I’m looking out over the vast Pacific right now.
The ocean for me is always a mystical experience. Whether on a board or under its vastness (breathing, of all things!), it never stops being a humbling thing.
In Tina Fey’s 30 Rock, they have an episode where the running joke is a scuba diver who shows up and somehow gets the chance to relay that “it’s a whole other world under there.” This remark is always met with snarkiness and the rolling of eyes. Scuba divers do say that a lot, but that’s because it is true.
I laughed a lot at that episode, but I’ve been laughing at myself a little bit of late, too.
Why? In a way, because of busy-ness and an uncontrolled mind, I had forgotten that there’s a whole other world out there… and I’ve been too casual to dive in. I’m not just talking about scuba diving.
All around us there’s deeper meaning, deeper connection, deeper and more rich experiences. All there, under this vast blue sky. It’s there, it’s scary, it’s unknown, but it’s there.
It’s comes in the form of being a little more vulnerable while cooking a meal with a loved one. It comes in listening a little bit longer before you respond, allowing time for your emotions to process and speak. It comes from that extra second or two of patience in the grocery store as you calm your ego in order to see things for how they really are.
We can get so dogmatic with our lives. Yoga can become competitive and lose its meditative powers. Healthy eating can make us solely fixated on the physical aspects of ourselves.
I guess what I’ve been learning is that there’s always more, better, deeper aspects to our lives. They are just sitting there waiting for our attention and devotion.
Things can mean so much more.
People can be so much more.
Our lives could create so much more.
There is a whole other world out there to explore.
I am leaning into it. I am getting used to the effort it takes to stick with it and have it trust that I’ll stick around.
I get more and more excited at the nuggets of truth and experiences I am having.
I am meaning, not meaningless. I create meaning. I have that power. I shouldn’t give that power to anyone else.
So in whatever way you feel, seek a little more. Wait a little longer. Breathe a little deeper.
Dive in and enjoy.
Josh Brazier is a Certified Professional Coach, an Arbinger Trained Coach, and founder of the Kaiizen Foundation, dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s orphaned and vulnerable children population through mentoring and education.
His mentoring company, Kaiizen Mentors, is helping youth and families in the States live better lives.
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