Course Corrections
Our friends gave us an amazing Bob Stroller for our baby shower. I hated it. It was so big and cumbersome for our teeny tiny little baby. And it has a fixed front wheel. I thought there was nothing worse than a fixed front wheel.
When winter came, though, I fell in love with the stroller. When Loki was a teeny tiny peanut, it was great to snuggle him up for walks in one of my carriers. But as he got more mobile and wanting to see the world around him, the stroller became my best friend for our daily walks. And the Bob was great on snow or ice, and someday I’ll even take it out to the woods.
The other day we were out for a stroll and it was lightly snowing. It felt so good to get out and stretch my legs, as it had been a few days since our last walk. It was beautiful, Loki was happy, I was happy.
We were walking the circular track at a nearby park and I noticed that the stroller was creating an interesting pattern in the snow. Because of the fixed front wheel, the stroller doesn’t turn around the oval track. Instead I have to tilt it slightly backward to turn the stroller. I make many micro turns as we go. Sometimes the pattern looked like a smooth circle, but other times there were little jigjags, indicating a bigger course correction. (That picture at the top, that's of our stroller jigjags.)
As a chronic ‘metaphor-maker’ of all things, I thought this was a great metaphor about course correcting in life:
We set out on a path with certain goals or dreams in mind, and many times, little nudges will do the trick to keep us on track. Smooth and easy. Other times we need a bigger jigjag to stay on course. And then there are times in life when something happens to make us take a new course or find a new direction or a new goal.
Like Loki starting to cry and wanting out of the stroller. Ugh! This was new – he loves the stroller! But here we were, on course, and yet he wanted change. So change we did. Out he came from the stroller, and back home we went.
What small course corrections do you make to keep on track? For me, it is checking in with the feelings I want out of work this year (as I wrote about here) – juicy, spacious, connected, and attuned.
When accepting gigs, or planning workshops, I check in with my heart for attunementto my needs. Does this gig feel juicy, fun, meaningful? Is my calendar spaciousenough so that I don’t feel overwhelmed and stressed? Is the pay adequate to make it worth my while? Do I feel connected to my family, to my colleagues, to the work?
What are your priorities? How do they shape your daily choices? What small correction can you make this week to keep you on track?
I’d love to hear from you about how you keep on course with your goals and taking care of yourself at the same time. It makes my day to be connected to you and hear about your journey.
Thanks for reading!
