“OMG I am so busy” and why nobody cares, not even your mom.

Sometimes you read something that just plain stops you in your tracks. Consider my e brake officially engaged.

I was cruising my Twitter feed this morning and this little gem popped up:

“Relax. Your ship will only come when the sea is calm” – @liveunbound 

Here’s a link to follow this awesomeness: https://twitter.com/LiveUnbound

At first I thought a simple “yep… usual good stuff from an engaged, alive mind”. So I kept scrolling through a gaggle of political rants, complaints about *everything, and tips on how to get my beach body in 3 hours, thinking of all the things I have to get done, catch up on, plan for, call back, email, fix, and then it suddenly hit me:

RELAX

When we run around, acting like everything we are up to is so important, so busy, so must-get-done-right-this-minute, so all-about-me, so dramatic, so my-life-is-way-harder-than-yours… we are spinning like a tornado, too caught up in our own debris field to witness the opportunities that are headed our way. We are surrounded by calm, inviting skies, but we would never know it… we are ripping a destructive path through the rest of our lives, leaving everyone to wonder, “where the hell did they come from and how soon are they leaving?”

For instance… when we convince ourselves that we will never get everything done that we “need” to accomplish our goals, then we are correct. Some of the most successful people I know are these beautifully calm, laid back, intelligent people that feel no need to tell the world how busy they are.

Do you have that friend (or mirror) that is always running around with an armload of paperwork, a drippy, sloshing sugary latte from Starbucks, a pen behind their ear and a iPhone with 3% battery power? When they run up to you, usually the first thing out of their mouth is “Oh my god I am SO busy”. Well, obviously.

If you were a big opportunity, offer, idea, helping hand, would you want to get close to that mess? Not a chance.

RELAX 

In flight, we plan our routes to places that have weather and conditions that we can handle. For a pilot, calm winds, great visibility, a smooth ride are all things that make flying fun, effortless and beautiful. I am talking about the kind of romantic flight that we day dream about on stormy days.

Of course, we plan for the weather, we become instrument pilots that can fly in low visibility, and we absolutely know that the dangers exist. However, there comes a time when the winds are too crazy, the ceilings are too low and the ice is too thick. We have to make a choice to go somewhere else, choose another option to avoid the drama and danger of getting involved with that mess.

That’s when we use our alternate airport. We simply have to find a smarter place to land. 

As you look at your current state, are you a calm, organized, relaxed, blue skies kind of day or are you an ice storm with a 40 kt tail wind and a 50 ft. ceiling that sends everyone running?

Like the @liveunbound quote eluded to, ships only come in during calm seas. You may be keeping people, opportunities and new good things in your life away because you have convinced yourself that you need to continually run around “busy”.

Yes, yes, I know… we all get busy, but cut the drama and just get what needs to be done, done. Be that graceful, well put together chap that makes other’s wonder… “How the hell did they pull that off? They always seem so calm”.

Less tornado, more blue skies. Less crazy waves, more glassy ocean. 

The tornado, the huge waves, they are both amazing (and scary) to watch and the fact is, we all pretty much want to maintain our distance for safety. That’s why storm chasers and pro surfers are so rare.

-Amelia