Arminda Lindsay

Being On Purpose

Trust the Bus

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trustthebus

My friend Marielle introduced me to an experience I’ll never forget.

Together we boarded a repurposed school bus in a small country town late one Saturday night. No money was asked of our participation; this would be a free ride. The bus was completely packed with people AND there was a caravan of vehicles following behind because there wasn’t enough space for everyone who wanted a seat.

What transpired over the next two hours I could never have anticipated and I’m not sure I can — or want to try to — explain to you what happened.

Perhaps what I experienced is irrelevant.

And yet I never would have had the experience if I hadn’t gotten on the bus. Oversimplification? No.

We don’t have to know where the bus is heading to take the ride.

We don’t even have to know who else is on the bus.

My experience on the bus wasn’t identical (or probably even similar) to Marielle’s or to anyone else’s riding the bus. It was only my experience being created.

The adventure is made in the taking of it.

We can’t have an adventure we’re not willing to take.

You can’t create an adventure if you’re not along for the ride.

Be in action in your life.

Get on the bus.

Just go.

Trust the bus and test the experience.

p.s. — if you had a previous ride that didn’t create the experience you thought it would, don’t allow that non-existent past be the reason you never get on another bus to test a new adventure.

Smash it With a Hammer!

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Do you have a problem (a struggle, an issue, a frustration, a situation)?

Pick one.

Now let’s play a game with your problem.

Let’s turn your problem into a solution.

Ohhhh, maybe that’s more like a magic trick than a game! That sounds like even more fun! Grab your magic wand!

Step One

Call the “problem” a “challenge.”

Why would this simple switch be such a big deal?

Because our language creates how we see the world and how we see the world becomes our world.

Step Two

Remember the Disney movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids? We’re going to proclaim We Shrunk the Challenge! (If for no other reason than it’s funny to say shrunk out loud and I can’t say it without laughing. Go ahead. Try it.)

And laughing is an important next step for us to now look down on the challenge. See yourself as exponentially larger than the challenge. Laugh at its smallness. Mock its insignificance. Shrink your challenge down to a diminutive size. You are monstrous in comparison.

Step Three

Now that you’re laughing and relaxed and visualizing the teeny tiny little challenge running scared, the final step is to overwhelm the challenge with your solutions.

SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!

That challenge has nothing on you. You are the one with a higher and larger vantage point. You wield laughter and ideas and a relaxed approach. The challenge is not serious; something that small can’t possibly be serious.

Besides, serious is so un-fun. And you’re at your best when you’re having fun, laughing and enjoying yourself. That’s when your ideas really start to flow.

You are creativity, itself.

You love this challenge for allowing you the opportunity to show off your remarkable resourcefulness.

Keep laughing.

Keep being bigger than your challenges.

Keep creating solutions from that place of relaxed fun and broader perspective.

Keep smashing your challenges with a hammer.

Do that. And then do more.

Enjoy the process of solution creating.

“It’s brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, I tell you! Genius, I say!” — Yzma

Throw the Punch

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ThrowthePunch

I walked onto the mat this morning with wrist wraps securely in place, gloves at the ready, anticipating a solid hour of mitt and bag work under the direction of my trainer. I had been looking forward to this hour all week, for the chance to solely focus on myself in relationship to my imaginary opponent, furthering my ability to act — if needed — on automatic.

I have never used myself as a weapon to intentionally inflict harm or to cause injury against another. I have never hit another human being (not counting that time with my little brother).

Until today.

Today my trainer put on full headgear and told me I had to hit him. Really hit him — full on in the face.

Throw a straight jab at me, Arminda. Use your right; it’s stronger. Don’t hold anything back. You’re not going to hurt me. You have to know what it feels like and you have to know you can hit another human with intention. All the work we do will never matter if you can’t do this. Come on. Do it.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to burst into tears or vomit as my stomach turned uncomfortably. My sweaty palms transmitted their obvious reservation through the layers of wraps and gloves. An uncomfortable confusion clouded my thinking and as I hesitated between left and right foot placement I remembered to bring my gloves to my face and with the gentle touch of the right glove on my chin my left foot immediately followed suit and found its grounding forward position and I jabbed.

That was good! Now you know you can do it and you’ll always remember how that feels.

“I held back,” tumbled out of my mouth as the aftershock of relief flooded my entire body.

Hit me again, then. This time don’t hold back. And this will be the last time I ever invite you to hit me.

My focus was fiercely clear. I did not hesitate once I was in position to strike. I threw the punch.

And in that moment my fear and I came to an understanding: I throw the punches.

