Do you remember that scene in Sweet Home Alabama where Reese Witherspoon’s character is sitting in the coon dog cemetery and she looks up at Jake and tells him how she loves her life in New York but then she goes back to her home town and that just fits too?
Well that’s how I feel.
That’s how I’ve always felt.
I can stand in a random city somewhere, surrounded by skyscrapers and cars flying by and feel so empowered and on fire. I look around and think “This is where I belong. This just feels right.”
Because let’s be real, I love being fancy. I like fancy coffee at cute cafes, nice dinners with champagne and martinis, and getting all dolled up. I like driving the Benz and feeling like a million bucks.
But on the flip side, I also love BBQ’ing, sitting on a patio bar, drinking a beer in flip flops, and cruising in my dirty Jeep (which makes me feel more like a rockstar than a Mercedes ever could).
I come home, I sit in the little suburb I grew up in, look out over my back yard, talk to my neighbors, play with my dogs and LOVE it. It also just feels right.
And part of me CRAVES the ocean. So I go stand on a beach and listen to the waves, live the super chill lifestyle, eat the amazing local foods, drink the fruity tropical drinks and find myself thinking, “Wow, I love this place. It just feels right.”
Then my soul craves the country, what feels like its roots. It craves dusty fields, the smell of exhaust, windy roads, and nights sitting next to a fire or in the garage. And that just feels right too.
I connect with a different part of myself in each of those places. And it ALL FEELS GOOD. It all fits.
For a lot of years in my life I would tell myself I had to pick one. I had to pick one place. I couldn’t experience all of them on a regular basis, it just wasn’t the way life works.
But wait… SAYS WHO?
Just in this past month, I’ve experienced all of the above. Except the ocean, but I’ll be there soon so it still counts.
I stood in the desert with exhaust fumes around me, watching trucks race by, getting dirty and not caring about what I looked like. Loving every minute and feeling connected.
I sat next to a pool in a multi-million dollar condo complex sipping champagne and sleeping in a penthouse, feeling connected.
I’ve sat on my back porch listening to the frogs, watching my pups play in the yard, and swatting away the mosquitoes, feeling connected.
I’ve driven down those amazing roads that I think only the Midwest can provide you. You know, those ones that are 2 lanes, just windy enough, and surrounded by green fields on both sides, feeling connected.
I’ve sat in a garage talking about trucks and engines and whatever else came up with a bunch of people who I know KNOW me and could care less about how many followers I have or how much money I made last week, and I felt connected.
I’ve sat on a boat in the middle of one of my favorite places, drinking cheap beer, singing old country songs at the top of my lungs, and enjoying Memorial Day weekend like my traditions have always allowed me to. And I felt CONNECTED.
And soon I’ll be sitting on the porch of an ocean side beach house listening to the waves.
You see, YOU CAN FEED EVERYTHING YOUR SOUL IS CRAVING. You just have to choose to do so.
I starved myself for years.
I let the cravings drive me insane.
I used to think that letting myself have a random “crazy night out” was enough to fuel that super feisty mood that strikes me from time to time, but it never really sufficed.
The urge was still there. I still felt like I was drowning, or missing out. Like something huge was missing.
And it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I realized that the feisty mood I had always felt was so much deeper than just the need to go out for some shenanigans.
It was the NEED TO LIVE.
The longer I live this life and dive down this path of mine, the more I realize that I can literally create whatever I want. It doesn’t have to fit into any description or box. It can just be whatever my soul needs.
Now don’t get me wrong, you still have to be responsible and hustle and work and all of that shit, BUT you can figure out how to make that fit into what your soul is craving for you to experience.
Because what is this life really about if it’s not about the experiences that leave lasting impressions on your heart?
Why am I telling you all of this?
Because I don’t want you to drown.
I don’t want you to think you’re the only person who feels like you’re suffocating.
I felt that way for years. Shit, most of my life actually. I want you to know that you’re not alone.
And I want you to know that it’s okay to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, YOU ARE ALWAYS THE COMMON DENOMINATOR.
So do what you want. Do what makes you FEEL good and feeds your soul. The things that give you goosebumps, the things that make you smile so big you just can’t hide it. The things that make you feel ridiculously CALM. Those are the things that you need to do more of. Those are the things that make this life worth living. Do more of that.
You deserve to live life on purpose. So start now.