Toll Roads
“Most roads that lead to success are toll roads. One must pay a price to travel there.”
This quote was shared by Hala Sabry-Elnaggar founder of the Physician Moms Group this week.
It spoke to me on many different levels.
There are expensive tolls - literally and figuratively- in doing hard things such as becoming a doctor or starting a business. The path to internal transformations, personal metamorphoses, and choosing to pivot or pursue a new path is also a toll road. Creating and enjoying connected and loving relationships is also. And the toll road we most often discount is not making a change at all.
Changing and not changing takes energy and commitment. Changing takes work and practicing and being uncomfortable. I often say discomfort is the price of growth. Discomfort is the toll.
Staying stuck also takes energy also usually in the form of discomfort. Which discomfort do you choose? What does the toll look like and where do you want to end up?
If you want to become someone new, you can’t merely consume information- listening to podcasts and reading blogs for example. You have to actually pause and be present and look deeply within. And do the messy work. Even the path to discovering calm and learning to live a mindful life is messy work.
It takes more than trying or wishing things were different to make a change and more than just sitting on a mat breathing to find peace. In my case, it started with one deep breath, but it took a lot more than that to truly shift. It took a lot more than listening to a drop-in session or taking a yoga class. It took stepping out of old patterns and learning a new way. And then “practicing ” regularly. Getting here took time and energy and money for teachers and guides. This work is like learning a new language. The investment is high at the beginning but the lifelong benefit is beyond worth it.
When the work of transformation comes from a place of love, inspiration and fun, the toll feels less costly. The results often feel so good that the “toll” fades quickly and/or is hardly appreciated.
The toll road that we often discount cost is the one where we don’t make a change.
Not doing the work and staying stuck also has a HUGE often unseen cost.
This road is the one we most often don’t appreciate as having a toll at all.
Indulging in indecision, feeling anxious and worried, and waiting for things outside of you to change is perhaps the most expensive toll road of all.
It’s not possible to live life without toll roads it seems.
Why not choose the toll road that goes to you where you want to end up?
3 Options for delightful "toll roads" to beautiful destinations available right now:
Mindful Healers Platinum Package --starts Sunday. A chance to learn MBSR, with Ni-Cheng Liang, begin your coaching journey with me, and learn to infuse mindfulness into the nooks and crannies of your life and your doctoring through the Mindful Physician Course.
Join my may coaching/yoga retreat in Santa Margarita- 1 spot left.
Join me for my Mindful Love Coaching Program which starts June 7th. 3 months focused on creating and enjoying more connection and love in all your relationships. A chance to learn and practice what love would do.