Arminda Lindsay

Being On Purpose

Solutions

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oneway

Have you ever been lost in the woods? (Or in the Disney World parking lot?) I certainly have. And it was a scary feeling not knowing which way to go. In fact, the not knowing had a paralyzing effect on me and I didn’t go anywhere; I just stood rooted to the spot where I was standing, waiting for a sign (or Tinker Bell) to show me the way.

Not surprisingly that sign never appeared.

And there really never is just one way to get anywhere.

Hover above and zoom out from where you’re standing and you’ll quickly see multiple routes leading you in any number of directions.

How many options do you have?

43 in any given circumstance.

Is that a scientifically-proven fact, Arminda?

Absolutely not. But it’s been working for me for years.

Whenever I’m lost, literally or metaphorically, I tell myself there are 43 solutions to every problem, so don’t stop after you’ve only looked at the first three.

Zoom out. Get creative. Explore a different possibility. Test a new way of being, seeing, operating and believing.

There is never just one way

Mile Marker 1.64

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milemarker

I love to run. No, not the I have to run a marathon to feel like I’m a runner kind of run. (And my hat is off to those who are that kind of a runner; I just don’t happen to include myself in your number.) I just like what happens to me mentally when I run, so when I don’t (or can’t) run for a while, I really miss the brainy benefits, plus I feel loads better physically, too :).

I haven’t been running in a while. A very long while.

It’s been 18+ months of inexplicable and frustrating hip pain and intensive work with both my physical therapist and my rolfer and I’m easing back into an exercise routine that works for me.

So last night stepping on that treadmill for the first time in a really long time felt a bit nostalgic and I smiled while warming up and searching my iPod for exactly the right audio program (which is always choosing between Steve Chandler and Steve Chandler: my amazing coach) to accompany what would surely be an easy run.

The Voices In My Head

Until I actually started to run and the smile quickly left my face. This wasn’t easy at all! Everything in me was screaming to stop the treadmill and get off! And the voices in my head were extremely chatty:

What was I thinking?

Maybe I shouldn’t be running at all.

I’m not ready for this.

What if I undo all the efforts to put me back together again? Who are you, Humpty Dumpty, all of a sudden?

What if walking will always be the better choice for me?

I’m probably never going to be the same again, so why bother?

All the while I ran, unwavering in my determination to last the next five minutes, and then five minutes more. I just kept running, quieting the naysayers inside my own head and started telling myself a different story:

You’re fine.

It’s just been a while.

You’ll get used to it again.

Building muscle takes time.

Keep running. You love this!

Pay attention to Steve, not your burning legs.

And then it happened: nothing was screaming or burning or dying or demanding a full stop. Quite the opposite: I wanted more.

Energy surged through my entire body, pulling me forward, wanting more. And I leaned into my run, ready now to go the distance.

Mile 1.64

I’m no expert on physical fitness training, but I’m pretty sure that what happened to me at mile 1.64 is not uncommon. So not uncommon, in fact, that we ALL experience this same phenomenon in our lives, whether on or off the running track.

Whenever I start something new it’s hard because I don’t understand how to do it. I don’t know what comes next. My learning curve is steep and if I look around me at other people doing what I want to do I’m discouraged because they’re so much better than me and it’s an oppressive weight thinking about everything I need to learn before I will be capable of running a marathon. And if I’m not careful, I quit long before I reach mile marker 1.64.

When I counter the negative story I’m playing on repeat with a new story — equally made up as the negative one — and tell myself I’m fine, stay the course, remember to breathe, and keep showing up (be consistent in my efforts), I arrive at mile marker 1.64 delighted with the surge of energy that infuses my entire being.

Run Into Your Ready

I run into my ready. I don’t start with it.

Starting is the hard part. We’re never ready for anything. How could we be? Don’t be fooled by your made up story about motivation, either!

Readiness takes time, so just start your project, open the business, share your idea, write the story, create the blueprint, design the website, register the LLC, commit yourself!!! And before you realize it, you’ll be ready to go your distance around mile marker 1.64.

What is it you want to accomplish, or create, or achieve, or learn, or share?

Grab a bottle of coconut water and lace up your runners. You’ll be ready to go after you get started. I promise.

Choose you. Choose happy.

 

Environmental Influences

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Slowing Down

SLOWING DOWN so that I can RISE UP

Too often I hurry. I’m in a rush. I want to get to the end of the day and cross my own imaginary finish line so I can go to sleep again because it’s so exhausting being me.

