Hey Reader,

Last week, I wrote to you while my husband and I were in the middle of an eight-hour drive to Rosemary Beach for a very last-minute weekend trip.

We had originally planned it for my birthday, postponed it because of the weather, and then decided, less than a day before leaving, that if we kept waiting for the perfect weekend, we might not go at all.

So, we booked an Airbnb, threw some clothes into our bags, and left.

I told you about that part last week.

What I didn’t know yet was that one of the best decisions we would make on the trip was not trying to make the most of every minute.

I had researched restaurants, coffee shops, and places we might want to visit beforehand because, naturally, that is what I do. 😂

But other than one dinner reservation at Pescado on Saturday night, we left almost everything open.

Both days, we walked everywhere (more than 17,000 steps each day), wandering through Seaside. Rosemary Beach, Alys Beach, WaterColor, and the surrounding areas without a strict route or much concern about whether we were seeing everything we were “supposed” to see.

We ate wherever looked good when we became hungry.

We stopped when something caught our attention.

We changed our plans without treating the original plan like a binding contract.

And sometime in the early afternoon, instead of trying to squeeze one more activity out of the day, we went back to our Airbnb.

We took a nap.

Watched a show.

I took a hot bath.

For a little while each day, we did absolutely nothing.

Then, once we felt rested, we went back out for sunset and an early dinner.

We still experienced a lot.

We saw new places, tried new food, walked until our legs were tired, and explored a part of Florida neither of us had visited before.

But we also rested.

And I think that’s why we came home feeling refreshed instead of feeling like we needed another vacation to recover from our vacation (you know that feeling😆).

The weekend didn’t unfold exactly as we had pictured it, either.

A cold front arrived, and most of the clothes we had packed made much more sense for a warm Florida beach than for the temperatures we actually got.

So, we bought cute, cozy sweaters and rolled with it.

On our final evening, it was too chilly to spend the day lying on the beach, but we still wanted to experience it.

We walked along the sand at sunset on our way to dinner and picked up hot apple cider on the way back to the Airbnb.

It wasn’t the beach weekend we had imagined.

But it may have been better because we stopped requiring it to be.

I’ve been thinking about how often we take something we genuinely want to do and attach so many expectations and invisible rules to it that it becomes much heavier than it ever needed to be.

• Exercise becomes a certain number of workouts every week.
• Writing becomes an hour every morning or a specific number of words.
• Sharing something online becomes a complete content strategy and posting schedule.
• Starting a project becomes choosing the perfect name, developing the finished offer, creating the brand, building the website, and knowing exactly where the idea will lead.

Even rest can become another activity we try to optimize.

We start with something that could make our lives better, more interesting, or more meaningful.

Then we create so many requirements around how it needs to look that we begin resisting the thing itself.

Except sometimes we aren’t resisting the goal. We’re resisting all the rules we attached to it.😵‍💫

I think that’s what this trip reminded me:

And choosing an easier version doesn’t necessarily mean we care less either.

Sometimes removing the unnecessary rules we created is exactly what allows us to keep showing up, or to enjoy the experience while we’re actually living it.

• A 20-minute walk still counts even if the original plan called for an hour at the gym.
• One honest post still counts even if you don’t have a complete content calendar.
• Writing one page still counts even if you can’t finish the entire chapter.
• Coffee with someone you love can still be meaningful without having to become an elaborate date night.
• A cold walk along the beach at sunset can still give you the experience you wanted, even if you’re wearing a newly purchased cozy sweater instead of the bathing suit you packed. 😂

The lighter version doesn’t have to become the permanent version.

It can simply be the version that helps you begin, return, or stay connected to what matters right now.

Since it’s Sunday morning, this might be a good time to think about the week you just lived before you begin planning the next one.

Ask yourself:

• What felt heavier than it needed to feel this week?
• What was I genuinely trying to do? Even excited to do?
• What rules or expectations did I attach to it?
• Which one could I remove?
• What would the lighter version look like this week?

Maybe you don’t need to abandon the goal.

Maybe you don’t need a whole new strategy, more discipline, or a more impressive plan.

Maybe you simply need to stop requiring the experience to look a particular way before you allow it to count.

If something came to mind while reading this, hit reply here with the word LIGHTER and tell me:

I’d genuinely love to know what becomes possible when you give yourself permission to try the lighter version that works with your actual life.

You don’t have to care less about the thing you want to do.

Oftentimes, you simply need to release the version of it that has become too heavy to carry long-term.

P.S. Your plan is allowed to change when the weather does. Sometimes the unplanned version includes cozy sweaters, a sunset walk, and hot apple cider, and turns out better than the one you originally imagined.

Love creating your mind one day at a time? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below. Subscribe to The Created Mind Thank you for reading and sharing, Jenny ​​​​

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