Treasure Hunt
START TO FIND EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR
Ok. I promise, this is the last post I'll make about picking up sea glass.
I returned to the beach this Sunday morning coffee in hand, Paul at my side. We were late - at least by our standards. It was 8:30am by the time we put our chairs in the sand and the beach was hopping.
There was a yoga class of 20 people (spread 6 feet apart they made quite a visual impact) - there were a few folks scattered in chairs and on blankets - and then there were the pickers.
Tons of them, heads down, combing for loot.
I learned my lesson last week though. I sipped my coffee, chatted with Paul a bit and then I too, started to walk.
I walked alongside them, in front of them, behind them. It didn't matter, there was sea glass everywhere I looked.
A couple, about my age passed me quickly as I bent to pick up a piece. They fanned out in front of me and started a zigzag pattern - crossing back and forth, double checking one another's path.
I felt a pang of competition.
Here's something that you need to know about me.
I HATE competition.
I don't judge those who choose to compete, in fact, I often admire them. I just don't compete myself. Since I was a child, the very idea of competition has shut me down.
And so, for years I lived a sort of half life. Contented, apparently happy, with an ever growing hollowness within.
I accepted what was offered. I was grateful for what I had. I took lemons and made lemonade. I made do. I made better.
It made me feel proud to be ok, to be content, to be happy no matter what.
It's always been my superpower.
And like with every strength we have, mine had and equally powerful weakness. I wanted more. I yearned for more. But I wouldn't ask, and I sure as hell wouldn't compete. The hollowness grew.
That was a decade ago.
Since then, I've learned that I could be grateful for what I had and yearn for more. I learned that holding myself back and playing small was just a different kind of game and it was just as destructive as "competition" - at least the way I saw competition.
And so I showed up. I acknowledged my fears and acted anyway.
I played all in.
Little by little, my life changed - it became fuller - I became fuller. I no longer needed to orchestrate happiness.
I became happy.
What the hell does this have to do with sea glass?
I realized something on the beach that I had never seen before - I saw clearly for the first time the difference between the competitors that I admired and those that I loathed.
I understood why my life actually changed.
Somehow I learned, in every aspect of my life, to continually seek treasure - and to trust that the treasure that I seek is meant for me.
I don't want your treasure - I only want mine. Only mine will fulfill me.
So if you get a job that I thought that I wanted, I know that it was yours to begin with and the experience of applying for it only brought me closer to finding mine.
Your bag of sea glass was meant for you and I'm happy when you find it. And even if I trail behind you on the beach, I will always find what I'm looking for, because what I'm looking for is only meant for me.
This Week: Hunting for Treasure
What would happen if you shifted your thinking about competition? About your self worth? About what you're meant to have?
What if you trusted that only you can find your treasure?
What would that mean about your:
career?
finances?
home?
friends?
lover(s)?
connections?
opportunities?
Here's my guess...
If you:
Show up to the hunt everyday,
Trust that you and only you can find the treasure you seek,
Let go of attachments to specific treasures (if you don't get them, you just thought they were yours),
and believe wholeheartedly that your treasure is truly meant for you...
YOUR LIFE WILL COMPLETELY CHANGE TOO.
Give it a try. What do you have to risk?