¶ Swimming With Pigs and Finding Perspective
We're always predicting the future . In some sense , it's just how your brain works , but how do you direct it ? Do you direct it to worry Or do you direct it to excitement ? Do you direct it to pain or to pleasure ? The thing that truly lets us be happy and fulfilled and whole is how we perceive .
Hello , my loves , and welcome to the Purposeful Lifestyle Development Podcast , where we discuss all things thought , work and manifestation but we use neuroscience and the study of the brain to do so . I'm your host , tessa Spiesak . I'm a board certified practitioner , master life and health coach and seasoned executive speaker .
If you're ready to create your highest value lifestyle and turn your dream life into a reality , you're in the right place . Let's get right into today's episode . Hello , hello my loves , welcome back to the Purposeful Lifestyle Development Podcast .
I hope , however , and wherever you are listening in from , you are feeling amazing today , and don't forget to hit subscribe if you have not . I personally am feeling so relaxed and so refreshed right now .
If you tuned in last week , you know that I spent my last week somewhere , but up until the point that we got to our connecting flight , i had no idea where we were going . My husband just told me that we'll be on a beach to celebrate my birthday , our anniversary of our engagement , and it was really wild .
Our flight was incredibly early in the morning so it was a little groggy and it was in this really strange part of the airport where we took our connecting flight .
It was in the Miami airport way at the end and all I see on the screen is it says Georgetown , but in my sleepy state I could only think of two Georgetown's , and the first was South Africa , which , i don't know , maybe is known for its beaches , but not something we'd ever discussed , so probably not South Africa .
The other one I could think of was Georgetown , texas , but that's like 30 minutes from our house , and after giggling at me for a minute , he finally told me we were going swimming with the pigs in Ixuma . It was the Georgetown in Bahamas .
I had mentioned to my husband a few times , literally just in passing , like when beachy things came up in conversation , and that's our favorite way to vacation is to go to beaches , do a little island exploration . So it's come up more than once , but he knew that it was on my bucket list to swim with the pigs and I don't know .
I have never put in any work to this decision . It's something I've always really wanted to do , but he did it . That's exactly what we did . It was so , so amazing . So I'm going to tell you a little bit about it , just because it was so cool .
But then I'm going to go into some of the things that I guess I learned on this trip , or maybe just was reminded of , and the things that I'm taking away , i'm going to focus on in this new year of life . So , okay , let me tell you what we did on the first day . We got in pretty early .
Like I said , we had a super early flight and we had a lovely lunch right there on the beach . We explored around our resort , we played in the water , which was unlike anything I've ever seen literally the color of Windex . You could still count your toes , even if you were standing in water that was up to your hips . It was insane .
But the second day , that was the day of our excursion and it was a whole day of fare . I absolutely loved it . So , to get started , we got on the boat and the very first thing we did was go to Pig Island , and it is an island solely inhabited by pigs and chickens and a few lizards . Right , it was so cute .
These guys were well trained , they knew what was up . They're like big dogs . They all just swam up to the boat because they know where . They're . Feeding them carrots some of the older ones , i'm telling you . They're even trained to sit . I got to snuggle up with some brand new babies . they love to be held .
This one I was carrying around just fell asleep in my arms . It was amazing . If I told you that I wasn't tearing up , i would be lying . I mean , i was actually so excited I forgot to take my shirt off . We were going in our bathing suits and I totally soaked it before I even realized . But , oh my gosh , it was so great .
And then , after visiting with the pigs and feeding them some carrots , we went back on the boat and went out to this beautiful blue hole . We went snorkeling and I've been a scuba diver for like 20 years now , so I love this kind of thing And we got to see some really , really incredible fish and coral .
There was this really deep drop off in the ocean floor , so it was really creating this awesome habitat for a lot of different types of fish , some really big and bright colored fish and coral , super , super beautiful .
And there's something about being out in the water like that , just in that entirely different reality that always puts things into perspective for me in a new way that I can't exactly explain . But I'm just reminded of how beautiful and curious an amazing life on this planet is . And after we finished up diving it was kind of starting to rain .
That was a bummer , but we had a surprise that just blew my mind and I thought it was the coolest thing ever . So we ended up going to another island . This is kind of a tour of islands here And I think there's something I heard .
There was like 365 islands in just Exuma , you can remember , kind of like one for every day of the year , but around 700 islands in the Bahamas . So lots . But we went to one called Allens Kay and it was solely inhabited by iguanas . They were like literal dinosaurs . No one ever put them there , they've just always lived there .
