Costa Rica - a vacation and a time to learn

We just got back from a 9-day adventure in Costa Rica and while I’m unpacking, catching up and reliving the amazing experiences, I realized a few things.

1.  Every one needs time to get away from the day job.  You don’t have to fly halfway across the world but you do need to take time to shake up your day to day experience.  Give yourself time to look around, see/think/taste/try something new.  By challenging yourself outside of your comfort zone, new thoughts and new possibilities reveal themselves. 

2.  Confront a fear.   I don’t like heights.  At all.  But I can’t always tell when my fear will kick in.  Some days it can cause me to freeze and some days the same activity will just get my heart racing.  I could avoid heights at all costs or I could confront it. My kids love zip lining.  I have, until now, left the adventuring to my husband.  Until now.  I strapped up and clipped in for several (4:6/8, I lost track) zip lines through the rainforest and river gorge.   It was terrifying.  And exhilarating.  Here’s what I (re)learned:

• Humility- sometimes you have to rely on others to help keep you safe and trust their expertise.
• Patience- when my daughter confronted a fear of hers a few days later, the feelings I had were fresh in my mind.  I was more patient and understanding as she struggled between wanting to go and wanting to stay behind.
• Rewards are different for different people with different levels of experience- my own feelings of pride and exhilaration were so very different from what my children experienced.  They asked me about the amazing things they saw.  I didn’t see most of those things because I was so focused on getting one foot in front of the other.  That’s okay.  It just means next time, if I choose to go again, which I might, there will be a new reward and experience.  Sure- I felt the speed they loved, and I climbed across the wall from one line to another (I have the very colorful bruises to show for it!)  like they did and sharing that is enough for me to be excited.
• Providing a service requires a connection- if I didn’t think the many people who helped hear me up, clip me in, push me off a ledge and more believed and cared about me and my safety it would not have been possible for me to jump.  I looked in their eyes and believed it was okay.  If they had been indifferent or uncaring or even just disconnected, I would have been unwilling to proceed.
• Admit your fear-  speaking my fear aloud made it less big.  More importantly, it let other people step up and be supportive and encouraging.
• Celebrate the small wins- a simple high five after putting on the harness may seem ludicrous but it’s a step in an unknown journey and should be celebrated!

3.  Get curious about something new.  It’s okay to investigate a new possibility.  More to come on this lesson but trust me, you never know where a brand new idea may take you.

These lessons all apply in life, but also back at the day job.

I hope you all are enjoying your vacation time, whether it’s going far away or staying close.

Wonders of the week:

So many things blew me away this week:

Dreams Las Mareas Costa Rica- we enjoyed this beautiful all inclusive resort - pools and beach time aplenty.  Most of all, it was a friendly place, with friendly staff and guests that created an environment of safety.  With pre-teens who need to stretch their wings this is important to us.  

Here are a few of the pictures I took this week from around the resort.  I hope you enjoy!

Video created on my iPhone.