In the final episode for the month of June we wrap up our reflection of adventure and what that means to heart centered living. It has been a incredibly busy week so this episode is published at the end of the week for the episode that was meant to air on June the 30th. Sorry about the delay but here is the reflection episode for June. 

This month’s theme was "Adventure" and in the HCL adventure booklet and guest interviews with Tamika and Kimmlyn Archie, Lee Chambers, and Dan Zehner, we reflected on what adventure meant to heart centered living.

In reflection, adventure = curiosity + bravery .... if we use the following definitions:

Curiosity: “I seek out situations where I gain new experiences without getting in my own or other people’s way.”

(these definitions came from the VIA Institute on Character that study character strengths)

It might seem that adventure has been put on hold lately and we did not get to choose to our adventures but sometimes it is important to realize that instead of getting to choose the adventure, the adventure chooses us. AND we need to embrace the adventure that comes our way.

One of the most important adventures of our lifetime that chose us is the adventure of healing past hurts and racial divides that have come to the forefront these past few weeks. To heal, we need to have difficult and often uncomfortable conversations. In thinking about how to approach these conversations instead of running away from them, I came up with this acronym that would apply to any adventure that brings us out of our comfort zone.

So, what does SWIM stand for and how does the acronym help us embrace a life of adventure? 

Well, I'm glad you asked. Here is what it stands for:

S - suspend fear

And here is how it helps us embrace adventure. 

S - suspend fear

When we suspend fear, we taper our flight or fight response to activities that cause our heart-rates to rise, such as an adventurous undertaking.

W - withhold judgement

When we withhold judgement, we allow ourselves to take a step into the unknown and explore the beauty that the adventure might uncover.

I - initiating the first step

The first step is always the hardest and we need to take that first step in the direction of adventure. The next step and the ones that follow do get easier and easier.

M - managing expectations

We need to manage our expectations of what that adventure might include because many times, the route to that peak of the mountain or the oasis of calm involves difficult times and trudging through unpleasant experiences before we reach our destination.

I hope you enjoyed June’s episodes. The episodes in July will be on the theme of creativity and I encourage you to download our creativity booklet to help you incorporate creativity into your daily life to support your journey to a more heart-centered space, where intellect, intuition and emotion align, so that you can meet the world's deep hunger from that place of deep happiness and watch miracles unfold.

Talk again next week.

Links:

VIA Institute on Character