Some were huge I'm talking longer than I am tall . I think there were some that were there while we were there that were over 80 years old . We fed them all grapes and some of these they even like to be pet .
It was really mind blowing , even as we left they kind of like watched the boat leave as if they were really curious or something , or maybe they even like when people come They're kind of trained . They know that we bring gifts of grapes and entertainment . But that was really really cool .
And next on our little excursion , they took us around to see these two islands that this billionaire Swiss woman bought . That was very , very cool , very inspiring .
I think she's going to build out some kind of resort or something like that , but it was really wild to hear about what this woman was doing And I know for me it definitely had me questioning some limiting beliefs that I have , that's for sure . But next on our excursion we went to this completely empty island .
It had nothing but little critters and birds and crabs and things like this And I got to say , all of it kind of broke my brain a bit . I guess I'm so used to seeing some form of human presence . But in all of these islands that we visited there wasn't even a sign stuck in the ground or a single human sign of intervention .
It really kind of surprised me that I was surprised about this , if that makes sense . But it was just purely 100% nature , nature as it is And it was really really beautiful
¶ Vacation Brain and Finding Perspective
. And at the last little island we were able to take some shells and coral that had washed up on the beach . And I decided to take this little white piece of coral to remind myself of this place Because for me , i really wanted to keep memory of that feeling .
I just feel like anytime something quote of this world , so to speak would start to bother me or worry me or make me anxious , i think I just want to remember this place .
It really reminded me how big the world is and how , from our own perspective , we can really get stuck on things or be bothered by things that in the grand scheme of it all it really doesn't matter .
And I was trying to come up with a really poetic way to say this , but basically , while I was there , i just kept thinking like man , how am I ever going to get upset about something like a difficult email or being stuck in traffic or something that's kind of trivial like that , when , in the grand scheme of things , knowing about this place and really seeing
it with my own eyes , knowing that this is our world too , i just I don't know .
It really helped almost calm my nervous system , in a way like a reminder of what is really important or what I allow to be big enough for me that I allow it to shake me or bring me down energetically , and I want you to hold on to that thought and maybe pair it with something else that you might have heard me talk about a little , which I like to call
vacation brain . It's a concept that I came up with that I like to explore with people , especially when we're doing some coaching or something and life is getting a little heavy , for lack of better words , and I want to talk about that concept .
For me , when I think of vacation brain and what vacation brain is to me , it's when you are completely present in what you're doing in that moment . It's when you're searching for little things to see and to be excited about and what you can explore . It's when you want to wake up early to take on the day . You want to fit it all in .
You definitely aren't looking to be distracted . You're not trying to be doom scrolling on your phone or you're not being worried about the things we see happening on the news . Instead , you're actively avoiding anything that can bring you down Or , if something is going on , you're really trying to reframe it in a positive way .
When you have vacation brain , you aren't just going through the motions , but instead you're actively searching for all the beauty and the new and the special that you can see . You're trying to take it all in , and I know that this isn't something that you can replicate all the time .
It's not something that we're doing 24 seven because , let's be real , that's not rational . But I think it is something that I believe we should know how to turn on .
It's something that should be on at least to some degree for us , at least most of the time , or even a tool that you know how to tap into when you're feeling down or stuck or uninspired or bored with the mundane .
It's figuring out how to romanticize what you're doing , romanticize your day and look for all the ways that you can enjoy it more , to find the inspiration from it , to get the most of it and out of it . And it made me giggle , because this is something that I coach on .
I think it's really a pillar of how I help is extracting something similar to that , but I overheard a piece of a conversation that was pretty in line with this while we were out exploring that week .
¶ Choosing Your Perspective
So there was this older woman and she was very clearly well off . You could tell by her outfit , by her bag , her jewelry . She had her whole beautiful family with her . They were all equally just well to do . And she was talking to a local guy who was working with some of the boat tours And she was really adamantly asking him something like you know .
But seriously , i don't understand Is everyone out here really this happy ? This seems like no one seems to be bothered by anything that goes wrong , or there's never really a problem . And I was kind of gathering from this conversation that there was some issues docking And this guy was like , okay , well , we're fixing it , we'll fix it then .
And he wasn't really bothered by it , which made this lady totally flabbergasted . She couldn't grasp why a problem , or what she perceived as a problem , wasn't upsetting him . And he was basically telling her you know , if there's nothing I can do about it in this very instant , why worry about it ? The fix is coming , it's on its way . Why be upset about it ?
Right , and she was very confused and she couldn't imagine . You know she's asking all these questions how are they going to make up for timing ? Is she going to get her money's worth , you know what if she's late for something else , all these things .
