Latest / Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George / Girl, Take the Trip!

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Girl, Take the Trip! · Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: There comes a point in a woman's life when she has to ask herself a question that sounds simple at first, but it can reveal a lot.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: When did everything start becoming about responsibility?
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back, Sparklers, and welcome to Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: For many of us, responsibility has been part of our identity for so long that we barely notice it anymore.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: We are the women people count on, the women who remember the details, keep the promises, handle the crisis, solve the problem, and somehow keep everything moving even when we are tired.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is strength in being dependable, especially when you have spent years proving that you can handle yourself and show up for people around you.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now the problem begins when being dependable becomes the only part of your life that gets fed.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So over the last month, I found myself thinking about this in a very personal way.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: I did some traveling over the last month.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: I went to a conference, had a chance to spend time and hug on and have conversations with members of a community that I'm part of.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then I went to Jamaica for a wedding and vacation.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: The experiences were very different, but together they made me pay attention to something I think a lot of women quietly wrestle with.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: We can become so committed to building a life, maintaining a life, supporting everyone in our life and keeping everything on track that we stop asking whether we are actually enjoying any part of our life.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: That thought took me straight to Tiana from The Princess and the Frog.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Tiana knows how to work, she understands the discipline, sacrifice, focus, and what it means to have a dream that requires effort.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, she doesn't wait around for someone else to make life easier for her.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: She takes the responsibility for where she wants to go, and that is part of what makes her so relatable to women who know what it means to work hard for what they have.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the deeper lesson in her story comes from the fact that the dream can become so consuming that everything else starts feeling secondary.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: That is where I want us to sit for a moment on this podcast.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are women listening to this who have been doing, who have done everything they were supposed to do.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: You have built the career, raised the children, took care of your household, supported your family.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You even went back to school.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: You worked late at the job.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: You showed up early.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: You took the phone calls, and you were always the strong and reliable one.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: You became the one who rarely gets to fall apart because everybody assumes you already know what to do.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Then one day you can look around and realize that you have spent years taking care of a life that you have barely had time to enjoy.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That realization can be emotional because it forces you to think about time so differently.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you ask yourself whether you've been postponing too much.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you wonder how many times you said no to something you wanted because responsibility always felt more urgent.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: It makes you think about how often you told yourself, ah, I'll do that later.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: That word later is a dangerous word when it comes to a habit.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: When being needed becomes your identity, because there's something that happens to women who become highly dependable.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: People learn that you can handle things, and once they have learned that, they stop, they start bringing you even more.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: At first, uh, it can feel good because being needed often feels like being valued.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: You know that people trust you, rely on you, and believe you can get whatever it is done.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the challenge comes when usefulness becomes tangled up with your worth.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you start saying yes before you've checked whether you have the energy to fulfill the assignment.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: You rearrange your plans because somebody else needs something.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: You become so accustomed to responding that you stop asking what you need.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the people around you don't even realize how much you're caring because you have made caring look so normal.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: That is the part that can become dangerous.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: A woman can be exhausted and still look extremely capable.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: She may be overwhelmed, but still answer the emails.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: That is why being strong does not always look like struggling.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes strength is exactly what hides the struggle.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now, going to, as I mentioned, I was traveling over the last month, and even just to how can I how what's the word that I want to use?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Even to throttle down to get myself prepared to go away for several days, even in traveling, on the day that we were leaving, my daughter was traveling with me, and the day that we were leaving, our flight got delayed probably about four or five times.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept on saying, Well, is this a sign?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Should I not go?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, it was really bigger than that, right?
