As I write this, I am on a tour of Costa Rica with my mom. Today we went to hanging bridges positioned over the rainforest canopy. My mom, who is having a milestone birthday this week, is not as steady on her feet as she used to be, so we took the “easy peasy” tour which included only one hanging bridge. Turns out we had a personal tour guide which was nice, and only the three of us on the bridge when we crossed so it wasn’t too wiggly. But my mom was happy to have been on one. As we were on it looking down, we saw beautiful butterflies below us flitting about. It was special to watch them from above.
The day before was rushed. We had an excursion to swim in hot springs and we had a hotel change, so it was a bit stressful to keep up with luggage and separate swim bags. And I had bad news on my audiobook requiring me to pull it down from the Amazon page. The Costa Rican slogan is Pura Vida, which means “pure life.” Yet yesterday, I felt the pressures of our rushed culture take away my joy.
Not today, friends! The “easy peasy” route was definitely the way to go. Turns out our tour mates who did the big hike did not see much more than we did. And my mom and I had a relaxed time together watching the butterflies, hummingbirds, and leaf-cutter ants do their thing. We miss so many of these wonderful little things when we rush about. Good self care requires us to slow down and breathe.
Sometimes this means it is best to choose the “easy peasy” route above the butterflies.