And he just calmly listened and , you know , smiled to himself a little bit and told her not to worry , trying to explain island time to her a little bit , and that's about all I heard . But I definitely thought about that interaction further because he has a really good point . I mean , look at where we were .
We were all standing in a beach that is considered one of the most beautiful , if not the most beautiful beaches in the whole world , and she was about to go on a boat for the sake of nothing but play and pleasure with her family . Why ruin it by choosing that ? this is something that's going to upset you . Why not just let it get fixed ?
We can't undo a problem just because we didn't want it to happen , but why suffer about it ? This is an opportunity to look at the beach with your honey , to be present in that moment , rather than worrying and fretting about being maybe a little bit postponed or losing a few minutes when the problem hasn't even been brought up yet .
Right , choose how you want to perceive that moment , just like any other moment . And I'm saying choose on purpose and not be an ugly here , but if we really think about it , the lady had a choice in that moment .
Is she going to let this little delay cause a lot of worry and decide to go through all the what-ifs , what's going to happen , all these things When it could have been as simple as okay ?
we'll wait to resolve this problem and I'll walk with my honey and my family on the beautiful sand until it does , seeing this little delay as even an opportunity to do something nice . Or it can give you the opportunity to stress and worry . And what if ?
that's a choice you have to make , and there's a quote I've heard before that says worry makes you suffer twice , and it's really something I try to live by . Choose to make the moment good whenever you can . One more quote , sorry , but this is one I keep on my desk . It's from St Augustine .
It says if we live good lives , the times are good As we are , such are the times . I love that And I really try to keep this in mind all the time . You guys know I talk to you all as well about this , but you really do get to determine how you will continue to view things as they come up . What perspective do you want ?
Some of my favorites are that reminder is this is happening for me ? Like the lady in the boat waiting , she could have thought this is happening for me because now I have a few extra minutes to explore , i get to touch the sand , i have even a minute to meet the people around me , maybe engage in a lovely little chat .
Maybe this means I'll be five minutes later that I was going to be , which means I'll walk in at the perfect timing somewhere . We're always predicting the future in some sense . It's just how your brain works . But how do you direct it ? Do you direct it to worry Or do you direct it to excitement ? Do you direct it to pain or to pleasure ?
I think about the man that she was talking to , and this guy gets to wake up every day in this beautiful , majestic place . He gets to play with boats in this gorgeous water . He gets to see people on their happiest days , people who are on holiday and vacation , and they're all loving his beautiful home .
Why would this man choose to let something like that bother him ? Why would a five-minute delay need to be five bad minutes , or however long it was ? Why would that be enough to bring him down emotionally when it doesn't have to . This all was an exchange that I was really glad that I overheard . And again , definitely no judgment to the gal .
I hope she was asking genuinely and maybe that kind man was really able to share some real wisdom with her that she can take home . But I hope I always keep an attitude like the man with the boat . She clearly had most , if not all , of the material things that she could want .
Like I said , clearly well off , well dressed , well groomed there with her beautiful family . She was stressed out Out of all the wonderful things that were happening around her . She was pretty determined to focus on the problem only And the fact that the people around her didn't do the same absolutely baffled her . So I'm really glad I saw that exchange .
Like I said , it was definitely . It got me thinking and really good reminder for all of us . It's a great reminder that things don't bring us happiness , situations even don't necessarily bring us happiness . At the end of the day , the thing that truly lets us be happy and fulfilled and whole is how we perceive , how we perceive the things around us .
The day that we're in the happenings around us And I'm really happy and really excited and a thousand percent ready to take these lessons and reminders with me into this new year . Reminders to talk about the things you want . Make them a part of your regular vocabulary .
You never know how you can potentially speak this into existence , how you can always and are always directing your life .
¶ Training Your Brain for Positive Living
The reminder just to choose what we focus on All these wonderful things happening around us . Don't waste your precious time worrying about problems that haven't even happened yet and may not even happen . The reminder to spend your time exploring how and focus on how all of this can and really is for your benefit .
You're always predicting the future to some extent , so watch what your predictions are And remember , tap into your vacation brain whenever you can . You don't need to be anywhere special or doing anything special to make the moment special .
And with that , my friends , if you haven't heard it yet , today , i love you , have a wonderful week and I can't wait to hear what good comes to you . But all right , my loves , that's where I'll leave us today .
I want to thank you so much for joining in on this conversation with me , and each week , every Monday , we're going to be posting a new episode , going a little bit deeper into the conversation of what you can do to train your brain on purpose to really allow for the lifestyle that you want to live . Until next time , my loves .
In the meantime , here's to your health and your happiness .