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: It was a way, it was a commitment that I made to myself that not only is going to this convention, but I was gonna get a chance to meet with some incredible women that I had been spending time with online.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so, what a great way to be able to hug and laugh and have great conversation with these women.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, even to pause your schedule, although you may say, you know, mentally and you may plan that you are gonna be going to wherever you say you're going when the time comes, because you are so used to being in that routine and and your schedule has made way for that, even to throttle down can take a little bit.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's another layer to this that deserves attention.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Some women have been conditioned to believe that exhaustion proves commitment.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're tired, you must be working hard enough.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: If you're busy, you must be important.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if everybody needs you, you must matter.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds normal until you stop and really hear it.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Your words should never depend on how much you can carry before you collapse.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you have to leave your routine to notice yourself.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things traveling does well is interrupt the pattern that you live inside every day.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: As I said, it was hard to throttle down.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: But once you throttle down, and now that pattern changes, it gives you a whole total new perspective.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because at home, life is familiar.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know the routine, the responsibilities, the expectations, and the constant list of what has to happen next.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Routine can be helpful, but it can also hide things.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can live the same week over and over and over again and never notice how tired you have become.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can be so used to your own schedule that you stop noticing how little time you actually have for yourself.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: What travel does is travel creates enough distance to let you see your life from a different angle.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you realize that you have been moving too fast.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: You may even realize that you miss people.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you realize that you need some more joy and that you have not laughed that deeply in a while.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes you discover that you are more relaxed in an unfamiliar place than you have been in your home.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with your home.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: But what we're talking about is interrupting a pattern.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: How are you purposefully, intentionally building in that time for you to throttle down?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Are you doing that once a month where maybe you just I live in Florida, so you take a stroll and you may hang out and do a staycation at a beach and get a hotel and hang out at the beach, but it's just a different scenery.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: What are you doing to throttle down?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Is it once a month?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it once a quarter?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: How often are you doing that?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Think about that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because those moments tell you something, it gives you information and it shows you what your routine may be covering up.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Communication even feels different when it becomes real.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Community feels different when it becomes real.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: One of the most meaningful parts of the past month was having the opportunity to spend time with women that I have been in community with.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And there is nothing like hugs.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing like sitting across and having lunch with someone and being able to share stories.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing like exchanging energy in that way.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we live in a world where so much connection happens online, and there is incredible value in that because we can reach people across cities, states, countries.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: We build relationships through posts, comments, videos, emails, and virtual conversations, but something changes when you sit across from someone.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: You hear their voice differently.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: You hear the full story behind something they even once said to you online, and you get to see their expression when they tell you what you have meant to them.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: This is powerful because numbers can really tell the full story.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is powerful because numbers can never really tell the full story.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Followers are people, subscribers, downloads, views, those are all people.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: When somebody sits across from you and tells you that something that maybe you shared online or something that they saw, or you're able to laugh about something, gave them a certain level of confidence, that kind of lands a little bit differently, right?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so sharing, spending time with people that you share time with online that you are in community with, and you can do that in real life and real time is precious.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And do that over a period of days is absolutely precious.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes the reward for the work is not another achievement, sometimes the reward is the relationship, the reward is discovering that what you created made someone feel seen.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something very grounding about that because it reminds you that impact is human.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then Jamaica.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, as I said, after the conference and the time that I spent with members of a community that I share, the shift, the trip shifted into something more personal when I went to Jamaica for a wedding and then stayed for a vacation.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: That change in environment gave me a chance to move away from the places where I'm usually producing, planning, managing, thinking about what's next.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's something deeply valuable about being somewhere where nobody is measuring you by what you accomplish.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your title doesn't matter, your to-do list don't matter, nobody cares how many emails you've answered.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: You have permission to just be present.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that may sound easy until you realize how many women have forgotten how to do that.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: We can carry responsibility with us everywhere.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can choose to bring that laptop to the beach and you can work at the beach.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can check your emails before breakfast, you can answer messages between activities, you can be sitting in paradise while mentally planning what needs to happen when you get home.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: That habit is not always caused by outside pressure.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it comes from the pressure we place on ourselves because we have become used to believing that disconnecting means something will fall apart.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so when I arrived in Jamaica, and what really stood out to me is I always loved traveling, I love being on planes, I love being in airports.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure most of you do.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: But there's something different about being in the Caribbean, just being in an atmosphere that is like you talk about throttle back, that is totally throttled back, right?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: There is no sense of not when I don't mean no sense of urgency, but it's not like everyone is in this extreme hustle.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Everything is on a calmer pace, and that does something to your nervous system, right?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Where the energy around you is at a different level, it has a it's at a much calmer pace where you, when you walk into the hotel lobby and you look straight back, and all you see is the ocean.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing more beautiful and tranquil than that.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: And there's freedom in realizing that every experience does not need to produce something.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can enjoy a beautiful place while needing to turn without needing to turn it into a lesson.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can have a conversation and it can stay private.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: You can watch the sunset without reaching for your phone.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: You can laugh with people without thinking about whether the moment belongs online.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that is just being present, you know, and then what the wedding reminded me of, it reminded me of joy.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Being in Jamaica for a wedding added another layer to what I had already been thinking about.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Weddings are interesting because they require people to intentionally make room for joy.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because think about it, people travel.