Reader, I know we are supposed to hate change, but do you ever think it would do you good?

This week's #ShowUpPositive Spark, RECALIBRATE, is inspired by my seventeen year old daughter.

Here's the story.

Sarah is a competitive equestrian rider and works on a horse farm. She has a whole circle of people in her life who are unknown to my husband and me. So when one of these folks asked her to stay at there farm and take care of the animals while they were away on vacation, we were a little uncertain.

For Sarah, however, this was an important experiment. She explained that these nine days of basically living apart from us would be a good trial for college next year. That thinking made sense and I reflected on my memory of the first night at college after all the parents were gone, which is both trepidatious and full of promise.

For the last nine days, Sarah has lived on a farm about 40 minutes from our house, taking care of cows, horses, goats, cats, and dogs.

I spoke with her several early mornings and evenings around sunset when she was taking care of the animals in the twilight. The shorter daylight hours definitely added to the challenge, and I told my husband how important this was for her understanding of what it would mean to own a horse at college (one of her ambitions).

What I expected to hear from her was how demanding keeping up the farm was on top of school and work. What she said instead completely floored me! 🤯

I am now convinced that I want to live on a farm. I felt so much better this past week. It completely improved my mood. I loved sitting outside in the evening to do my homework. I spent the entire weekend out on the property enjoying the outdoors.

Reader, immediately John Denver started singing "Thank God I'm a country boy" in my head.😂

As I further reflected on her experience and insight, I realized that her surprise at how much her environment impacted her sense of health and well-being is an important lesson for all of us.

We are often caught in the rut of our circumstances, settling for what we know.

Because it is familiar, we assume it is true, completely adapting to our slow decline and convincing ourselves that it is normal and to be expected.

So we sit in something less than what it could be, like the proverbial frog in the pot of water slowly coming to a boil.

There is an alternative, which is to recalibrate: to reexamine (one’s thinking, a plan, a system of values, etc.) and correct it in accord with a new understanding or purpose [source: dictionary.com].

Here are some recalibrating questions to ask yourself:

Am I at my best?
Is the dominant energy in my life positive or negative?
What matters to me most right now?
What do I see and feel when I envision myself living my best life?
Am I who I want to be?
What am I sacrificing, and why?

Reader, what I know unhesitatingly is that you deserve to be and show the world the best version of you.

🥰 Who do you know that is looking for a speaker for meetings, workshops, or trainings? An introduction would be awesome! 🥰

Rita Ernst, Positivity Influencer

The change you don't know you need

🥰 Who do you know that is looking for a speaker for meetings, workshops, or trainings? An introduction would be awesome! 🥰

Careening off a cliff

Rita's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

I'm crushed