This week, I’m leading a retreat in Bali – one of the most beautiful, lush, rich and exquisite places I’ve ever been. It’s as if a honey-dipped rainbow dripped beauty and sweetness everywhere, then decorated it with flowers, sunshine and giggles.

As we were sitting amidst awe-inspiring beauty the other day, I said to the group, “Just take this in for a minute… How can we believe we aren’t loved? How can we believe that life itself is not a gift?”

When we’re here…
Time slows down.
We go to bed early and sleep as long as our bodies need.
We check email infrequently.
We eat beautiful food, slowly, in the presence of friends and laughter.
We listen deeply to our hearts and discover the clarity we’ve been “fighting” for.
We discover the few things to do that will most move us forward.
We find delight in everything we see, seeing it all with fresh eyes.
Everything feels more beautiful and ease-filled.

It’s amazing that, just a week ago, we were talking about boundaries.

As powerful, ambitious women, these women have full careers and full lives. They’re passionate about personal and business growth, and they have plenty of emails and requests coming their way each day.

So when one of them said, “I feel so overwhelmed with my life right now! I feel like I just want everyone to figure things out on their own and leave me alone.”…I understood. I have so been there: overwhelmed and frustrated beyond belief.

Often, when we’re upset with others – waiting for them to shape-up so that we can finally step-back – we get overwhelmed and create barbed wire boundaries.

But what I’ve found is that when we’re hyper-focused on managing the external, while being under-focused on our self care and well being, we don’t get what we want. We “hoard” tasks that others can take on, stress out over minutia, treat everything on the to-do list like an emergency and every second like a ticking time bomb, and leave no space for anyone to step into.

We willfully do it all, then complain that we don’t have enough help, then want everyone to get away from us because we’re so overwhelmed.

Yes, sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do, but if you’re chronically depleted or have barbed wire boundaries, it’s a sign that you need a new approach.

“Queening” is about creating and tending to a lush and beautiful space around you.

…Energetically speaking, rather than fighting bugs, Queening is about nurturing and watering the plant herself (you!), so that she’s strong and healthy.

…Rather than waiting for “someday” when “someone” has shaped-up and stepped-up, Queening is about stepping-up for ourselves and tending to our joy and desires, inviting the world to meet us there.

…Queening is about walking with our crown straight on our heads, taking exquisite care of ourselves, making play and adventure non-negotiable, seeing life through lens of beauty, seeing ourselves as the artists of our lives, working smarter, and developing genuine leadership in others.

This week, Bali is making it easy to feel like Queens – giving us the gift of a luscious space around us… but it’s our responsibility to take this beautiful space home.

Often, when we travel to somewhere beautiful, we find ourselves. But what if you made every day of your life a beautiful adventure, no matter where you are?

–> In the comments below, let me know: how are you adding a dash of beautiful adventure to TODAY?