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: I believe one of the cousin of the bride traveled from, I'm not sure whether it was North or South Korea, not sure, but it was from Korea.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: You got to arrange your schedule.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're buying new clothes, you're taking time off, you're you're gathering because the moment matters to celebrate.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something so powerful in that.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we know how to make room for emergencies.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: If an emergency happens, we know what to do.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: We move mountains when there's a crisis.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: We rearrange everything when somebody needs us.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: But joy rarely receives the same urgency.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: We tend to treat celebration like something optional that can happen after all the serious things are handled.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is that the serious things never completely disappear.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: That is why I think celebration matters so much.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: They force us to stop long enough to acknowledge that life sometimes contains moments worth honoring while they are happening.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the the the wedding was beautiful in in a tropical island.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: And to see the parents of the bride and groom, the parents were there and the families were there.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, just being presence and just being present and being in that atmosphere of joy and love and celebration of two families coming together and now gonna going to share a life together, and so intentional, right?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so those are some of the memorable things about that wedding.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something about being in a room where people are celebrating that reminds you how quickly time moves.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: People would not always be gathered in the same place.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: People you love would not always be available.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: The moment you keep assuming can happen later may not show up in the same way again.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why presence is so important.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: That is why presence matters.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, some women are still waiting for permission.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's a woman listening right now who's been waiting for somebody to tell her that it is okay to enjoy her life.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: So let me say this it is okay for you to enjoy your life.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you may not describe it in that way.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: You may call it being practical, she may call it being responsible.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: You may tell yourself that the timing is not right.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: You may say, oh gosh, I got I got too much, I got too much going on.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the other one that you hear a lot, right?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: You hear a lot that I got a lot on my plate.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Or the best one is like the the everything is not lining up.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always curious, like, what are we waiting to line up?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like the the all the ducks ain't line up.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't, I don't know where that comes from.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: I must research that, right?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes all of that is true, but sometimes there's something deeper happening.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: You may have spent years putting yourself last.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: You may have become so used to waiting that postponing your own desires just feels pretty normal.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: You tell yourself, ah, I'm gonna travel after the kids are settled.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see my friends when work slows down.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'll do something fun after the project ends.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'll take a real vacation after I save a little bit more.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll enjoy myself when I feel like I have earned it.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: That type of thinking can consume years of your life.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because here's the secret: no one is gonna knock on your door and announce that you have officially completed enough responsibilities to begin living.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: There will always be something unfinished.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: I am so sorry to tell you that.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: I just I just blew that bubble for you.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: There will always be, there's always gonna be another bill.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: There will always be one more person who needs something from you.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And at some point, you have to decide that living can't be postponed until every responsibility is gone.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: And also, what are you modeling for other women?
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I was on a podcast, I did a podcast recording last night, and that's one of the things that I said.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: What are we modeling?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's another reason why this conversation matters because people are watching what we model about womanhood.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: You may have daughters, or you may have nieces, or some young girls are around your life.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And what what are they what are they watching?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Your nieces, what are they watching?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Women in our community, they're watching.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Younger girls are watching.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: What do we teach them if every story about being a strong woman ends in exhaustion?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: What do we teach them if success always looks like the sacrifice?
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: What do we teach them if we talk about confidence, leadership, and purpose while never allowing ourselves to receive anything from the life that we have built?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want the next generation of women to believe that being strong means being indispensable to everyone except themselves.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: That is not the lesson I want to pass on.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want women to understand that strength includes the ability to receive support.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Strength includes knowing when enough is enough.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: And strength includes saying, here's a big word.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And oh.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Strength includes making room for experiences that have nothing to do with proving how capable you are.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: What if the busyness is protecting you?
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is where the conversation can get a little bit uncomfortable.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes women do not slow down because slowing down gives them space to feel things they have been avoiding.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know that busyness can protect you from different difficult questions.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: Here are some of the questions.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, am I happy?
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Do I still want this life?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Who am I outside of my role?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Why am I tired all the time?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Why do I feel lonely when so many people depend on me?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: These are the uncomfortable questions.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: A packed calendar gives you a reason not to answer them.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: Travel can create enough quiet to hear what you've been avoiding.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you need to come home and change your entire life.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what we're saying.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: It means you finally gave yourself room to notice what is true.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: And especially for women in midlife, that kind of awareness can become even more powerful because time starts to feel different.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: You realize that someday is not a date in your planner, on your calendar, or in your phone.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: You realize there are places you want to see while you're healthy enough to enjoy them.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's people you want to spend time with while they are still here.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: There are experiences you want to have while you still have the desire and the ability to have them.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: That realization can be sobering.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: It can also be freeing because it gives you permission to stop waiting.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then ask yourself, what does success?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: Success should feel like.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Success should feel like what?
