This past weekend I headed to the beach, ready to relax and soak up the sun!
I slathered on some SPF 50, laid out my towel, and closed my eyes. Ahh…
Seconds later I was aware of a tickling sensation all over my body and the sound of buzzing around me.
I opened my eyes and a TON of flies were circling me, in the same way I’ve seen them the circle dried up seaweed that's washed up on the shore. Eek!
I’m not gonna lie, I was grossed out! I quickly shot up and relocated to an area that had no seaweed in sight. I looked around and assessed: no bugs. Perfect!
I settled back down, and within seconds, ALL of the flies were surrounding me again. Where the heck were they even coming from? And how had they found me so fast?!
I realized that it wasn’t the seaweed they were flocking to…it was me! They seemed to love the scent of my tropical sunscreen as much as I do.
I tried shooing them away, but then even MORE of them appeared, buzzing around me with greater intensity.
WHAT YOU RESIST, PERSISTS
I was reminded of a sentence I’ve heard many times before: what you resist, persists.
That was definitely happening with the flies! The more I fought them, the more persistent they became!
I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t leave the beach because my fiancé Will was swimming in the ocean and would be super confused if I was gone when he got out. I also had his keys and his phone. I didn’t want to get sunburnt, so rinsing off didn’t feel like a great option either.
MAKING PEACE WITH WHAT IS
I decided to stop resisting the experience, and see what happened. I laid back down, this time with my book, and started reading despite the flies.
I made peace with what was happening, even though it wasn’t my preference. The flies were surrounding me, even landing on me, and I simply let them be.
I stopped focusing on my judgments of it feeling gross or of the flies being annoying.
I shifted my thoughts to the book in front of me, the warmth of the sun on my skin, and the cool breeze coming in from the ocean. This was easier than I'd expected...
THE POWER OF ACCEPTANCE
And then…a miracle!
Within minutes, most of the flies were gone. They lost interest once I wasn’t fussing about and swatting them away. Imagine that!
The experience reminded me of how quickly life's bigger “problems” can go away once we stop resisting them. And how easy it is to experience peace in any moment.
All it takes is giving up the fight against whatever is happening outside of your control. What you get in exchange is your own sanity.
When we give something our attention, we feed it energy and focus. We perpetuate it, especially when we resist it.
There is such power in acceptance, in letting things simply be.
CHOOSING YOUR BATTLES
If there’s something you dislike in your life that’s been occupying a lot of your brain space, consider this an invitation to let it go. Release the fight and redirect your energy. I promise there are much better uses for it.
Gift yourself the experience of peace regardless of whether or not the situation or person you’re thinking of changes.
Maybe the flies will go away, and maybe they won’t.
But either way, you deserve your version of a relaxing day at the beach, and it’s available to you right now.
Peace and love,
P.S. If there's something going on in your life or business that keeps weighing you down, that feels too big or overwhelming to simply let go of on your own, I might be able to help you with that!
If you'd like support, we can set aside complimentary time to dive in deeper and explore what's standing in the way of you experiencing greater peace and joy right now. Shoot me a message here and we'll get something scheduled :)
