Lost My Plans, Found Adventure: Embracing the Unexpected

Is Life actually conspiring in your favour?

This was supposed to be a smooth week...instead, it turned into the perfect recipe for stress.

As well as working through the night leading a class on European timezone when I am in British Columbia (jet lag without leaving home!), some pretty big plans fell through. When life gives you lemons…

The Lemon

You see, although I have been spending a time in BC, we are still going through immigration and part of the process necessitates being out of the country for a while. Well, we still have some stuff to sort out in the UK (e.g. our whole life being in storage!) so we did the obvious equation of heading back there for about 6-8 weeks.

However, that length of time falls into a tricky spot between short term and long term accommodation and living, meaning that things get crazy expensive really quickly. Although doable, I wasn’t feeling great about spending a small fortune on this and so we put together some plans that would really help with budget.

Unfortunately and for very legitimate reasons, those plans fell through and we found ourselves staring at a hefty price tag. My heart sank. This of course wasn’t helped by a complete lack of sleep this week. Ugh!

I admit, I felt resentful at first: another hurdle in this already stressful process and I was shaking a proverbial fist at God/Universe/Source for not having an answer.

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The Slice

I know it is a cliche but it amazing what a few hours of sleep can do…literally sleeping on the apparent problem. Clearly while my conscious mind was comatose, my intuition went to work and sliced the lemon for me.

The truth was that, apart from the prospect of seeing some friends and loved one, neither hubby or I were excited about coming back to the UK at all…at least not to hang out for 6-8 weeks killing time. I also had a Human Design Reading recently from the delightful Nadia Gargallo who informed me that for my energy type, following my excitement is crucial.

Excitement did not equal the UK. It was time for a bit of a reframe.

The Opportunity

This little insight opened up just enough space in my thought process to allow my intuition in.

Stepping back from the UK for a second, the only criteria for the situation was being outside of Canada for a few weeks and not breaking the bank. Shifting my perspective, the UK was certainly an option but far from the only option. Add the criteria of excitement to the mix and suddenly there is the opportunity for an ADVENTURE!

Suddenly a whole new realm of possibilities opened themselves - what a concept…. we can actually do this and enjoy ourselves and have fun at the same time.

Of course, the answer was staring me in the face, but I was too frustrated to see it. My head had truly been so stuck in one groove because it “made sense” that I couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

Lemonade?

We created a new equation and far more exciting equation - adventure + fun + cost + convenience! So, we are off to Central America for a few weeks to really see something different!

Truth is that this wasn’t the plan and in reality it is not far from just a holiday. I still have a business to run and work to do, but being a digital nomad is totally possible so we are going to do that.

And more to the point both hubby and I feel more excited and uplifted than we have done in a while…all because Life has given us a golden opportunity. An opportunity to explore new cultures, try out new food like smoky, tangy street tacos, immerse in the vibrant colors of rainforests, and actually allow us to save some money.

Sometimes 'the worst that can happen' leads to unexpected adventures. Remember to stay flexible and open to the possibilities!

And the moral of the story is…

I am no enlightened saint. I went through real stink eye, seeing the whole situation really negatively at first and it took a bit of time to work through. But as John Parkin says, “F&!k it! What’s the worst that can happen?”.

Einstein once said:

“I think the most important question facing humanity is, 'Is the universe a friendly place?”

Life has a pretty funny way of working out and conspiring in our favour. Trouble we might not see it at the time and we often only understand it fully in the rear view mirror. But this was a really good reminder that having stink-eye is rarely a good strategy and that a bit of time, perspective - and sleep apparently - can shift everything.

So, we are off to explore Mexico and probably Costa Rica next month and very much looking forward to drinking not lemonade but plenty of Agua Fresca!

Have you ever had a stressful situation turn into a surprising opportunity? Share your story in the comments!

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