Elizabeth Potts Weinstein » living in the now

The Three People You Meet in the Woods

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:35:41 +0000

On Sunday morning I went for a three hour walk through the Santa Clara hills.

These are the people I found.

The first person is telling a story.

Persons of the first travel in packs. You can hear these pods of two, three, seven coming from a hundred feet away, their excited voices piercing through the branches as they connect with each other via their histories, opinions, stories of the hunt or the gather.

They share about the best way to baste a turkey, or how much they should have invested in Apple stock, or how their neighbor with three kids was just diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and isn’t that terrible and this is how she has been coping with it.

Yes, at this moment they are walking on a trail.

But they could be instantly transported into Stanford Shopping Center or the neighborhood Starbucks or my best friend’s kitchen, and the conversation would be the same.

They are not really here in the woods.

The persons of the first are in a past.

The second person I meet in the woods is focusing on a result.

She is intense. Moving with purpose. Headphones on to drown out the sounds of the woods as they run through, oblivious to the leaves going past them on each side, steady pace, independent of terrain.

It is all about getting there.

To the 5 mile marker. To the 45 minute mark. To lose the 15 lbs or beat the last time or check off a to do box in preparation for the big race, so she can get to work, so she can pick up the kids, so she isn’t late in meeting her friend for brunch at Panera Bread.

This person is not really here in the woods.

This person of the second is in a future.

The third person I meet in the woods is meandering.

Pace inconsistent.

Stopping to take a picture of a branch that reminds her of a face. Standing off trail to absorb the expanse of the valley before her as she eats her trail mix and smells the pine and the beauty and the life.

Yes, she is moving. Yes, she will get to a there.

But getting to a there is just a side effect.

This person is in the woods.

This person is in the now.

Now, there is nothing wrong with being a person of the first or the second.

There is a time to tell stories.

We need to tell stories to pass on information, as a way to bond to our fellow humans, as a pure enjoyment of this worldly experience.

There is a time to focus.

We need to focus when we need to produce, when we need to be efficient, when we need to make sure that we actually get something done and finished and shipped.

But on that Sunday, when I embarked into those woods, I chose to be a person of the third.

And that made all the difference.

This Blog Post is Not About 2010.

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 15:32:40 +0000

So I started to write a blog post about video Skype and hot sexting, about living in the big city and filling an apartment with furniture and @gapingvoid prints and more Macs than humans, about best friends and broken hearts, about sinus infections and insomnia, about burn scars and brain tumors.

But my story of 2010 has already been memorialized in thousands of tweets, dozens of blog posts, countless texts and hugs and intimate conversations in coffeehouses and bars and kitchens and diners and hotel rooms and an deserted patio a block from the L.

Yes, 2010 was about surrender.

Embracing my femininity. Letting go to receive the amazing ecstasy that’s always in life, regardless of the crazy circumstances and stressful happenings.

But important and profound and story-filled as it was … 2010 was Yesterday.

This post is about Today.

Today I commit to be simply myself.

Today I commit to pay attention to who and what is right in front of me.

Today I commit to give up my illusion of control and to focus on the only thing I can do anything about – me.

Today I commit to my personal & business theme for 2011: Creating Space for Ecstasy via Boundaries & Self Care.

Today I commit to prioritizing my projects and focuses.

Today I commit to do one thing at a time.

Today I commit to take care of myself first.

Today I commit to my first personal project (and highest priority): getting better sleep.

Today I commit to my first business project: promoting & delivering the How to Create Your 2011 Business Plan from the Feminine class.

These are not New Year’s Resolutions or proclamations.

These are quiet, sober, decisions.

Cutting off what went before, removing the shroud of bullsh*t and standing up as who I really am. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

As important as it is to remember and learn from yesterday, as important as it is to plan for and dream about tomorrow, I commit to remember that …

The only when I can do anything about, the only place where ecstasy lives, the only thing that’s real, is who I am Today.

So, my loves, where are you? Who are you being? Are you joining me here, in Today, showing up fully as the simple brilliance of yourself?

Goals Suck!

Elizabeth Potts Weinstein — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:33:58 +0000

Are setting goals, creating vision boards, law of attraction, or living in the moment not working for you?

Here’s a secret I’ve discovered that’s making a huge difference in my life and business … and if you have any comments, questions or shares after watching this vid, please share in the comments below!