I love the growth that comes from outward expansion. It is my jam. There is heat and movement and things get done and I have accomplishment and there is evidence of the growth right in front of my face.

Inward replenishment and the growth that comes from that usually for me is coupled with structure. I take a class or get a teacher that gives me structure to have the growth.

However, at the moment I am writing this (slightly before you are reading it) I am currently participating in a time of inward replenishment without structure. Aka taking a vacation. I haven’t done this kind of thing in a long long time. If you are an entrepreneur or a parent or any human for that matter who wears multiple hats, I don’t need to tell you about it. You get it. The first fews days were glorious. I felt free. Got extra sleep. No schedule or structure. Felt relaxing.

Then boredom began to sneak in. I wake up late and feel like there must be something that I should be doing. I was feeling agitated and thinking about that this break from “real life” is getting too long. All these feeling trying to sneak in and ruin this beautiful “pause”. The only thing there has been to do is practice having compassion with my freaking mind.

Me to my mind: hey you. That boredom is because you usually fill 110% of your time with work, friends, family etc.. You rush around and either feel like you are running late constantly or have to skip things. It leads to taking 3 minute showers and skipping lotion. It leads to shaving food in your mouth and chewing as you dial into Zoom. 

My mind to me: Hey. I DO feel behind. I should be messaging someone. Writing content. Plotting my strategy and planning my 1st two quarters of 2022. What happens if while I am resting I miss an opportunity and then I don’t achieve my goals. Let’s get it moving.

So then all there is to do is Breathe. Kindly and lovingly ask all parts of me to <shhhhh> for a moment. Just breathe. Smell the salty air. Feel the wind against your skin. Hear the palm fronts swaying. Breathe.

In this space, I can see that I am actually committed to living with more spaciousness.

Not filling my calendar to capacity and then some.

I can see that being in nature allows me to do deeper thinking and from that space comes new ideas and a sense of gratitude that feels radiantly expansive.

Perhaps you love inward replenishment and have the opposite experience as me. Doing the outward expansion feels boring and repetitive to you. Or maybe you feel exactly as I do.

Either way, I couldn’t agree with this quote more. Both inward replenishment and outward expansion are needed for growth.

So I leave you with the following questions:

  1. Where are you focused mainly? Replenishment or Expansion
  2. Why do you think that is?
  3. What about that focus works?
  4. What about that focus is problematic?
  5. What would bringing more balance allow for you and your life?