It was bigger than I thought

Happy Sacred Sunday!

Last week I told you I was going off the grid to attend the Warrior Week retreat with my sons’ high school. In that email I wrote:

So this is my intention this week: I’m choosing Warrior Week as time to be where my feet are planted. I am going there to serve, in whatever capacity is needed of me. I want to truly experience this place, not manage it within my busy schedule. 

I have a deep feeling that this trip is going to be very meaningful for me, and I’m showing up fully for it. I will see you right here in your inbox next week, sharing whatever I gained along the way.

When you set an intention, you set it with a vision and expectation of how things are going to play out. You create a little movie of the future experience you’re about to have and then you set out to live that movie.

But life has a funny way of surprising you.

By the time that movie is over, your intention is far more meaningful than you ever imagined it would be … if you were mindful enough to remember your initial intention. Because with all the plot twists, it’s easy to let the current drift you away from it and forget it altogether.

I had a movie in my mind of how Warrior Week was going to play out. And at the beginning, the trip was aligned with my movie, only it was better. It was more special and beautiful than I imagined it would be. Similarly, it was also more challenging to disconnect from the grid than I planned for, and that sparked some important lessons there too.

But the most unexpected plot twist happened at midnight on Thursday morning when my son, Orly, called me to tell me that his brother had a very bad stomach ache and needed me.

I rushed over to the infirmary to see Justin in excruciating pain, vomiting uncontrollably, and unable to find relief. That began the longest 72-hour stretch I’d had in a long time. It was a time of uncertainty, trying to discern between intuition and noise, making impromptu decisions, and staying calm in the storm.

Ultimately, we landed in a hospital in Atlanta where we discovered Justin had appendicitis and needed immediate surgery. We were transferred by ambulance to a children’s hospital in the area to perform surgery and hope that his appendix had not ruptured. Luckily, it didn’t, which meant Justin would be discharged from the hospital 24 hours later instead of spending 3 to 5 days there.

We were able to take a flight home late last night to reunite with our five fingers and in time for Orly and Justin’s first day of school.

Here I am revisiting these words:

So this is my intention this week: I’m choosing Warrior Week as time to be where my feet are planted. I am going there to serve, in whatever capacity is needed of me. I want to truly experience this place, not manage it within my busy schedule. I have a deep feeling that this trip is going to be very meaningful for me, and I’m showing up fully for it.

Suddenly being where my feet were planted, serving in whatever capacity was needed of me, truly experiencing this place, and that deep feeling that this trip was going to be very meaningful for me, became bigger than I ever imagined it would be. So much so, that I am not ready to share all the lessons. There are too many and I must organize them in private before I can share them coherently with you. I’m still processing it all.

There is one moment of clarity I do want to leave you with:

Your circumstances do not define your happiness. Your interpretation of those circumstances does.

What I have just shared with you may sound like the trip took a negative turn. You may be reading this thinking, ugh, that sucks.

When my husband called, the first thing he said to his son was, “I’m sorry your trip got ruined, buddy.”

Justin’s response: “It didn’t.”

Because here’s the thing Justin and I both understood. I got added to this trip at the last minute. Not all parents were there, but I was, and it was my son who needed me to be there.

Those 72 hours were painful but we were also met with incredible kindness, synchronicities, and blessings. We both had a deep gratitude for how everything played out. It never escaped us how lucky we were, and how differently this all could have gone.

Last night as we waited to board our flight home, I asked my son what the highlight of this trip was.

“The time we spent together post surgery.”

Who would have ever thought that could possibly be his response. And yet, it was.

When your focus is on gratitude, your circumstances take on a completely different perspective.

I am back home and getting ready for School Year’s Eve tonight. Tune into this week’s episode of Bliss’n Up to hear more about the challenges that ritual brought this year!  

I will also spend some time in reflection to gather all the other lessons I brought home from this incredible week at Warrior Week. (Because there were plenty of moments of clarity even before the appendix surprise!)

In the meantime, I’m wishing you an intentional Sacred Sunday with your eyes set on gratitude.

Sending you much love today and always,