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Several years ago, I was preparing to travel for work. If you didn’t already know, I have some food allergies so traveling for work always required some pre-trip investigation. As in, where was Whole Foods and how close could I stay to it? Would my room have a kitchenette or at least a refrigerator to store some fresh foods. I used to find this all intimidating, but I found over time, I met some amazing cab and Uber drivers, I have been in LOTS of Whole Foods (they are all same but different in one regard or another), found new and interesting foods and I know I gained some self-efficacy along the way. I am now also amazing with maps and travel planning so if you need any help, you just let me know.
Another thing I would do was research restaurants that might be able to feed me without much pain and suffering on my end.
So back to this trip in 2017. I went to Charleston South Carolina for a meeting on HPV. I did my research and found the grocery store, a yoga studio and a restaurant I suspected could feed me. I called the restaurant for a reservation about a week in advance because the Open Table app said it was booked solid. I remember distinctly the trip was in May. The woman who answered the phone said she could get me a table in June.
“Um, I am only in town for a few days. Is it possible to get something sooner? And truly, is this even a thing?” I responded. Upon my insistence, she did find a way to get a table for two people during my stay in Charleston. “OK great, thank you, I will see you next week.”
Upon arrival at my meeting, through casual conversation with others in attendance, they asked about my dinner plans. I said I was going to this restaurant (whose name escapes me nearly 5 years later).
“Whoa! How did you score a table there?” the locals asked.
Turns out this is a hot spot, known to have long waits and far out reservations. I either struck it at the right time, or I just asked the right person.
I responded as such since truly I had no idea.
And it occurred to me: If I had known that this was a hot spot, would I even have tried? Most likely, definitely no. Because that is just how I rolled, assuming that I wouldn’t get in.
I tell you this long story because it makes me think about times we don’t do a thing because we have preconceived notions about how it will turn out based on what is likely a small sample of previous experiences that are likely not even the same as the thing we are contemplating.
Or, when we have tried a thing for the first time and it went amazingly well, until we kept trying it and let our head takeover and it started to tank. Like the first time I did Crow pose in yoga and then failed 98% of the time after that. Or when I went to throw axes with my family at one of these places where you throw axes at a wall, and I did great until I started thinking about it and then the ax started hitting the floor.
Have these things happened to you? Because they sure as hell have happened to me.
It makes me wonder how important the power of our thoughts really is. Are we selling ourselves short? I am going to say YES to that all day long.
In the spirit of this new season of SPRING, the energy of Aries season and the astrological new year - I am writing this as an invitation - both to you and to myself - to bring that beginners luck, the energy of “the first time” to everything we do as often as we can do it. Don’t think, just do it. Don’t assume, just call. Don’t analyze, just feel. Whatever the thing is. Because at the end of the day, it is all energy so what you project onto a thing, will likely have an impact on how it turns out.
If you try this, let me know how it goes! I will try it too. And I will keep looking for magic.
Xoxo