Hurricanes and Accountability, oh my.
Hellooooo Dear Ones -
Apparently right after the last Friday Finale I wrote to you, I needed to stress test the words I had vowed into.
Remember when I said:
“Second best ain’t the thing, friend.
Not for me.
Not for you.
Not for any of us.
Step UP and don’t settle.
In and for anything.”?
I do. Because those damned words HAUNTED me just as soon as they were published.
Right around the time the Sept 27th Friday Finale landed in your inbox, we got a text from my mother-in-law saying that a category five hurricane was headed straight towards the Azores...the destination for our 20th wedding anniversary getaway.
CATEGORY. FIVE.
When I say this NEVER happens in the Azores, I mean it does not ever happen. (Google “best beach vacation during Hurricane season” and watch the sapphire blue ocean pictures of this paradisiacal place start show up.)
But it was to hit landfall right when our plane would be touching down.
And though I travel a LOT...I am still a nervous traveller. And a nervous mother leaving her (less nervous) daughter behind.
So the weekend leading up to the Monday departure was fraught with indecision, obsessive checking of the hurricane path and weather reports, and frantic transatlantic calls to the hotel for news. Plus arguing. Can’t forget the arguing.
We crafted about twelve different Plan Bs, but with each one, my words haunted me:
“Second best ain’t the thing, friend.
Not for me.
Not for you.
Not for any of us.
Step UP and don’t settle.
In and for anything.”
Blergh.
Not ONE Plan B came remotely close to the waterfalls, adventure, sunrises AND sunsets, thermal baths, countryside, ocean AND mountains we had come to look forward to every time we closed our eyes since planning the trip back in March.
But...HURRICANE.
So on Sunday, we decided to cancel the trip. We were sad, but felt it was the safest and most responsible thing to do. I say “we” but “he” is less risk averse than I am. Sooooo...it was unsatisfactory.
On Monday morning, we saw our flight had NOT been canceled and was on time. Meaning the airline knew it was safer than we did.
I was worried about draining the resources by being there but the weather map showed our destination island to be entirely clear weather the entire time we were to be there. Some clouds on the actual day of the hurricane’s arrival. Maybe less than 1mm of rain.
We decided to go.
It was one of the scariest decisions I’ve ever made and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t avail myself of an extra glass of wine in the airport lounge, but we did it.
Because I said what I said and I meant what I said.
“Step up and don’t settle.”
Accountability can be a nagging beast.
But it sure can be thanked for making some magical memories.
Upcoming Ready Enough podcast guest Lena West once said to me “if it weren’t for accountability, I wouldn’t get anything done”. I’m with Lena...it’s my top Imposter Complex hacking ninja move.
Name the thing out loud, then do the thing.
I’m not advocating putting yourself in danger. Ever. But I am advocating holding reverence for the thing you want by creating accountability around it...then watching the magic happen.
The book.
The regimen.
The decision.
The ask.
The pitch.
The leap.
THE BIG THING.
Integrity, ammirite?
PS - For anyone curious about the outcome of the hurricane Lorenzo, it peaked Sept 29th in the ocean and by Oct 2, it hit the westernmost islands and did significant damage to roads and seaside homes of Faial, but thankfully, no deaths reported. (And no impact on our island of São Miguel Island whatsoever.)
Last week, I was joined on the Ready Enough podcast by Elizabeth Dialto. She’s BRILL. We talked about Queen status and how you can embrace yours, how perfectionism is extremely isolating, and how we tend to romanticize, dramatize, or minimize in all our relationships. We talked about her relationship with shame and why transparency is a huge part of WHY she doesn’t struggle with the Imposter Complex as much as many of the folx I meet. And Elizabeth breaks down the four parts of her curriculum, Arc of Power, which have allowed her to deepen into this work as well.
I also LOVED when she so beautifully declared that we're basically NEVER ready for anything, and therefore we're ALWAYS ready.
Yes, of course. Can we ever really be 100% ready for anything?
We're never ready. And so we're always ready. Ahhhhh.
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