What I Learned Milking a Cow: Costa Rica
What I Learned Milking a Cow
ADVENTURE: Any experience in life that allows you to learn and grow.
Anytime I’m traveling and I have the opportunity to explore or try something new, I’m like ‘bring it on!’ My goal is to experience as much as I can in this lifetime. Even if it’s something as basic as milking a cow.
While I was in Costa Rica I stayed with my Soul Adventure Retreat co-host, Sarah, on her farm. I told her I wanted to experience doing the morning chores. I knew this was an opportunity I would never have back home in the city – and it made me excited!
It’s funny how something that seemed exciting to me is a hum-drum every day routine for someone else – and one I’m sure they would love to skip now and then. Mind you – I’m sure if I had to get up early everyday and do farm chores, the novelty would quickly wear off.
It was amazing to witness a completely different life than what I’m used to. I kept asking myself if I could live this full-time Costa Rica farm life. I know I would miss my North American conveniences but would I eventually get used to a brand new life somewhere else?
Whether or not I would love it is yet to be determined – but what it made me realize is that we so often fantasize about living a certain life, or reaching a specific goal because we have this idea of what exactly it will feel like when we achieve it. However – most of the time we rarely feel how we expected to in the end. Expectations get in the way, along with not realizing reality always feels different than a fantasy. Fantasies don’t take into account the fears that pop up along the way. They also don”t give you a full 360 degree view of what the experience will entail.
The biggest lesson I learned (and I’m still learning) is to truly understand my intention in the choices I make. To get honest with myself about what I want and why I want it. When you can remind yourself of that and keep asking yourself if every action you take is serving your intention – you have the ability to feel more grounded, happy and fulfilled.
My intention in milking a cow was simply to experience it. I didn’t have any expectations when it came to how much milk we were going to get, or if I was going to become a pro milker.
How would life feel different for you if your intention was to just fully experience every situation that came your way?
It’s super challenging to declutter your condo, house, office etc. It’s hard to say goodbye to items you’ve had for awhile or invested in. Many of us choose to hold onto things for various reasons, but it’s time to decide if it’s worth keeping! Maybe the item has sentimental value, maybe you spent a lot of money on it, or perhaps you have guilt getting rid of it because you feel you didn’t use it or wear it enough.
