#32. Perform on a Stage

My greatest learning this year has been to have more flexibility in how I set and achieve my goals. Getting fixated on how a goal looks in my head is just like me going into a conversation with anticipation as to how the other person will respond. It limits me to my own expectations and then when it’s not exactly to plan I’ve essentially set myself up to fail. When setting goals I like to have a direction and then allow for opportunities to come up and maybe the end result is way different than what I originally stated but getting there was way more fun.

Currently my biggest goal is learning how to walk again – something that 6 weeks ago would have seemed ridiculous to think about. But life will always ebb and flow and this injury has taught me to not attach myself to results – and simply take it all one step at a time.

When I first set this goal of performing on a stage, I had the image in my head of me being on a stage, showing off all the hard work I’ve put into my acro practice the last few years. I came back from teacher training in January feeling stronger than ever before. I was asked to organize an acro yoga performance to happen at a black-tie event for the YWCA – my favourite organization in town! I had been talking about this particular performance for quite some time and was really getting excited for it to all come together.

Then when I broke my ankle, I quickly realized this was not going to happen. At first, I was super bummed, almost inconsolable. Then I realised this was another learning opportunity. I could sit back and sulk about not being able to perform (my ego speaking) or I could still get the others stoked and still provide an amazing performance to the guests at the event.

Well I’m happy that I had the flexibility in my goal to actually set my friends up for success. They had two small stages right in the middle of the dining tables for them to perform on – something we were not expecting at all! We actually had to check how much head space was available and warn the servers to watch out for limbs to not cause a collision. I was able to stay “backstage” with them and felt like the director of the show.

Miles, Anja, Rose, Henri and Sarah did such an amazing job – watching them pull this off felt better than actually being on stage with them. The feedback we were getting from the organizers, serving staff and guests at the event were all beyond positive. The talented Crista-Lee photography got some amazing shots of the evening. All in all, spending the weekend with good friends was way better than I could have imagined.