Shift

Have you ever walked into your house after a long vacation and thought, "Everything needs to change." I don't mean just the decor. The way you've been living your life suddenly feels outdated. It may register as a twinge of dread or butterfly in your stomach -- a subtle recognition that your outer and inner worlds are no longer in alignment. Something inside of you has shifted.

The greatest gift of travel is the opening created for change. Like a giant reset button, we get to shake up daily routines and unstick from what is familiar. (It's hard to grow when we are mired in the status quo). Our mind quickens with new sights and sensations as we gain perspective on the world, and ourselves. We may be sipping coffee in a street cafe or walking the grounds of a lovely garden or sitting in a workshop or seminar and the "A-Ha!" moments start rushing in. We feverishly take notes, trying to capture this new self awareness, reconnecting to hidden dreams, sketching out our future, brilliant selves. We write, When I get back home, this will change. I will make a fresh start. I will take new action.

In reality, we return home and very little changes. Our brains love safe and predictable, so it registers the familiar and slips back into well-worn habits and routines. "Life changing" insights start to fade like a suntan. We tend to brush past the uncomfortable feeling when we first walk in the door, but, really, that discord is intuition's signal for change. It is our higher vibration chaffing against where we are now, and it warrants our attention.  

A-Ha moments without action are like snowflakes on warm pavement; they never really amount to much. So how to make them stick? Personally, I start by making small adjustments around the house the minute I walk in. Switching out artwork, starting a declutter campaign to shed what I no longer need, and rearranging some furniture. The idea is to disrupt habitual patterns so that your environment starts to match this inner feng shui that's happening. It signals to the brain that change is good and you are ready to re-vamp some aspect of your life. To me, it's the equivalent of coming home from the beach without showering off the ocean. Bask in that glow-y feeling as long as possible! Change up your route to work or create a new ritual that gets you back in touch with those higher ambitions you felt while traveling. Heck, even re-arranging the apps on your smartphone can help shift your mind into new ways of seeing and thinking about your world. Traveling has a way of amplifying inner truths; follow its guidance with incremental actions and watch your life change.