Ahhh… Stowe, Vermont in September. What could be more beautiful?
We were all set for our latest house and dog sit on a ten-acre farm in Stowe. We’ve been loving our travels all around the world, from the cliffs of Ireland to the cloud forest of Ecuador, the beaches of Thailand and Bali to the amazing, cosmopolitan Sydney, Australia. But, we started having a hankering for a little exploration right here in the USA. And so, when a house and dog sit opportunity presented itself for September in Vermont, we jumped. There is not much I enjoy more than a morning hike through nature with a dog at my side. And this house sit, provided just that. I was so excited to be in the perfect place at the perfect time.
So as Jan and I got in our car the other day and were driving north on I-95, visions of crisp morning walks, farmer’s markets with fat pumpkins and juicy apples and a canopy of red, yellow, and orange leaves swirled through our minds. We were an hour deep into these visions when the phone call came in on Jan’s phone.
Cancelled! At the last minute. “Wwwwhhhhhhaaaatttt”, I exclaimed! “What do you mean, we’re cancelled”? “What happened”?
What happened doesn’t really matter. The fact was we were heading north and we now had no destination. What a bummer.
Have you ever had a last minute change of plans?
A disappointment that seemingly came out of nowhere?
Let’s face it, as far as setbacks go, this one was pretty minor. I mean, it wasn’t like losing your job, your spouse or your health.
But I was expecting a free month in a beautiful area and it was no longer happening. It wasn’t hard for me to recognize my vibration was no longer “wingman worthy”.
What’s a wingman to do?
Well I’ll tell you what this wingman did. I pulled off the highway to the nearest diner for a breakfast of eggs and potatoes, which always raises my vibe, and Jan and I began a Wingman practice I call the “Three R’s”.
Reassess. Regather. Regroup.
When things change in your life, a loss occurs, a disappointment, a shift in plans, too often, we as humans can’t see past that occurrence and our vibration reflects that stuckness. Instead of addressing the big unknown of, “what’s next?” we stay stuck on the problem in the now, only to keep smacking into a vibrational wall of pain.
Reassess.
When circumstances change, it’s wise to reassess your situation.
Ask yourself… “Where am I right now”? And don’t start your answer with where you thought you were going to be. That only keeps you in a negative place and it’s no longer relevant. For us, our situation wasn’t really too bad. We had a car packed full of clothing, a full tank of gas, and nowhere to be. That actually didn’t sound too bad.
Regather.
Things have changed; when that happens it’s a good idea to regather your thoughts.
Again, don’t contemplate what was to be, or where you were two minutes prior. If each one of my thoughts began with, “I just lost a free month on a farm in Stowe, Vermont”, my momentum would continue downhill from there.
Jan and I decided to start right where we were, in a dive diner off of I-95, with a car full of clothing, a full tank of gas, and a month where no one expected us to be anywhere.
“What do we want to do right now” is how we began to regather our thoughts. We took a minute, cleared our heads, and opened our minds to the possibilities.
Regroup.
Whenever I coach individuals or speak at workshops about being on the Wingman’s Path to positivity and a more joyous life, I always begin and end with, “Observe Your Vibration”. It was time to regroup, and to me, that meant getting my vibration, the frequency I was emitting out into the universe, back on a positive path.
How? By envisioning what would make us happy. In that moment.
It didn’t take long for the answer to come to us. We had been to Belfast, Maine a few times in our lives and had always talked about going back. As the waitress refilled our coffee, Jan got busy looking at Airbnb’s. By the time we paid our bill, our new course had been plotted and we had plans to stay the next week in a 2-bedroom apartment above a hardware store on Main Street, right in the center of Belfast.
Reassess your situation.
Regather your thoughts.
Regroup your vibration.
And start to be your own Wingman.
You can click below to practice the Wingman Three R’s practice with me…
To being able to pivot your way to positivity when things don’t go as planned,
Your Wingman,
Michael