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about success in ways that are easy to count.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, your title, the salary, the degrees, the business, your house, the followers, the awards.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Now, don't get me wrong, all of those things matter.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: All of those things are important.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: But there's another question I think we need to ask.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: What does your success feel like?
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Does it give you more freedom?
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Does it create options?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: Does it allow you to spend time with the people that you love?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Does it allow you to travel, to rest, to give you the ability to say that word?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, if success keeps giving you more responsibility and more and no more life, then something needs to be examined.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a part Tiana's lesson for me, where the restaurant was her dream.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: The dream was supposed to create a life.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: The dream was never supposed to become her entire life.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's a big difference between those two.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what do you want to remember?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about this because when you look back at the season of your life, maybe five years from now, what is it you want to remember?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: What do you want to remember about how many weekends you worked?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: How many emails you answered?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: How many times you told yourself you were too busy to go to even the movies?
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you want to remember the conference where you met some beautiful people and was able to exchange conversations, have lunch, and some great hugs?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to remember the wedding where you laugh, dance, and watch people that you love be celebrated?
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to remember standing beside the Caribbean Sea and realizing that you didn't need to be anywhere else in the moment?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to remember traveling with your daughter.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to remember taking your mother or your father somewhere.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: They've always wanted to go.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you want to remember meeting some girlfriends in a city none of you have ever visited.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you want to remember going somewhere alone and discovering that you really enjoy your own company.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: Those are valid parts of a successful life.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because the moments that you spend are just simple.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, being in Jamaica, I was laying on the lounge chair, getting the sun, and looking over in the water and seeing beautiful mountains.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now I live in Florida.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: People may say, you know, Florida has a beach too.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's different.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the same.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the same.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm from the Caribbean.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the same.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Florida, we don't have mountains to look at.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: We have beautiful landscape to look at when you're at the beach.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the same.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because the memories that stay with us are the ones that we always, almost didn't notice while they were happening.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is why presence is so important.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: We can't fully remember a life you were too distracted to experience.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to say this to you girl, take that trip.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Take the trip.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do that thing.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Someday is not coming.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say take the trip, I may not be, I'm talking about travel, but I'm also talking about choosing to participate in your own life.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: Take the trip to see your friend.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: The opportunity to take a weekend away.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: Take your mother somewhere, your daughter, your son, take yourself somewhere.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to cross an ocean for the lesson to matter.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the trip is an hour away, or sometimes it's in one day.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes it's simply doing something you have wanted to do without asking whether it will produce anything.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: The point is not the distance.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: The point is that you're choosing yourself as someone worthy of an experience.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I challenge you.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Look at your calendar for the next six months and ask yourself whether there's anything on it that you are genuinely looking forward to.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: If the answer is no, I want you to change that.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Put something on the calendar that belongs to you.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: It can be a trip, it can be dinner with someone you miss, it can be a weekend away, an event.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: It can be, it can be anything.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: But give yourself something to participate to anticipate that has nothing to do with responsibility.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: That anticipation is everything.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes knowing that something belongs to you can change the way you move through an exhausted week.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, sparklers, before we close, I want you to think about what you have already built that gives you access to something your younger self did not have.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can afford the flight now.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have the flexibility and you have more confidence.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your children are older and your career have created those opportunities.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your business gave you freedom, and maybe the community you're connected to, people around the world.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Don't rush past all of that.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: We spend so much time focusing on the next goal that we forget to enjoy what the last goal already was made possible.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, the brag reminds us to believe, to be responsible for amplifying God's greatness.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Part of that amplification happens through the work.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Part of it happens through recognizing that the work has allowed you to experience.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: You have spent enough time planting.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you are allowed to sit under that shady tree.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: So sparklers enclosing.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Your responsibilities matter.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Your work, your family, your purpose, all of that matters.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a life happening around everything you are responsible for.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: There are people who want to make memories with you.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: There are places you want to see and conversations that you have not had.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: And there are parts of yourself you may only meet when you finally leave the routine long enough to notice them.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to become irresponsible to enjoy your life.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: You need to stop believing responsibility is the only thing that makes your life meaningful.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: The work will still be there when you get back.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: That inbox, it's gonna still be there.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Another deadline is gonna appear.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody is still gonna need something, and that's exactly why living has to happen now.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna leave you with this.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: Girl, take the trip.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your life cannot be all about responsibility.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, we'll see you back here on Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if you enjoyed this episode, please share this with a friend.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are new to the pod, leave us a review.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe to the pod as we drop a new episode every week.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I so enjoyed sharing this episode with you.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Until next week for our next episode.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Bye for now.