As much as I am NOT trying to rush September away, I decided to go ahead and send this email a day early. I hope September was a beautiful month for each of you and I also hope you're looking forward to all that October has to offer! Here in NC we've cooled down a little bit, which is really nice. Okay, I actually had to come in here and edit this because it was in fact nearly 90 degrees yesterday lol Despite not getting a drastic change in temperature or even changing of leaves' colors quite yet, we are in fall, baby- I'm here for it. I love love love summer time, but something about a coastal fall just has me beaming.
I was hopeful to get a beach class in in November, but it's really the time change that will not be in our favor, so I decided to finish out a beautiful season with just two more classes in October! One is this Thursday, the 3rd, and the last session will be October 17th. I really hope you'll join me and this community as we close out what has been one of the most abundant, successful and fulfilling seasons of my teaching career. And it was all of these things because so many of you made it this way- so thank you beyond words!
Shifting into fall offers us a time to consider how we're growing, changing, and transitioning. Like all of the seasons, fall reminds us that life is never not moving, never not changing. Sometimes those changes are subtle, and sometimes the changes feel like they come all at once, quite literally feeling like a punch to the damn gut. I have to remind myself that as humans, we can be both where our feet are at right now, as well involved in the process of evolving.
For me personally, the last few months have been such a grind with a little too much of a "future" mindset. Not being where my feet are kinda thing. Completely renovating a house, living in literally a construction zone and needing to have such a "do, do, do" productive mindset so that we can see the other side of this massive project has left me exhausted. And truthfully, like I've missed a month and half of my life. Thankfully, I feel like I'm finally emerging through to the other side. But if it could go back, I would try to shift my mindset a little bit. But that's almost always the case, right? Hindsight is 20/20 and that's why reflection can be so critical to our growth and evolution. When we are going through it, it can be so hard to remember that “this too shall pass” and that change is both inevitable and necessary to evolve.
Life happens, things change, unexpected events occur but we have a tendency to forget that we've already made it through all of our bad days, major life changes, and challenging times! No, really! Think about how far you have come. It's actually so wild to look back over the sequence of your life thus far, and how every step along the way – whether we thought the step was insignificant or major, “good” or “bad" – has led us to be who we are and where we are right now! Uniquely and beautifully shaped. Sometimes we're not where we thought we'd be but we can all practice leaning into the trust that where we are now is where we're supposed to be, and right now is getting me to where I need to go. Soon this moment will slip into the past and soon the future will be this moment now – and so on and so forth. We can only try to be both where our feet are at, as well as involved with the ever-evolving rhythm of life. It's the whole “you can't stop the waves but you can learn how to ride them" theory.
Which is very true but I'd also like to add that in order to ride the waves, it's also necessary to learn how to relax & let go during the times when you're about to take what feels like a giant wall of whitewater to the head and take a trip through the washer machine.
Sometimes there is no where to run and escape to. You just have to deal with it, literally head on. Reminding yourself that the only way out is through. The key to getting through it though, I've found, is relaxing – let it take you for a ride – and trust that you'll float back up on the other side, maybe with a little water up your nose, but also a with a little more experience – a little less fear – a little stronger, and a little more resilient than before.
October is here for you. You are deserving. You are incredible. And in case no one has told you recently, you are doing the damn thing and you should feel proud of that. One day at a time, one breath at a time. We can do this.
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