you can do hard things

You got through today.

And all the days you thought you wouldn't survive.

But you did.

Now look at you. Doing hard things and forgetting to be proud of yourself.

Take a moment.

It's been four days.

Of traveling, but I'm back.

I wasn't let on my flight.

They forced me to buy a new flight for the next day.

It was a bit of a shit show that started out as a fun all nighter before heading back to my new home, Costa Rica.

My friend came to the airport with my suitcase and a bottle of wine. I returned from the UK to now change in Germany.

turned into us feeling like we're in a nightmare after being awake for more than 24 hours while trying to settle a situation we'd both never been confronted with.

even as avid travellers, fleeting between several countries that feel like home, being both children of two different cultures.

What should've been two days travelling has now turned into four.

What would've been a fun all nighter together turned into a hotel room and watching dirty dancing. Remembering all works out for me.

What could've been is never known, we just stop forcing and start flowing. Then acceptance leads.

It's meant to be.

Cliche, but good foundation to live by, right?

This is the unbreakable trust I carry with me.

Even faced with adversity.

Because I believe:

Furthermore, I believe God is always subtly reminding us we aren't in control, and the bravest practice is surrender.

To the flow.

To the way things go.

As humans, we are constantly in a state of control.

• Anxiety.

• Overthinking.

• Regretting the past.

• Overthinking the future.

Whatever it may be, we just stop and just let it be.

I hope The Beatles just popped into your mind as it did mine writing that hehe.

And perhaps that's the whole point.

Sometimes life doesn't go according to plan because we're being given the opportunity to practise something more valuable than planning:

Trust that we can handle the unexpected.

Trust that a detour doesn't mean we've gone the wrong way.

Trust that what's meant to be will be, not allowing the rifle of anxiety.

Trust that even when something feels like a complete shit show in the moment, there may be something on the other side of it that we couldn't have seen coming.

And it did. I ended up taking a roadtrip back from San Jose with a friend instead of a dredded 9 hours bus. Just happened!

Or did it? Always be open to miracles.

Magic is all around us.

You are magic.

I'm happy you're here.

I'm honoured, even.

May my words remind you of your core:

Because strength isn't always pushing through.

Sometimes strength is letting go.

It's saying, okay. This is what's happening.

What can I learn from it?

It's surrendering the need for everything to make sense immediately.

It's trusting that we don't have to know the whole story while we're still living a single page.

Just enjoying the moment. Now. I am safe.

And perhaps, sometimes, adversity really is a blessing in disguise.

It's now Monday and I'm watching the roosters in my garden with the cows in the background.

Peace.

This is it.

This is why this feels home.

And after all the chaos, I can see it even more clearly.

The delayed flight.

The extra money.

The lost time.

The hotel room.

The exhaustion.

All of it.

It happened.

I can't change it.

So I may as well let it be.

And that's something I'm trying to remember more and more:

Breaks are good too.

They allow you to ease through.

Whatever life brings you.

Sometimes we need the pause.

Sometimes we need the unexpected hotel room

Sometimes we need the day where absolutely nothing goes to plan.

Sometimes we need to stop running, stop fixing, stop controlling, and simply breathe.

That's what my Chill Out and Cheer Up guide reminds you.

Because life will happen.

Plans will change.

Flights will be missed.

Things will cost more than we expected.

People will disappoint us.

And sometimes, somehow, the most beautiful things will happen in the middle of all of it.

So take the break.

Ease through.

Let it be.

And trust.

🌞

If you need a little reminder to come back to yourself, you can find my guide, Chill Out and Cheer Up: A Ten-Step Guide, here

Until next time,

Pura vida

Grace