What places you go to help you slow down and relax?

“Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.” (Deborah Day)

Whenever I cross over the Lake Pontchartrain causeway into greater New Orleans,  I have entered what is so called the “Big Easy.” For this cosmopolitan city has acquired a reputation for its free flowing fun atmosphere of music, food, and constant motion indulgence takings place around Bourbon Street and nearby areas downtown. On previous visits,  I particularly enjoyed live music played along Frenchman Street, which although a little less crowded still can be a quite a raucous occasion. I also seem to have been drawn to that those energizing walks  along the Mississippi River shoreline  or hopping on a historic street car to gaze at old oak tree lined  streets enveloping  19th century antebellum homes  in the Garden District.

But on this particular vacation, I took a different point of view about how to replace New Orleans with a comparably fun experience on a smaller scale. Thus  we discovered quaint Mandeville and Albita Springs  along the northwest coast of Lake Pontchartrain as suitable replacement stopovers pictures  for two days on our  road trip. In particular, I took notice of the presence of live music being played Saturday night featuring several bands of interest from a variety of musical styles. I mean why put up with the New Orleans crowds on Saturday night when top notch entertainment like Tuba Skinny would take place a couple miles from our hotel at the intimate setting of Albita Springs Town Hall? As we’d have plenty of “time to kill “ in the morning and afternoon before the concert, we’d  also explore  the relatively pristine shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain at Fountainbleu State Park. Just water, sky and open space to slow down seemed the right formula at the time.

So travel for me I realize is not always about going to the places that I’ve heard the most about. No I didn’t indulge in New Orleans fun as I normally do. But in opting for the north shore Lake Pontchartrain vicinity to explore instead, I realized that this alternatively quieter version of “Big Easy” logically was the best choice at the time. 

How does the ball know?

In tennis, golf or just about all ball sports, the follow-through determines the flight of the ball. Great players always have a complete and confident follow-through.

But the ball is long gone before that happens.

So, what’s the point?

It turns out that the ball can tell that you intend to have a serious follow-through. A weak or non-existent follow-through requires that you start slowing down before your racquet ever gets to the ball.

The metaphor should be pretty clear.

If you show up for the audition, your first TEDx talk, your early blog posts, the job interview or your start up hoping to see what happens (“I’ll commit if I get picked”) we can tell.

On the other hand, when it’s clear that you’re going to keep on showing up, it’s an invitation to get aboard now.

Follow-through doesn’t always work. But it always works better than the alternative.