Where in your life can you start seeing beneath the surface, taking the path of least resistance?
Once upon a time (waay back in 2021), my friend Sarah asked me to be her pacer for her first 100 mile ultra.
For some strange reason I said yes, and had an epic life adventure. I wrote about it last month and now it's up on the Trail Sister's website woohoo! I'm very excited about this!
If you like running and/or life lessons, you might like my article.
You can read it here: The Only Way Out Is Through
If you understand ultra running (or, if you're whispering in your head, “they crazy,"): yes, I was awake for a full day without sleeping; no, I did not run 100 miles. But Sarah did. 102 miles to be {sorta} exact.
My lessons from this journey, like being a rookie by trying a new adventure, were powerful {oh running, you always have your way with me}. So was putting it down in writing.
Writing is an interesting journey, too, for a rookie like me.
In fact, I'm actually applying those life lessons from ultra running to my writing process.
I'm writing emails, articles, and a book, oh my! Yup, I'm still doing that. And I find the whole process to be a wonderful creative challenge. How do I convey what I know in a way that makes sense, is easy to follow, and is also interesting?!
I've had to try out some different angles, and I'm still trying out angles.
In fact, that reminds me of something my friend Suzy said to me when we were hanging out in the pool in Mexico last week. She's a painter, among so many amazing things, so her pointers from the world of art thrill me as I work my atrophied creativity muscles.
“When you get stuck, turn it upside down," she said.
She was referring to literally turning a painting upside down, but I applied it to developing my book outline last weekend. I considered starting at the end.
It's amazing what a fresh perspective can do.
Like getting away to Mexico. Or, as I'm reading in the book Effortless, by Greg McKeown (his follow-up to one of my faves, Essentialism), what if you consider the path of least resistance? In our culture we've learned that things must be hard-earned to be valuable, that we must work hard to get results. But what if we look at this upside down? If we discover the way that is effortless, where the first step is the only step to deal with, and it really doesn't have to be so hard.
Here's a quote from Effortless, by Greg McKeown:
"Discovering the effortless way of living is like using special polarized sunglasses while fly-fishing. Without them, the glare on the water makes it difficult to see anything swimming below the surface. But as soon as you put them on, their angled surface filters out the horizontal light waves coming off the water, blocking the glare. Suddenly, you can see all the fish underneath.
When we're accustomed to doing things the hard way, it's like being blinded by the glare coming off the water. But once you start putting these ideas into practice you will start to see that the easier way was there all along, just hidden from your view."
My view of healthcare and physical therapy got turned upside down, when I was shown another angle, when I was suddenly less blocked by overcomplicated detail and able to focus on the deeper truth that was below the surface.
I'm so happy for this fresh perspective. Because it helped me help Brigitte today with her severe jaw and ear pain (in her first session!), where traditional PT wasn't working. We got her teeth to line up again so she can eventually chew food without ear pain.
And it helped me help Jenna this week, who had an ankle sprain a year ago, but is dealing with residual instability that's stemming from alignment issues that were not addressed because of the focus only on the ankle.
Or rather, I now view it as upside down, and backwards. Most of healthcare, that is. This is the basis for how I do what I do (treat the nerve first) and why I do it (to empower people to claim their health long-term). I'll share a sample chapter I wrote this morning for my book below if you'd like to check it out.
Maybe you can help me sort out some of those details. See if I'm on the right track. Tell me if I'm talking all crazypants. Or if I need to see another angle…
Questions for you:
Have you ever taken the simplest path, with less trying, and had better results?
Where in your life right now can you make things easier?
What can you turn upside down?
xo,
Lara
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