Life is too short to eat stale cookies...

A few weeks ago, we took a spontaneous trip out of the city. We booked within thirty minutes of leaving, packed what could fit in two carry ons, and left for two weeks.

The nights that followed will stay with me forever. Just the two of us, perched up on chairs at 3 a.m. in a dark room overlooking the skyline and talking about the dreams we didn’t have the guts to share with others.

On those endless nights, wrapped in robes, toes pressed against the cold windows, we said the things we were too afraid to tell the world—like where we would go or what we would do if there were no limitations.

I learned more about life, love, and success in those few days than I’ve ever learned in school or business. Like how much better life feels when I stop pretending to be who I thought I needed to be and just am who I am. Or how little I really need to be happy. And especially how little I prove myself when I feel free.

I didn’t share these days on social media,

Didn’t sell a course or write a book about what they taught me.

Instead, I enjoyed every single second—letting the experience shape me as God intended it to and stayed present to the moments that would eventually pass us by.

What I learned is that many of us are doing one of two things in life and business:

What is expected of us.

Or what we’re good at.

But there is a deeper level of life and passion that is revealed when you give yourself a chance to be honest with yourself. Like “what would you be doing if time and money weren’t a thing?” Or, “if you could travel/move anywhere, where would you go?”

There’s a lot you can learn from a person if you ask them about their ideal—yet, almost every one of them is living a watered down version of that. But if they ever get the opportunity to admit it to themselves, things might actually change for the better.

A few weeks ago, I understood for the very first time that what I was doing was absolutely not what I wanted to be doing. I didn’t actually desire to be a multi-millionaire CEO and a lot of what I spent my time and money chasing was a dream I didn’t really have. And after hours of sharing my deep-down-hidden-truths over room service and bubble baths, I learned that there actually isn’t pressure to do any of it and no one is stopping me from doing what I want… but me.

Despite the idealistic chats we had over sushi and chicken wings, a very humbling experience took place. For the very first time, I knew that I had been granted a token—a glimpse of truth too hard to admit that, if I took a little more seriously, might just give me the courage to do what seldom people do… 'go for it.'

Even though we returned home and settled back into the usual, one thing stayed with me for sure: the tug at my heart to stay honest with myself like I did in those hotel rooms. The lessons were so palpable that they inspired colossal movement in my life over the days and weeks that followed.

For one, I parted ways with much of my closet and kept only what I could fit in my suitcase if I had thirty minutes to pack. Turns out, when you walk a mile in your dream life, you don’t care what designer jeans you’re wearing and always opt for comfortable shoes over the pretty ones. So, “off with it,” I said and I haven’t looked back since.

I’ve also become more grateful and responsible with the resources given to me. Now I know that not every idea is a worthy investment and spending needlessly is the difference between choosing what you want to do and having to do it out of (financial) obligation.

I also realized that beauty is in the way you take care of yourself. Being at a hotel with unlimited luxury amenities tells you a thing or two about your dream regimen. Like how you choose to work out in a state-of-the-art gym and whether you prefer steam rooms or saunas. There is power in a good routine; how you put your makeup on in the morning and how you gua-sha your face before bed. And that power lies in choosing what feels best for you—from how you workout, to what you eat, how you style yourself, and how you live every day.

Self-care is a missing step for people who live out of obligation. Most people are so exhausted by the pressures and demands of life—so much of which is self-imposed and easily challenged by questioning: how would I do it if I were really living my dream life? Would you pay more attention to the things you’re too tired to care about? Like your diet, your teeth, your sleep schedule, or workout routine.

Most of all, I learned that much of our lives have become substitutes for the real thing. If you could have the decadent dessert you’re craving, would you really eat stale cookies? Would you lift heavy weights five times a week if you could get your dream body by going to that Pilates class?

And, would you reallyyyyyy be doing what you’re doing if you knew that anything you decided to do would somehow work out seamlessly?

It takes radical honesty to admit when you’re living a counterfeit version of your real dream. And it takes an even deeper level of courage to put expectations to the side and just do what you aspire to do.

But, mark my words, there is a massive difference between throwing it all up in the air to pursue a fantasy versus genuinely building a life you’re passionate about. It takes an absurd amount of responsibility to pivot in the direction your heart is calling you to. Like leaving behind “what has worked” for what you’re called to. Or making small adjustments to enhance your bigger picture.

In a world so disconnected from their ideal, a simple question is enough to spark some motion. To start the engines of a long-forgotten dream and hope they put the peddle to the metal. But it all starts with a conversation—for me, it was at obscene hours of the night—to finally say the thing you wish you said long ago and be brave enough to keep your word.

Most will read this and wish… They’ll hope for the day their life magically changes without any confrontation with the part of themselves that prefers painful comfort over the exhilarating (and totally brutal) unknown. But I know there’s a rare few… a small fraction of people who will read this and know what-the-eff I’m talking about.

Maybe you’ve felt it but never really put words to it—or maybe you have a mental break down every now and then that forces you to look at why you never pursue your dreams.

But for those who are tired of the stale cookies of existence, walking the extra mile, off the trodden path, to find the sweetness you’ve been looking for will satisfy you more than staying in the box of biscuits ever could.

It only takes a spark of awareness to feel what you’ve been really craving and a mustard seed of courage to ask for what you really want.

I hope these words will give you that courage…

Cause I don’t want stale cookies for you, for me, or for anyone.

And it’s about damn time we start living with that crème de la crème mentality.

So…

Dessert, anyone?

Xx

Sarah Elle