Except I make it all up and never really need to hurry (unless the house is on fire: then definitely hurry).

When I consciously and intentionally and deliberately slow down, creating space for simply being, then all the possibilities rise to the surface.

I rise to the surface.

I am a living and breathing and creating and loving spiritual being having an amazing human experience.

And everything and more gets created, achieved, checked off, or imagined. At least the stuff that really matters.

“Everything changed the day I figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in my life.” — Brian Andreas

The Waiting Place

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TheWaitingPlace

There have been times in my life I’ve found myself in a lower emotional state, a place inside my own head that I believe is real. It’s a place that’s easy to stay, inside that limiting belief.

It’s easy because I’m not the only one who gets settled in that spot. Many people around me believe that life is just hard, or the economy is in a slump, or we just are the way we are, or somebody else gets all the luck, or the locals aren’t ready for a business model like mine, or I don’t know how to do that one thing that would make all the difference, so I’ll just envy others for what obviously comes easy to them and jump back on social media to check in on what everyone else is doing.

What thoughts and limiting beliefs are you holding onto right now?

Some of my most profound learning moments have come from children’s books and one of my greatest teachers is Dr. Seuss. I particularly love his fabulous Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

In this book he reminds us that when we believe our own thoughts, our own limiting beliefs, we are hanging out in “the Waiting Place,” and until we snap out of it and get on with the business of living and creating the life we want, we are wasting time waiting for something or someone that isn’t coming.

You’re it.

You’re all you’re waiting for, so . . .

“. . . be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So. . . get on your way!”

Steps

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stepsOne step at a time.

I once bought a pewter key chain in the shape of three footprints in succession. I was going through an extremely difficult experience and decided to carry the key chain as a reminder that I need only take one step at a time, one day at a time. There were many moments when I reached into my pocket or purse to clasp that key chain as a silent reminder to take my next step.

Approximately two years after I purchased it, the key chain broke in two from all its use, and my first reaction was alarm at what I would do without it, but I took a deep breath and slowly turned to look behind me and realized how far I’d already climbed and was delighted to discover that I no longer needed the physical reminder.

I’m so grateful for that climb.

What project or task or experience feels daunting and overwhelming right now?

Take one step. That’s it. Just one and then another. Before you know it, you’ll be turning slowly around to look behind you and will have your own moment of recognition of just how far you’ve come and just how much you’ve achieved.

I’m here cheering for you. You’ve got this!

Behind Door #1

By

MissEllie

In honor of the Christmas season, my family recently visited an assisted-living facility, where we moved from floor to floor stopping in the residents’ public gathering places to sing a selection of holiday songs.

After our third performance we were approached by a nurse who asked if we would be so kind as to sing for a 100-year-old patient unable to leave her bed.

We immediately obliged and our very large assembly squeezed into a modestly-sized room, where Miss Ellie lay bed-ridden and speechless, but with eyes wide open.

I stood at the foot of Miss Ellie’s bed riveted to the floor as her gaze locked with mine and while I sang, my heart swelled with love, tears spilling from my eyes.

We shared three or four songs, all the while Miss Ellie’s eyes never leaving mine and before leaving her room I approached her bed, bent and gently kissed her, and thanked her for her gift to me.

How often do we stay in the public gathering places of our lives to share our services?

When was the last time you went through an unknown door to simply serve because someone on the other side couldn’t come to you?

Miss Ellie’s fierce devotion to living serves as a reminder to me that behind every door is an opportunity to keep growing when we serve with love.

But only every time.

Wanting

By

smart

We’re all guilty of getting in our own way. But only all the time.

The truth is we make up lies, then believe those lies, and play them on a repeating loop inside our heads. It’s no wonder we feel we lack or that someone else is better than us or others are accomplishing more or are capable of bigger things.

When was the last time you caught yourself believing:

  • I’m great at what I do; I just don’t know how to run the business side of things.
  • I’d love to be in that career but I don’t even know where to start.
  • Oh, I could never. . . .
  • I don’t know how to motivate my team.
  • I’ve got a great story, but I’m no writer.

Trust me when I say the “how” is the least of your worries. What you need is a “want.”

Identify a time in your life when you REALLY wanted something (anything) and (against all odds) you got it. You didn’t allow your lack of knowledge of the “how to” to stop you. YOU figured it out!

Admit 2 things:
1. You’re really smart!
2. You need to get out of your own way. Yesterday.

What do you REALLY want right now?

Now go figure out your how.

allarminda.com | 2024