OverFlo(w)ing with Gratitude

Good news? Bad news? Who knows.

I recently listened to a meditation by Jay Shetty on the calm app (one of my favorites for a quick addition to my morning routine to help me start the day in a positive, productive way).

The story was about a farmer in a town experiencing a string of events and every time one of them happened, his neighbors deemed it as “good luck” or “bad luck.” His response to them was always neutral- “good news, bad news, who knows?.” It’s worth a listen, but the moral of the story is that we are quick to assign value to events in our lives based on what we assume they mean, or based on them going or not going according to our plans.

In reality, there’s no way to truly know wether something that’s happening is “good” or “bad.” It’s all just happening. And we DO deserve to feel all our feelings in any given situation, but trusting that whatever happens is happening for us takes practice… one I practiced a lot when we realized building a van took a lot longer than we thought!

We felt the feelings of frustration that the date we expected to leave wasn’t going to be met. But then it dawned on me that if this delay wasn’t a message from the universe, then I don’t know what is! This entire journey is about going with the flow. About trusting that the timing of life is always perfect, and things rarely to according to plan, especially when something better is in store✨

Was it good or bad that our van is done later than expected? As the farmer would say, who knows! It simply was.

And, like many things in life, enjoying the process of the build is just as important as the end result.

Our road trip route 🗺️ might have been altered a bit because we are leaving at a later date, but you know that day say?

Obstacles are detours in the right direction ⚠️

I’m amazed at how much of the van building process paralleled my life just a year ago in a pre-k classroom, or to be honest ANY meaningful experience. Everything had so many STEPS, and you can’t rush the process. You have to lay the groundwork before you can get to the stuff you actually SEE. In a classroom, you need to set up the routines and the rules, before you can get to the activities. In life, you must do the inner work, before you can outwardly show progress. Whether it’s school, inner growth, a van build, or anything else you want to relate it to,

for something beautiful to happen a whole lot of stuff that no one will ever actually see needs to happen, and sometimes that takes a lot of time.

More time than you want it to. More time than it takes someone else.

But it’s crucial to remember that you can’t measure your process with someone else’s ruler. YOU are exactly where YOU need to be, and whatever adventure you are on is happening in perfect timing, even if it’s just getting started. Even if it’s just an idea right now.

This van build and travel adventure was just a an idea 11 months ago, and Flo was an empty van on a lot in Virginia just FIVE months ago. And it still would be just an idea, and just a van, if we didn’t honor our curiosities, trust the nudges, take the next best step every single day, and end up here, with our very own tiny travel home that we helped to build, about to set off on our dream adventure.

I don’t mean to oversimplify how many obstacles we met or decisions we made to get to this point.

But I do want you to know that at the end of the day, when you get better and better at trusting yourself, it’s easier and easier to go with the flow of life and make decisions that you once thought would only happen in your wildest dreams. You never know when a tiny decision you make will lead you to exactly the right place.

We could have easily called it “bad news” that our van wasn’t ready for travels October 1, but looking back, it feels like pretty great news that it led us to this very moment, enjoying our perfect “van house” the week of Thanksgiving with our loved ones. And as excited we are about the travels, the feeling of joy that comes with following a dream and watching it come to life and reflecting on all you learned throughout the process is invaluable.

To sum it all up, here’s your reminder that the beautiful places, houses, vans, people, ideas you are seeing out there on social media - a lot of work as gone in to making them a reality. So wherever YOU’RE at, don’t forget to enjoy the process, trust the timing, acknowledge the small joys along the way, and always be open to going with the flow 🚐

To me, going with the flow means you are in a place where you are able to trust yourself because you feel confident in yourself and the universe. Are things good or bad? Who knows. They simply are.

If you’re feeling out of flow, I can help! We’re about to start heading out on some short trips, and I am so grateful I can help people find clarity and get creative while we travel. Learn more about my coaching and design services here, and if you feel called to do so, let’s chat about working together! And regardless, I hope you get some joy and inspiration from following our Go with the Flo travel journey!

PS: Don’t miss the favorite spots we frequented while spending the past 3 months in Swampscott and Rowley, MA!