Plan A, B, and XYZ
Have you tried letting go lately?
The last month and a half has been a whirlwind for me.
I began by spending three weeks in New York for work, shuffling a whole life between office meetings, business dinners, Airbnbs, hotels, bars, and subway cars.
The weather was unpredictable and the simple routine I tried to fit into this new environment was dead on arrival. My daily meditation, morning workouts, and self-imposed "2 drinks max" were no match for this post-pandemic metropolitan life.
I vowed to return to all of my healthy habits as soon as I made it back to LA.
But I didn't get the chance. No less than 48 hours after I returned home, I tested positive for the thing everybody's already had. It grounded me for 7 days.
I consider myself a great planner - highly practical, led by logic. Still, no amount of planning could have predicted these ups and downs.
As I lay in bed (sitting up to ease the sinus pressure), I was forced to face my own toxic idealism and harmful notions of how life "should" be.
The main lesson: I'm not nearly as "in control" as I want to believe and I need to get used to it.
Now I'm about to go on another meticulously visualized trip - overseas. As much as I want to build in the ultimate certainty with apps and maps, I'm reminding myself to:
1. Leave room for the unexpected. A lot of magic happens in the spontaneous bits of life where I'm forced to improv on the spot. Another opportunity for me to learn by doing.
2. Cultivate Anti-fragility, as Nassim Taleb defines it. This concept reminds us that many things (like human beings) can thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors. Like breaking down a muscle makes it stronger, I can actually get better at life when things don't go as planned.
3. Go with the flow. When in doubt I ask myself, "how can I make this easier?" I can surrender to the downstream every once in a while. It doesn't always have to be an uphill battle.
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Until next time,
JP