Finite

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finite

I’m running with an assumption: that we’re all in agreement that butterflies are beautiful and seeing one creates an instant internal fluttering for you in the same way it does for me.

Butterflies have a known life cycle, neatly contained inside of four stages (egg, caterpillar, pupa, butterfly) and you can read about those stages on at least a bazillion* different websites. I am no scientist and I still know that butterflies don’t live for very long** once they’ve reached stage four — the one in which they’ve decidedly left their shell behind and come out as a butterfly.

Every last bit of their seemingly-fragile and dainty feet to their expertly-crafted exoskeletal wings is beautiful, perfect in its imperfections.

Only I don’t see imperfection when I see a butterfly; I see living out loud. I see expression and courage and light. I see my greatest vision of myself.

My gifts and talents aren’t any less beautiful and significant than a butterfly’s wings.

And my life cycle is also marked; I just don’t know how many stages I have or where I am in their progression.

Am I flying while the sun shines, as the butterflies do? Or am I worried about what others will think of my gifts and stay hovering too near my long-ago abandoned shell — that cocoon that once (but no longer) gave me safety to morph into my essential, gorgeous, individual, flawed and wonderful self?

I want to laugh and sing and dance and flutter my way along this path to mastery while my wings still beat. This path of the imperfect me — this is where the fun happens, this is where the real growth occurs, this is where I get to become.

Don’t be selfish. Don’t not fly. Don’t hide yourself away from anyone who might experience instant internal fluttering upon seeing your wings.

Don’t mistake your imperfections for anything but the truth they represent: expressions of your courage, your light, your greatest self.

Beat your wings until the very last rays of the sun go down.

JUST LIVE OUT LOUD.

*may be a slight exaggeration
**4-6 weeks for the average northern monarchs

[UN]Tie a Yellow Ribbon

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tieayellowribbon

Eli the Pitbull is neurotic.

He eats furniture. He doesn’t play well with the other dogs. He won’t eat his food. He is terrified of small humans. He wets himself when he is too scared to do anything else. He has back-logged issues I can’t even begin to know because we rescued him only two years ago. He had five years of conditioning before we ever met and fell in love.

Our veterinarian encouraged us to tie a yellow ribbon on Eli’s collar as part of a broader initiative among dog owners as a way to alert others to approach with caution when they see the ribbon.

Unlike humans, dogs can’t always choose the way they behave. Depending on their upbringing and the way their humans have treated and taught them — their personalities and tendencies can become fixed.

Humans, unlike dogs, have a tendency to use yellow ribbons to excuse and/or explain their behavior as fixed rather than simply choosing something else.

Yellow ribbons come in all different shapes and sizes:

I’m terrible at remembering names.
You know me: I’m always late!
I don’t do well with change.
I’m such a slob; I can’t help it.
That’s the way it’s always been done!
I struggle with motivation.

This list is far from comprehensive.

Are you proudly waving any yellow ribbons?

Who would you be without the ribbon?

Untie it.

And then approach yourself with love.

Smiling is My Favorite!

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SmilingIsMyFavorite

If every smile is a direct achievement, then I’m well on my way to a lifetime achievement award because just like Buddy the Elf, “smiling is my favorite!”

Take time today to notice your face. Be consciously aware of what you’re emoting to yourself and to those around you.

When something pulls the corners of your mouth down and/or furrows your brow, borrow the advice from one of my favorite childhood songs: “If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay! Quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away!”

The song reminds us that “No one likes a frowny face; change it for a smile. Make the world a better place by smiling all the while.”

Make your world a better place.

Smile.

Achieve that.

Upside Down Thinking

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UpsideDownThinking

I read that if you turn a pineapple upside down for a day or two prior to cutting and eating it that all its natural sugars will evenly distribute throughout the fruit.

True? I have no idea.

If I turn myself upside down (sometimes literally — headstand anyone?) every once in a while, my perspective changes. I dislodge old habits, challenge my own thinking, and discover I’m filled with all sorts of natural goodness.

True? Only every time.

Illumination

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illumination

When I’m on the right path I know it because I’m all lit up. I shine. There is no dimmer switch and everyone around me knows it because they see and feel my light, too.

I’m in love with every day.

When I’m heading in a direction that isn’t using all of my skills and strengths and serving a higher purpose I know it because I’m disengaged. I say I’m not motivated when it’s not really motivation I lack, but purpose.

I dread getting out of bed in the morning.

What ignites your light?

What purpose is waiting for you to pursue it?

Whose world (your own included) will be better because you’re illuminated?

Be in love with today every day.

allarminda.com | 2024