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Well, I’m back in the saddle again!

I lost my way for a bit. Became worn out and saddle sore. Got bucked off my horse. And dragged along behind for far too long. AND finally, found myself face down in the mud!

So, I decided to take the advice of a dear, long-time friend who was born and raised in Southern Oklahoma.

With the dynamic drawl of a bonified badass southern belle, she commands, “Pick yourself up by your bootstraps, Girl!”.

You don’t dare argue!

Even though my blog, TheAdventuresomeLife.com, has already been in some form of development for three years now, I have found myself lost – often.

Leaving me with another point that I can’t argue – my heart and soul feel a void every time I’m not actively creating, connecting and continuing to grow it.

I can’t even give you a specific reason why. Sometimes it’s just the overwhelm of day to day life. Other times I’m placing other needs, responsibilities or priorities of my own or the needs of other people above it. I set it aside in the name of being tired, scared, or too busy.

The noose around my neck from judging myself for getting off track or losing my way – again – is enough to prevent me from moving forward. From finishing what I came here to do.

During my adventure racing experiences my teammates and I would get lost ALL THE TIME. The courses we competed on would cover many miles and all sorts of terrain, sometimes over multiple days of racing.  The only solution when we considered ourselves to be lost, was to get ourselves found by:

  • Asking for help or directions (if there was another team or race official within 20 miles of us)
  • Backtracking to where we last knew where we were and starting over again
  • Pulling out our map (if we had one), getting our wits about us, and devising a plan
  • Wondering around aimlessly until something made sense or looked familiar (My least favorite and the most time consuming – but still an option)

These same tools are accessible to us in our lives as well. The only difference between racing and everyday life is our ability to have:

  1. Acceptance. Getting lost was a given when I was racing. It was just part of the deal – to be expected.  We often forget the same holds true for life. We allow ourselves to panic or judge ourselves far too harshly.
  2. Willingness. There was no giving up in adventure racing really. Unless you wanted to sit down in a dense forest, stop paddling in the middle of a lake, or refuse to rappel down the mountain you just climbed. One way or the other, you had to find the finish line to be able to go home. Life is similar. Our willingness to keep moving is the only option we really have.

So make today THE day. Grab your boots. Or your Adidas. Or your 3-inch Jimmy Choo pumps and prepare to lasso whatever it is that you’ve been chasing, avoiding or denying yourself for far too long.

Maybe you want to finally shed a few pounds by adopting healthier lifestyle habits. Maybe you are in dire need of saying “NO” to some people or things – to stop running yourself ragged over other people’s priorities and “emergencies”. To finally find or pursue a passion you’ve been denying yourself. Open your heart back up to love. Be brave enough to go after that new job or career path. Or just allow yourself to take a breath, relax and just be.

In my case, it’s piss or get off the pot when it comes to creating, building and sharing my vision. My passion. My purpose.

TheAdventuresomeLife.com is your place to go for tips, tools and experiences that are designed to help you:

  • Gain acceptance of what is and has been
  • Bust through barriers that stand in your way
  • Tackle perceived obstacles
  • Overcome paralyzing fears
  • Set new sights and attain them
  • Realize new paths and possibilities
  • Discover solutions for your life
  • Create quality connections
  • Build confidence in making choices
  • Experience new levels of peace and understanding
  • Feel more alive right now
  • Have more fun in every aspect of your life

Life is one big Adventure!

You can SEE IT in what’s right in front of you.

You can SEEK IT beyond your current level of acceptance, perceived limitations and understanding.

Life is not about never getting on the horse, so as not to fall off.

What a snoozer that would be – Zzzzzzzz.

It’s about getting on your proverbial horse in the first place. Learning the ropes. Getting the feel. And inevitably falling off. Again. And again. And again.

The only way to keep on living is to stand up, dust yourself off, and get back on.

Wahoooo! Let’s ride!

 

There will be new things to come from TAL in the coming days, weeks and months. I’ll keep you posted. But in the meantime, I would love to hear from you in the comments below. Anything from this week’s blog speak to you in particular?  Something you need to sink your spurs into? Any other topics you want to hear about? Questions for me?