‘Twas the night before Mexico, when all through the house,
we were closing up shop to celebrate our friend’s new spouse.
Our bags were packed by the door with care,
in hopes that soon we would be there;
we were nestled all snug in our beds,
while visions of piña coladas, cenotes, and the Mayan riviera danced in our heads.
[Fast-forward approximately four hours]
“Excuse me?” shocked, I asked the airline attendant. She repeated herself: “Do you have an updated passport?” My face went white. She handed me back my expired passport, I inspected it with disbelief: how did this happen?
On Friday around 4 AM Alex and I got into a cab and headed to Lambert to embark on a trip to Tulum, Mexico to a destination wedding that weekend at an all-inclusive resort.
Just a few years before, I had got a replacement passport, and assumed I was all set… passports are good for ten years, right?
Right, adult passports are good for ten years. Since my passport was replaced, not renewed, it was only valid for a year. My passport had been expired now for 3 years. And, in Missouri, there is no agency to get a same day passport, you have to go to Chicago for that…no Mexico for this girl.
Completely embarrassed, running on three hours of sleep, and suffering from a bad case of FOMO, I burst into tears at the airport. After a few minutes, I pulled myself together, kissed Alex goodbye and made my way back home.
It was time to transform this FOMO to JOMO. Here’s how I found my way back…
WE ARE ONLY HUMAN
https://youtu.be/s1ysoohV_zA
Before heading home, my mom and I decided to meet for breakfast at Steak n’ Shake and grab a quick bite. While I was wallowing in my own self pity, this song came on and we both burst into laughter. This trip fell just a couple weeks after our official move-out date from our house and things were hectic. When “mistakes” are made, lessons are created.
“ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES”
I had been throwing my attention around like confetti, and my energy was going nowhere fast. It was time to take a look at everything going on, prioritize, and refocus. So, I took a deep breath, looked around and got really present. Sure, I’m going to be missing daiquiris, first dances, and the ocean, what I did have was the gift of unplanned time. When was the last time you had 5 days without one thing on your calendar and/or todo list? This was an opportunity to just breathe into the question: where do I want to be focusing my energy right now?
LIVING CONSCIOUSLY VS. SUBCONSCIOUSLY
When we aren’t living in the present, our subconscious, or as Carl Jung would say our “shadow-selves”, takes over. In this case, my shadowself knew that I needed to stay home and spend time getting acclimated in the new house and taking some time to really slow things down. It was time to get back to being present and taking some time to just be.
And in that space, I committed to less commitments. Less “busy” and more “free”. As an explorer of living a more conscious life, this is something I want to make the choice to do, rather than my subconscious making it for me. Less is more, and somehow I found myself in the throws “busy-ness”. For months, I had been “busy” trying to fit it all in. “Busy” trying to make it to every event, accomplish every task, do all the things! The universe was calling me to put my money where my mouth was, and for that I am thankful.
Here’s to more opportunities to consciously practicing JOMO.