk off at Goodwill and headed home. The feeling of excitement grew more and more as I planned to organize all of my teaching manuals, personal journals, the completed book that I spent years writing (and recently trashed), and other random items in the room. I could not wait to see the room to completion. Once I arrived, my plans changed!
As I turned onto my street, I saw two of my neighbors outside- on what was an incredibly beautiful morning- mowing their lawns and transforming our entire cove. I quickly thought- it is such a gorgeous day; I will join in and greatly appreciate the cleanliness of our cove. I pulled out my lawnmower and began to mow the front yard. To my surprise, I was done in no time and began to mow the backyard feeling a sense of accomplishment. I was on a roll! All of a sudden, my lawnmower stopped and let out a loud pop!
My neighbor right there and ran over to help. My lawnmower was stuck in a tree stump! He said, “In all my years in the military, I have never seen something like this! With a little ingenuity, we will get it out.” I couldn’t help but laugh. He was shocked at how deep the blade was stuck into the stump, while I was watching this experience as if it were a movie playing out in front of me. In the past, I would have beat myself up for running over a stump. No matter what we do, beating ourselves up does not help a situation. I stood fully present and listened as my neighbor said the word “ingenuity.”
I thought yes- ingenuity- it is reflecting in all areas of my life! I imprinted that word in my mind as we explored how to get the blade off the lawnmower. An hour later, we accomplished the task! The blade was so deep that we had to get a sledgehammer to get it out of the stump, but it was still intact and easily reattached the lawnmower. I would love to say that the lawnmower restarted and I finished the lawn, but it didn’t! It was broken. So I put everything back up and went inside to complete my office project.
When I returned, I realized I was distracting myself from my heart’s desires. I had let that little twinge of fear in my mind take over! I was in the process of transforming my life- creating a space for new creative projects to emerge and veered off course. It was time to pour that ingenuity to my new space. The blade stuck in that tree stump carried a message- stop, slow down and follow your heart. A feeling of peace swept over me. I was back in flow.
Are you in flow today?
What do you do when you are in resistance? Are you listening to your mind or heart?
