When did you last ‘stop, know, and change’?

A few weeks ago, I spent a week immersed in the magnificent Daintree Rainforest’s delights (and its mosquitos).  

I entered my holiday unconsciously stressed. Just before I left home, a work opportunity emerged. If I wanted to respond to this opportunity, I would need to work through my holiday. As I flew up on the plane on Friday afternoon, I was busy assembling a team. I was willing to put in the work required to respond, even though I resented the idea of giving up a big chunk of my holiday to do so.  

I determined to have at least my weekend to decompress a little and enjoy my time in a part of the world that I love so much.  

Over that weekend, surrounded by the natural world and with a self-imposed restriction on ‘doing anything’, a curious thing happened.   

I relaxed, walked, and stopped thinking. 

In the warm sun and tranquil surrounds, that quiet voice, that I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about, began to whisper to my soul.  

I decided not to give up my holiday in pursuit of something that, I began to realise, was keeping me too busy to undertake the work I need to do now. I felt a deep conviction, an inner knowing, that this was the ‘right course’ for me.

I meditate regularly and believe that I get many pauses in my usual pattern of life, but this pause in nature had such a deep impact. Just when I was at my busiest!  

Is there a lesson for you in this story, too?  

I have been like a mouse in an exercise wheel – going around and around without stopping to think and question – why? I was lost in my old why. The world is changing very rapidly around us now and “why” is a question we need to ask ourselves more frequently.  

Recall the pattern from the last 3 years – Pandemic, Fires, Floods and back to Fires again. This volatile natural environment is going to change everything and everyone, whether we want it to or not. 

How are you currently experiencing a similar mouse-in-a-wheel moment? 

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