I am writing to you from 30,000 feet… reflecting over the clouds on one thing … immortality.
About 7 weeks ago someone very dear and close to me was diagnosed with the big C. It’s been a whirlwind of the past few weeks and I sit here flying to be with them as they get ready for surgery this week, some thoughts keep swirling around in my mind that I thought I might share in case they resonate with you.
The first is, we always say “life is short”… but I often wonder if I actually know what that means.
I know my birth time, but I have no idea when the timer over my head is going to run out.
And more than that, I sometimes wonder if this whole “life is short” creates this odd hamster wheel of “doing” in case our timer goes off in the night, rather than being present.
What I mean is, the older I get the more satisfaction and pleasure I find in the little things.
Sure, I loved seeing the Eiffel Tower but you know what I remember most about Paris? Sitting with a dear friend sipping espresso and eating a croissant outside the cutest little cafe.
So as I fly through the sky it really got me thinking. What if “life is short” is all about the being, not about the doing. Maybe it isn’t the bucket list, but rather the people who are next to you as you jump out of the plane.
Maybe it isn’t the business empire, but what experiences that empire provides to you and your family, or maybe it’s about the people who you shut the laptop for.
I will be the first to admit that I get to do a better job of prioritizing time for the people in my life and making more space outside my business for … you know life.
This has also got me thinking about what shifts I can make in my business to mold it better around my life rather than the other way round. And most importantly it has made me really wonder if the correlation between being immortal is in those little things that will live on?
The other big thing wandering through my mind as I look down at the world below is saying no.
I realized rather recently that the hamster wheel I find myself on is of my own making because I got in a rather bad habit of not saying no to things that really don’t ignite my soul.
No before you burn me at the stake, I am not saying that everything can be soul igniting – like taxes, who actually likes taxes?? But I do think that if I can make my life balance 80/20…80% soul igniting mixed with the 20% of things that I maybe don’t fully enjoy then I am on the right track.
The reason no is coming up for me in this moment is because it made me realize that if I don’t have the space for the things I really love (because I said yes to too many things that were so-so) then those things I do love have less of a chance landing because the runway is jam packed.
Lastly, the clouds also got me thinking about a German doctor named Ryke Geerd Hamer. He discovered a revolutionary idea that diseases stem from emotional-psychic causes that remain unresolved over long periods of time. To put it simply, these unexpressed emotions get stuck in the body and cause dis-ease.
I mean it rather makes sense when you think about it. Just look at kids. They have an emotion – they feel it in its entirety; I mean REALLY feel it, we’ve seen those nuclear temper tantrums go off – but then 2 minutes later they are off on a new adventure.
I secretly wonder if our conditioning to “not feel” and move through our emotions (in a way that supports us and doesn’t disrupt others aka no screaming at a coworker) is secretly keeping us locked into this cycle of dis-ease.
Personally speaking I can tell you that a primal scream into a pillow or a empty forest can do wonders for re-regulating my nervous system…I also have it on good authority from a friend that empty elevators are also a great place to let it all go 😂
So back to immortality … I know I am going to die. I don’t fear it, I don’t worry when it will come, but as I reflect like the sun off these clouds I do recognize that it’s time to be more present, to get clear on what is or isn’t working in my life, and to quite frankly say “f*ck it” to trying to hold myself to the unreachable societal levels of perfection.
I think those are a winning recipe for a more fulfilling life of satisfaction, happiness, peace, and joy. I also think it is going to help me have an even deeper feeling of connection to the people I hold dear and gratitude for the breaths that sustain me.
What about you? Did any of what I shared with you resonate?
Are you feeling the clarity of immortality lately?
