ONE Thing I Brought Back from Ireland

With all the interesting new people and places we experienced at our recent Ireland Retreat, ONE thing I brought back with me was the power of letting go of expectations. My only previous visit to Ireland was brief and 40 years ago, and my biggest memory was being very wet and cold the whole time. I wanted to prepare myself (and my retreaters) with realistic expectations to enrich our experience because:

1. Expectations lead to deep disappointment.

Letting go of expectations about sunny weather supported us to enjoy all of our scheduled activities because we were prepared for it, with any glimpse of sunshine cause for celebrating!

2. Expectations limit our perspective.

Letting go of what the Irish Countryside should look like gave us the opportunity to find it even more beautiful and interesting than the pictures (including this one I took), with the 10 shades of green constantly changing.

3. Expectations keep us rigid.

Letting go of foodie expectations allowed us to embrace the standard Irish fare of Fish and Chips, hearty breakfasts, and of course, Guinness!

4. Expectations restrict our opportunity to grow and learn.

Letting go of cultural expectations encouraged us to learn about the colorful and often entertaining locals and their perspective on their heritage, including the potato famine, pub life and castles.

5. Expectations add a lot of anxiety to our experience.

Letting go of expectations that all travel would go smoothly helped everyone accept the high possibility of delays, cancellations, and other unknown challenges. Thankfully, no one experienced them!

We travel to other places to come back to ourselves. When we let go of expectations, we have the freedom to fully experience a new place and people, and in the process, experience ourselves. I brought this back from Ireland and plan to keep it here at home.

What expectations could you let go of today to enrich your experience?