Hi ,

We still have three days of school left, but I already feel like I'm on summer holidays. The strawberries are ripening, my flowers are blooming, and we finally got nice enough weather to go to the beach. Needless to say, you won't be hearing from me as much in the coming weeks!

Today I re-learned a lesson the hard way. Typically I'm a methodical person. I read the instruction that come in the package (including all the warnings and safety ones!), I make thorough checklists, and it's important to me to do a good job.

But this week I got a letter in the mail with my new dental benefits card. I haven't had benefits in years (decades?), so I grabbed my card, and called the dentist. It just so happened they had a cancellation the very next day, so I booked it. (What luck!)

Well, had I read the letter, I would have seen that my coverage doesn't start until June 22. Whoops. That's $315 out the window. 

I know better (which is why I had a good cry about it after). I know to read the letters. I know that rushing and cutting corners costs me.

Contrast that to the other work I'm doing right now, which is painting the outside of a cottage. I'm being paid to do it, so I know the faster I do it the better. And yet, the cost of rushing is potentially huge. Even an unfortunate drip can eat away at any time I would have saved by going faster. Going slowly, and doing a good job, is actually the most effective way to do that job.

I don't make this mistake often in my coaching business, thankfully. But I see it happen all the time when people rush to say yes to something without considering what it will mean, or when we buy something without doing our research first. The list goes on.

What I have to remind myself is that I'm human, and mistakes can happen. Even deliberating for a long time can still lead to making the wrong choice (ask my daughter who just spent $45 of her own money on a stuffed animal after two months of deliberation and regretted it within about 3 days). 

I guess the point of this email is partly about slowing down, and partly about self-compassion. If we do our best most of the time, that's good enough.

This reminds me of something I heard Tony Robbins say on a podcast once years ago, but has always stuck with me: "Swap frustration for appreciation". 

I'm going to try and practice this as I forgive myself for the dentist mistake.

And then just a few weeks ago Kathryn Schulz said this on the Ezra Kline podcast:

"Happiness is a profound appreciation for what you have in any given moment."

I've never heard such a lovely, and true-to-me definition of happiness before. These are the words I'll be living by as I appreciate the beauty of summer.

Thanks for joining me on this meandering journey today :)

Stephanie Wasylyk