THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES - The courage codes

Was this a dream?  Could I really be sailing the azure blue waters of the Caribbean?  Was this ME, anchored off the coast of the British Virgin Islands, sipping rum punch and luxuriating in the warm sunshine?  Only 24 hours before I’d been enduring a bone chilling winter in the high plains of Wyoming.  It’s hard to imagine how fiercely the wind can blow across the tops of the mountains at 7000 feet until you’ve experienced it.  40 below with 80 below wind chill wasn’t unusual.  It took hearty people to work the oil rigs and uranium and coal mines in that  environment, but that’s where my life had been 24 hours ago.

Not today, though!  I looked up at the masts of the windjammer sailboat.  Today the sails were down, but tomorrow we would venture off to another blissful island, enjoying some more sunshine and the camaraderie of fellow adventurists from all over the world.  This was heaven to me.  I wondered, “how does one get lucky enough to be able to LIVE year round somewhere like this? “  What would it take to make that decision, to plunge into the adventure and the pleasure of life in a tropical paradise?

I started interviewing the people I met who lived on the islands.  "What made you move here?"  Did you just come on vacation and stay, or did you plan in advance, save your money and then take the plunge?  I got various answers.  Some had come on vacation and spontaneously abandoned their lives in the big cities, or small towns in the Midwest; some had fallen so in love with the lifestyle that they had gone home and made intricate plans – sold everything, liquidated or arranged to relocate businesses – and then moved.  For the first time in my travels to tropical locales, I began to see that I COULD DO IT!

There were more adventures along the way, of course.  I did move to St. Thomas several years later, though, and have never regretted that great adventure!

Today, I’m stepping into a new adventure.  I’m learning to market my business online, and to reach people across the world from my safe haven in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I’ve experienced some stumbling blocks:  my lack of experience with technology and fear of not keeping up being the major one.  It’s like being immersed in a totally new culture, or speaking a different language.  It’s also about tapping into the creativity that I’ve somehow let lie dormant for the past few years.  I’ve been blessed with an amazing community to help me on this journey, but found that I was my own worst enemy.  Nagging doubts were emerging and I was struggling to get out of a state of inertia that I’ve been caught in for several years (More stories to follow!).

I decided to tap into my “courage codes”.  If I had the courage and sense of adventure to move to the Virgin Islands with only a few hundred dollars in my pocket, I could certainly tap into that pioneering spirit and take the plunge into online business, couldn’t I?  OF COURSE I could.

Here’s how I got myself motivated and enlivened - how I tapped into my passion and courage:

1. I started writing about those courageous feelings that I experienced when I made that decision to move to the tropics, and how I felt as I followed through.  I wrote about my plane landing on St. Thomas, the experience of the rustic old Quonset hut airport, and my first night at a beach party.  I arrived on Halloween and it was a crazy night on the streets of Charlotte Amalie.  I remembered more and more how fun and liberating that night was.
   
   
2. Once I brought those memories back, by writing freely for several hours, I closed my eyes and took myself strongly into one particular feeling – lying on the beach at Magen’s Bay, ranked as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.  I could hear the surf, and the birds singing, smell the salty air, and feel the sun on my skin.  It was exciting to watch the tourists, from all over the world, exclaiming at the beauty and the warmth of the ocean when they ventured in.
   
   
3. I took some deep breaths and noticed the warm, happy feelings inside of me.  I observed the energetic flow through my cells.  I felt confident and optimistic.  I actually re-experienced the feelings on a cellular level (anyone can do this, but I used some self-hypnosis and NLP techniques to heighten the experience).
   
   
4. Movement: now it was important to anchor those powerful feelings into my body.  I got up and moved, marching around with erect posture, feeling strong and confident, breathing deeply.  I made sure that my chest was open and my shoulders back,  head up and eyes up or straight ahead.  I knew this was re-training my brain.  When I shift my body, I shift the state of my mind.  I let go of old stories, judgments and limiting thoughts and got in touch with my fierce passion for creativity and adventure again!
   
   

Oh, I do love having the old Denise back!! This is the Denise who shares her brightness with clients, family, friends and the world in a spirit of joy and abundance.

If you’d like to know more about my stories and the tools I’ve used to make it through the exciting and sometimes challenging transitions in my life, sign up for my newsletter and follow my Facebook page @KeenanWellness. Stay tuned for more blog posts at www.keenanwellness.com.