Hi Friend
I got to return to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho this week. It’s such a beautiful place. It was unexpectedly warm during the day but cooled off significantly in the evening. I took a long walk from my hotel to the Coeur d’Alene lake. It was incredibly relaxing. I was surprised to realize a college campus sits right on the lake. What a recruiting tool.
The next morning I ran 4 miles along the same path. That evening, I walked the opposite direction and came upon Riverstone Park. A fun family concert was taking place. People of all ages were there. Kids and adults were dancing. Others were laying on blankets, while others had brought chairs. It was a delightful surprise.
The trees, the sky, the air, the water… it all acted as a rejuvenating force for my being. Of course the people I got to spend time with during the day were simply spectacular. I gain a lot of soul juju being around good humans.
Instead of picking a “Word-for-the-Year” I opted for a “Word-of-the-Month“. I knew I couldn’t sustain one word an entire year. I’d lose interest or simply forget. Doing a word every month has given me focus. This months word is REFRESH. How magically practical my trip out west accommodated my internal aspirations.
I hadn’t put the two together until I was out there and felt it. I was like THIS IS REFRESHING! Nature always replenishes my soul. It’s been so hot this summer, I haven’t been outside as much. Wandering generates vitality.
Being Refreshed is a Form of Innovation
We take something stale, rote, stagnant and find a way to breathe new life into it. Something is tweaked or altered that fashions a new rendition. When our routine is disrupted the unfamiliar offers opportunity for sparks of genius. When that transpires we experience a renewal in our mind & spirit.
Refreshing enhances seeing and believing in beautiful ways. Taking our old thoughts and upgrading them to consider differently is both hard and invigorating. One of my Identity Statements contains the phrase “open to correction and challenges my own thoughts.” I have to read and remind myself that frequently.
Our brains are so lazy!
We thrive in automated mode. Set it and go. All my bills and giving happen without any effort. Amazon sends me deodorant and Skinny Pop at regular intervals. My outside garage lights come on every night by themselves. All time-savers and assure stuff gets done. However we translate automation protocols into our life which tend to eventually shrink and stifle us.
I know, I know, they’re also called “habits” which I do love. Even good habits can sour overtime if not refreshed!
Instigating Ideas…
1. Where in your life is refreshing needed?
2. Where can you go this week to be refreshed?
3. Do you have any ways-of-thinking that need challenged?
4. Have any old patterns that need innovation?
Our work can be refreshed. Our homes can be refreshed. Our wardrobes can be refreshed. Our relationships can be refreshed. Transitioning from summer to fall (school) is the perfect time to implement a concentrated effort of enlivening our lives. Where would you benefit most from an innovative intervention of refreshment?
Besides nature the second best tool is NEW: New environment, new book, new people, new music, new efforts. We initially dislike new. However, after a bit of exposure, it can be a rejuvenating force that magnifies our spirits in unexpected ways. It also challenges the old with considerations for an upgrade. Go do, see, encounter something new!
Innovation is at its best, when it modifies something current into something better for the future. Be refreshed!
I would love to hear how you keep your mind, body and spirt refreshed. Do you have any rituals to fight against stagnation or practiced patterns that keep you pressing for refreshing? Please Share!