Going On A Retreat Changed My Life!

I think my story is fairly relatable. I was working a “job”, totally unfulfilled and overworked and under paid. I was fantastic at my job but it wasn’t my passion. I worked 80 hour weeks and lived for the weekend. I wasn’t aware of it but my lifestyle + amount of stress was weighing down on my soul and actually making me sick and overweight. I wasn’t psyched on life. I needed a freaking vacation.

I never thought I’d be one of those people to go on a “Self Improvement” workshop or retreat…

Not to say I had anything against them… I just didn’t even think I had the *time* to do something like that. In my head, it was more of a luxury than something I felt I *needed* to do. Let me tell you, this is probably a sign that you could benefit from a retreat.

It was midnight on some wednesday and I was just scrolling through whatever the search engine found for, “tropical retreats”. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to do a yoga retreat, or a full on adventure retreat. All I knew was I wanted to get out of California and go somewhere I hadn’t been before. I found a retreat that was promoting authentic communication (radical honesty), self love, and exploring the island of Kauai. I used to live on the island of Oahu so Kauai felt close enough within proximity for me to gather my barrings. I asked for 2 weeks off of work ( I hadn’t had a vacation in 3 years) and left on October 27th, 2013 to Kauai. t went in with zero expectations. I’ll be honest, flying on a plane going somewhere where I knew no one was a bit daunting. I felt nervous, excited, and also wondering what I was gonna do my last 6 days on the island. I had no place lined up to stay and budgeted enough to eat for $20 a day…which is not a lot in Kauaii!

By the end of the 3rd day on the retreat I had a crazy a-ha moment.

I realized I had been simply observing the majority of my life without fully experiencing it. I was doing what I thought I should do or what others wanted me to do. I was living up to so many people’s expectations and realized I wasn’t serving myself by working a job I wasn’t excited about with zero benefits and not such great pay. That morning I googled, “How to write a letter of resignation” and quit my job by 9am. It was radical, and probably not the smartest decision (I went on for a year in between sleeping on friends couches… living in my car, traveling, working for life coaches and having adventures but not a whole lot in the bank..) but it was the liberation I needed. I felt free.

Now I’m not encouraging anyone to go on a trip to Bali, quit their job and then expect it to be fairy dust and unicorns for the rest of their life. Trust me. It’s a HARD journey. Living a life on your own terms is liberating and one of the best things you could do in this lifetime but it comes with many hardships. You look … no, you’re confronted with the shadow side you’ve been ignoring for years, maybe even decades. But I promise you, this is the peak of where you choose your destiny. This is the point in your life where things just happen to fall into place, without even knowing where the journey will take you. Doors that you didn’t even know existed start to appear and open for you. And honestly, that’s just the beginning.

I’d be lying if I said this blog was purely just for inspiration. Of COURSE I’d love to have you on one of our retreats or workshops, however, this is also for anyone who just needs a little nudge from the universe. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself the same story I told myself for years; too many obligations, not enough time, not enough money, whatever. But honestly, once you get real with yourself – it’s something you just can’t afford NOT to do. I’ve made some of the most authentic and genuine friendships on retreats, and I’ve continually been finding more and more about myself, my soul, and my wants and desires through experiences like these. To be honest, going on a retreat was the catalyst moment where my life changed for the better.
 

If this inspires you and you’re feeling like saying, “LET’S DO THIS”, check out the Retreats Page to see all upcoming Activated Living retreats and workshops.