We don’t sell fridges on our retreats in Bali. If anything is sold it is life.
And we often have guests arrive looking for exactly that. Whether it is their old life, a new life, or any life other than the one they currently have.
On a recent detox retreat in Ubud a guest said that if I could look him in the eye and say that our programs could extend his life by 5 years then he’d be willing to pay and do whatever it took. The thing is I couldn’t look him in the eye because I was ‘tearing up’… For a number of reasons, but ultimately two:
To miss 5 years of our newly born daughter’s life would be unimaginable; to be honest even missing 5 days sounds irrational at the moment.
I recently had a cancerous tumor removed from my colon, and it has made me susceptible to ‘tearing up’ at random comments pertaining to life, and the fragility of it.
So back to the selling fridges analogy… If we were selling these then I’d be talking about the latest fandangle fridge and freezer combo, but we’re not – instead conversations at our retreat in Bali revolve around life, and living the best version of it. And as I lay in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) post-operation I had plenty of time to ponder and process the course of events, and the elemental nature of life. What I found, in the depths of a pharmaceutical induced haze, was that life can always be brought back to the elements, and it is often the simplicity of this that defines our lives, rather than dis-eases.
Things I am now certain of that I cannot do without are Water, Sunshine and Fresh Air. While I’m certain there would be another 50 points of reference to add to this list, these three elements were at the forefront of my recent journey whilst spending the week in ICU, and the following 7 weeks in recovery before our beautiful daughter arrived into the world.
Been told you can only have 30mls of water per hour for 48 hours makes you savior the sips!
Confined to bed for 2 days without direct sunlight gives you a lot of motivation to drag yourself out of bed. I certainly must have been a sight for sore eyes in the hospital gown, head pressed against the glass window of corridor, soaking up those first rays of sunshine!
I couldn’t get myself outside of the hospital for 3 days. Confined to an air-conditioned ICU room, that first breathe of fresh air once I got myself outside felt not too dissimilar to watching my daughter take her own first breath shortly after.
Which leads me back to the post title. It is often easy to get stuck in the disease process of WHO am I to deserve it, WHY do I have it, HOW did I get it. Just like you are not anger, depression nor sadness, you are not the disease. Dis-eases will pass and you will still be here, a stronger and more empowered human for the experience.
So I personally plan not to let diseases define me, rather the way in which I deal with any disease will speak of WHO I am, WHY I am here, and HOW I plan to live my life.
1. So how do you define yourself?
2. What actions define your life?
3. What specific element nurtures you?
4. When are you in your ‘element’?
If you could spend a week in deep reflection, defining yourself and your health, amongst the elements of Bali – would you do it? If it sounds like your type of who, why and how then please click here for options.
Bonus Note: I also recently had the pleasure of listening to Roger Hamilton speak at a business retreat on how he has applies the elements into his ‘Wealth Dynamics’ entrepreneur personality test which aims to give clear direction on what path to follow in your job, business and investments. Super interesting and insightful talk – I’d recommend tuning into his free weekly YouTube talks called Entrepreneur TV.
P.S. Whilst not elemental per-say, I will certainly ensure humor is a big part of my life going forward. Here’s the video clip my brother-in-law sent me after finding out I had tumor. Hahaha.
