If you have been following the show, you may know that this summer, we took a trip of a lifetime. We spent six weeks enjoying amazing places, meeting friends old and new, and doing things that we have never done before. My husband and I wanted to do this trip even before we had children. We wanted to show them the world in a way that works for our lifestyle, our budgets, our timeframe. And this summer, after some planning and some creativity, we did!

In today’s episode I’m going to share with you the lessons from those six amazing weeks and what you can take away from stepping outside of your comfort zone, pushing your edges, following a dream, being in a place that’s unfamiliar.

1 – We are taught fear. We’re taught to fear other cultures. We’re taught to field people we don’t understand or languages that we don’t speak or religions that aren’t our own.

I invite you to consider – what are the things you have been taught to fear?

2 – Traveling has given me empathy, perspective, and what little patience I have. Empathy, patience and perspective, have given me a worldview that I hope is more open hearted and open minded than it otherwise would have been had.

There are always opportunities to stretch beyond what we know. There are always opportunities to stretch beyond what we know and to grow beyond what we fear if we are willing to step into them.

How can you do that a little bit more in your life?

3 – The lifelong seeking, searching quest about being present. We struggle with this a lot in our fast moving, fast thinking, doing, doing, striving, striving culture.

Can I really, really be here now? Can I really, really feel the joy, the deep joy? Could I let that in?

4 – Look up. It is an automatic way to re-engage that sense of presence and the sense of appreciation and observation and noticing.  

5 – People are people living their lives no matter where you go. This looks different in some ways and in a big city you can see a different way of life within a matter of blocks.

And this idea of our common humanity just like touches my heart deeply and the trip just kept reminding me of that.

6 – For the moms and Dads who are listening,  my kids can do things. If you’re not a parent, apply it to yourself – you can do things that you might not think you can do! I know that sounds obvious and silly and trite, but it’s amazing to watch somebody’s confidence expand as you do hard things.

In trying new things, my children found a new capacity for their own capabilities.

7 – We can prioritize how we spend our time, money, and energy at all levels. I’m also a huge advocate of our own self agency and our own power of choice. We do not all get the same opportunities unfortunately, and that is unfair and it is true, but we all get some self agency in terms of how we relate to our circumstances and how we use our time, how we manage our thoughts and how we use our energy and where we give our energy, where we put our attention and how we use our money.

Are you spending your time, your money and your energy accordingly? Sit with that for a second and see if it’s time to reevaluate or reassess that.

8 – It is all about connection to ourselves, to our vitality, our voice, our sense of purpose and impact and to others.  The benefits of cultivating meaningful relationships are extraordinary, including sometimes the opportunity to step into others’ lives and other parts of the world.

9 – Transition can be hard as hell y’all. It can be hard. It’s hard for me sometimes it’s very hard for my children sometimes. You got to give yourself some grace. We all need to give ourselves some grace. If we’re giving ourselves some grace, we have space to give others some as well

How can I be kinder to myself right now? How can I show myself some grace while I move through transitions?

10 – How can I and how you you bring that sense of freedom and presence and courage and grace into our daily lives? How can we bring some of that newness and freshness and some of those lessons we learn when we step outside of our bubble and we step outside of our comfort zone and integrate them into our daily existence.

That’s what I want to leave you with. If you can just pause today and listen to these lessons again, if you need to ask yourself those questions around how can you show yourself more kindness and grace?

How can you step outside of your daily routine and do something that is slightly uncomfortable or slightly edgy for you and see what shows up for you?

For those of you who listen regularly, Yay. Thank you. I love you and appreciate you deeply.

This marks the end of Season 1 of the Naked Conversations Podcast! We will be lining up more amazing women in the show. Let me know if you have topics you want me to talk about, who you might like me to interview. You can always get in touch though Instagram or email me at sage@sagebhobbs.com.

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