On the Path | Issue 7 | July, 2021
On the Path | Issue 7 | July, 2021
A newsletter, written with joy, for the curious, adventurous, and modern-day action-takers of the world.
Greetings from sunny Southern California!
Summer is in full swing here. It's been really nice to see people in person again. I don't know about you, but in spite of the challenges of lockdown, I found the peacefulness and solitude of COVID incredibly nice. And since it affected everyone somewhat equally, I rarely, if ever, experienced FOMO (fear of missing out). This meant being able to be more of my "social curmudgeon" self without others judging me for it (or me judging myself for it)... which turned out to be a nice reprieve!
Honestly, part of me has resisted going back to the hubbub of "real life"... perhaps because I enjoyed the reprieve from the pressures that I've put on myself for eons to be a "good social person". I think I have a fear that going back meant that I had to go back to the way it was.
But so far, for me, that hasn't been the case at all.
That social curmudgeon is still on vacation... which has been allowing me to really appreciate time with others, almost like seeing them again for the first time. Eyes seem brighter, smiles more genuine, and conversations seem fresher, and more authentic.
Perhaps it's me, but whatever it is, I LOVE IT. And... it also hasn't meant losing all my alone time, so it's a win-win-win!
How has it been for you?
Are you readjusting well to the changes?
What's going on inside... underneath the layers of what you consider to be "presentable" or "fit for the outside world to see"?
When you look inside any area of your life (relationship, marriage, kids, family, career, job, etc...) and find yourself struggling with uncertainty, fear, worry, guilt, shame, upset... it's a sign that you might just have something valuable to look at, uncover, and talk about.
If that's the case, feel free to reach out to me by replying... I'm here if/when you need me.
Have a great rest of your July!
Andy
BREATHWORK
You can go weeks without food, days without water, hours without energy, and just minutes without air. Air (and breath) is our direct connection to life... prana... life-force.
So why is it that we spend MOST of our time thinking about and consuming the thing we can afford to spend the most time without - food?
Now is a great time to put more energy and focus on the one and only part of your autonomic nervous system that you have conscious control over - your breath.
Here's a link to a video I made with three simple exercises/drills you can try that address both breathing quality, and breath control. Practice when you're meditating, praying, or need a short break from staring at your computer screen.
Car-Sharing for Rental Car Woes
Later this month we're taking a trip to the East Coast. I was talking to a friend about the high prices of rental cars and how it's possible that even with a reservation, I might not get a car!
Why not? Well, during COVID, rental car companies sold off their fleets... and now with the re-emergence of travel, trips, and vacations, they haven't had time to re-stock. As a result... lots of shortages.
My friend suggested trying this app - Turo. It's a service created for car-sharing... like an Air BnB for your car, but instead of renting your house, you're renting your automobile. Got a car that you want to share? List it on Turo. Going to be in a city and need a car? Find one on Turo.
The range in available cars is MASSIVE! For example, for my upcoming trip, I could rent a 2014 Audi R8 for $374 per day, or a 2017 Nissan Versa Note for $34 per day.
Now that I've locked in an Audi A4 for my trip... I'm looking forward to giving the service a try for the first time!
Quote I'm Pondering
“People do not do what they want to do; they do what they do.
You always do what you do.
And you don't always do what you want to do, do you?
The only time you do what you wanted to do is when it's coincidentally what you did.
You aren't doing what you wanted to do; you are doing what you do...People don't do what they want to do; they do what they do, always and only.
'Want to' is a story.”
~ Werner Erhard
Disconnect Yourself from Your Smart Watch
This may not be the most popular recommendation I've ever made, but it has made a huge difference for me, my psyche, my life, my clients, and my family. Truly transformative.
I gave up my Apple Watch for something way less connected.
As much as I REALLY WANTED to love my watch when I got it (and for the year that I wore it - religiously), I found two things to be true:
1. The constant bombardment of bells, whistles, dings, and haptics on my wrist - notifications, emails, texts, phone calls, heart-rate, stand-up and move reminders, warnings, etc., did NOT enhance my life. In fact, they made it much worse. Talking about mental and emotional clutter... I couldn't get away from it, even if I wanted to. And while I could turn off all the notifications, why bother wearing an Apple Watch that isn't connected? That defeats the whole purpose!
By the way - this first point is, by far, the most important and impactful one of the two.
2. From a data and athletic perspective, the functionality of the Apple Watch is fickle, super basic, and its data doesn't have desktop functionality, nor does it sync with other apps. Nothing is worse than being out for a workout and not being able to get the touch screen controls to work correctly, or being unable to customize the display to see the metrics you WANT to see. And if you're like me, you want to dive into the data on your computer, not just on the tiny screen on your phone... plus, the data is locked inside of the Apple universe... no syncing with Strava or any other app.
So... what to replace it with? Well, I love my Garmin Fenix 5 (now Fenix 6) - it tracks my steps, lets me track all my workouts, rides, and swims, syncs with a chest heartrate monitor, has a great desktop app, and syncs with Strava (by the way, if you're on Strava, connect with me there at @andypetranek). It gives you the option for notifications of emails, text, calls, etc... but I have all of that turned off.
But digital isn't the only way to go - perhaps going back to the days of NO connection, NO tracking, and NO digital might give you the real break you need.
If you're going to give this a try, I'd love to hear from you...
🤔 What did you/are you going to replace your Smart Watch with?
🤔 And how did you like it?
A Radical Awakening
Ever since my very first session with my first coach, Mona Miller (now over 25 years ago) I've been working on cultivating a greater level of awareness, expansion, and consciousness of my inner sage qualities of love, compassion, empathy, kindness, patience, and wisdom.
Why?
I had a revelation in that session. Well, actually, it was between that session and the next. Mona told me in that first session how badly I needed to cry... that my emotional soul was parched like the Mohave Desert, and it needed water in the form of tears to release years of stored up pain, fear, anxiety, and angst, in order to create new growth... in areas that I had long since abandoned as weak - sensitivity, intuition, love, understanding. And evidently, according to her, crying was the answer.
As you might imagine, to a small yet burly, tough, and machismo USMC veteran and professional athlete, this sounded blasphemous, silly, even incomprehensible. My first response was, "You're crazy, lady!"
But I must have been ready and accepting... because in my next session, I was on the floor, crying like a baby for a couple of hours!
My path to developing this side of me has been anything but linear... but since Mona's passing in 2010, I've continued my quest to develop this side of me, which has recently intensified... since my own radical awakening a couple years ago.
About a year ago, I came across this author... Dr. Shefali... by way of her authentic sharing in her youtube videos. She is a Ph.D. psychotherapist... but beyond that, she is incredibly wise in her understanding of life. I found her messages incredibly direct, full of life truths, and super insightful.
She has a new book out called "A Radical Awakening". It's a book written for women, but her talks and messages are really gender-neutral. I found her videos, conversations, and even discussions about sections of her book to be directly connected to the consciousness of the Divine Mother, which is the consciousness I've spent so much time aligning with and being in.
I have yet to read the book, but I do watch many of her youtube videos. This is one she did recently on blame and fault (a topic from her book) that I really enjoyed. She also has an entire playlist of topics related to her new book - you can find all it on her youtube channel.