Letting Go On Holiday

Hey, it’s Paul Krismer, your happiness expert, and thanks for joining me here on my holiday in Sicamous, British Columbia. I mean, you can tell this place is okay. You know what? I’m on this giant houseboat with a whole bunch of people, and it’s pretty nice, kind of even a little bit swanky. But, you know, the truth is, it’s a lot of family, and you know how that can be. It’s not always perfect, and Fred snores a lot, and Lenora bickers about stuff, you know, little complainy stuff, and it’s kind of hard to be with. And then, last night, as we’re getting ready for bed, some kids in a speedboat, we’re ripping past here with a surfer guy behind them, and the music was so freaking loud, it was just ridiculous. It was upsetting, frankly, I was pissed off and even thinking about, you know, how I’d go and give those kids a piece of my mind. Yeah, welcome to my holiday. And do you see how this can be the kind of thing that, gosh almighty, we’re at some place that’s all about having fun, being relaxed, enjoying ourselves, and we can find the things that we can complain about, the stuff that’s imperfect, and of course, it’s human. We all do it. It’s the human condition that our minds turn to the things that are slightly negative, when you find stuff to whine and complain about and wish were different. And then this video is about how to cope with that, how to make your holiday truly fun and not get caught up in all the BS little [ __ ] that we tend to dwell on. So stay tuned for more.

As a coach, public speaker, and best-selling author, I teach topics just like this one all around the world. So stay tuned, and I’ll give you practical tools that you can use to make both yourself and those around you both happier and more successful. I am in, got to be one of the most gorgeous places on Earth, mountains and beautiful trees and a gorgeous lake, it’s huge on this giant, fairly swanky houseboat with people like, frankly, I have people I love, and you know, we’re having a few beverages, playing some games, fire up in the on the beach at night, and floating around with very little purpose during the day. It sounds idyllic, isn’t it? And it is, frankly, it is. I mean, that’s why we came here, it’s just, it’s a perfect, wonderful spot. And we have this tendency, of course, like I said in the intro, to focus on the things that aren’t very positive. And then I had an experience just this morning, about four feet away from where the camera is, where I was just sitting on the beach reading my book, and a beautiful morning, the water was still, and a little chipmunk came up at the end of that log just over there, and it was super cute, and so I fixated on it, I was looking, I had big eyes and concentration on it. And then it kind of just played around on the log, it went down a little hole in the log and went down on the ground a little bit, then it came back up, and it got very close. I had a cup of coffee at the end of the log, and I thought it would come and actually put its little feet up on the coffee, like within inches of me, but instead of doing that, it literally leapt up onto my foot, and you can just imagine my delight. This cute, wonderful little animal that I watched with perfect concentration for, I don’t know, three or four minutes before it scurried off into the post, and when it jumped on my foot, I stayed perfectly still. I was just intent, deeply intent and focused on that wonderful, special moment in nature, and it was incredibly happy-making, as you can all imagine as I tell the story. And there’s the secret to your holiday, to your success in enjoying what you intend to enjoy, to really just let go of the [ __ ] that’s not very important. It’s like, what do you do with a hot potato in your hand that’s burning your hand? Yeah, let go of it, you drop it on the floor, and you know, Fred snores too much, let it go, put some earplugs in. You know, that’s the whole trick, is to then get deeply in the moment with the stuff that’s good and focus on it, be with it, and if there’s any thoughts coming up, direct them to gratitude and to deeper focus and concentration on it. And of course, if that is a useful bit of instruction for enjoying our amazing holiday, then how much more so is it true for our day-to-day lives? Get out of our heads, let go of the worries and the resentment of things that have gone past in our historical times in our lives, and instead be in the moment, be in the moment, be in the moment, be in the moment. We got lots of videos on this channel about being in the moment, maybe Dave will add a link or two. That’s it for this week from the most gorgeous place on Earth. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you next time.