Category: choices

California, choices, transportation, travel

Beautiful: Los Angeles Sans Car

Christa Avampato
LA’s Rapid Transit bus system from Pinterest

“You need to get a car.”

I have heard this statement over and over again. I’ve done the research. I almost pulled the trigger and got a car for the remaining 6 weeks that I’ll be in LA. Then a few incidents happened that caused me to reconsider:

1.) My dear friend, Amy, who shares my love for public transit, sent me an article from AFAR entitled Another Angle on LA by Aimee Bender. In it, she skeptically explores the world of public transit in LA.

2.) Traveling back from Lake Tahoe, I got caught in all of the confusion in SFO after the horrific plane crash there. To get back to LA from San Francisco, I ended up having to rent and drive a car. The traffic wasn’t bad, but I found myself reaffirming what I’ve known all along: I don’t enjoy driving. At all. It’s one thing to rent a Zipcar here and there for specific reasons. It’s another thing entirely to depend on one to get from every point A to every point B.

3.) It’s also quite synchronistic that the people I swapped houses with this summer also prefer public transit and walking to driving. They’ve left me numerous resources on how to navigate LA via bus, subway, and my own two little feet.

So I’m listening to the signs and taking an adventure: I am going to attempt to navigate LA, and enjoy everything it has to offer, sans car as much as possible. I’m excited for the road ahead – especially since I won’t be driving on it. I promise to share all of my transit adventures here.

choices, friendship, happiness

Beautiful: Bliss Opens Doors

Christa Avampato

“When you follow your bliss… doors will open where you would not have thought there would be doors, and where there wouldn’t be a door for anyone else.” ~ Joseph Campbell via my friend, Marita

My beautiful friend, Marita, sent me this quote to help me along my summer of discovery. We worry so much that we won’t be able to create the lives we want or find the opportunities we seek. There’s so much competition. How will we ever be able to stack up against so many others who have the same dream?

The truth is that the road to those opportunities is already available. It’s waiting for us to hop on the path, the path that is made just for us and aligns with our deepest desires. The secret to finding the road is to tap in, to get really clear on what brings us joy, and then choose it. Thank you, Marita, for this needed and appreciated reminder.

California, choices, future

Beautiful: I’m on the Road Ahead

Christa Avampato

We spend so much time looking in the rearview mirror and pining for what was, that we forget to take a good look at what’s staring us in the eyes right through the front windshield. The road of life is so unpredictable. It’s full of wonder, magic, and experiences that we cannot yet imagine.

So here’s the first decision of my creative break: I’m done looking back. From here on out, I’m living my life forward. Thank you to my beautiful friend, Sara Alvarez Kleinsmith, for posting this picture and always inspiring me to live fully.

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choices, decision-making, discovery

Beautiful: Finding Your Purpose Is The Only Work You Have To Do

Christa Avampato

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.” ~ Gautama Buddha

A very dear friend of mine recently lost someone close to her. He was taken at far too young an age; he still had a lot of living left to do. Letting someone go is one of the hardest things we have to do, and it’s also an excellent motivator that helps us make the most of our own lives.

The only way I can make sense of loss is by understanding that it makes me live more fully. I don’t take any day for granted. I don’t assume I’m getting a tomorrow. It all goes by too fast, and I try to grab as much of the whirling, swirling wonder of life as possible.

Deciding on our purpose, what we’re meant to do with the small sliver of time we have, is difficult. The only thing more difficult is not undertaking the pursuit. Our purpose can be a cause, person, community, line of work, or role we wish to play in the story of humanity. It’s the only thing we have complete control over. It’s our choice.

So go out there. Discover what it is that lights you up and decide to make a go of it. In that way, no matter how much time you have it will be worthwhile. You will have done what you came to do, and you’ll inspire others to do the same.

career, choices, dreams

Beautiful: I Left My Corporate Job 1 Year Ago Today

Christa Avampato

It’s hard to believe that one year ago today I walked out the door of my corporate job to carve a career path of my own design. It’s been a year of consulting, writing, and teaching. Most of all, it’s been a year of incredible learning and adventure.

A million thank yous to so many of you who supported me and cheered me on during this process of discovery. I’m living my dream. My success is your success, too. Love, Christa

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career, choices, creativity, happiness, work

Beautiful: If Hillary Clinton is Comfortable with a TBD Future, Then So Am I

Christa Avampato

Have you read Hillary Clinton’s Twitter bio?

“Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD…”

The part I like best is “TBD…” This especially resonates with me because starting June 26th, my future is completely TBD. I’m heading to Santa Monica for two months to take a break and figure it out. A lot of people I know are surprised, some are shocked, and some are confused. Why go to California? And exactly what is it that I want to figure out?

I need a break from everything
I’ve been go, go, going for years. Maybe from birth. I can’t remember the last time I took a vacation just to rest and relax. I’m always going for a class / some kind of training or a service project or to visit family. I never go on vacation just to, well, go on vacation. So I’ll be doing plenty of relaxing and just having fun. Cali seems like a good place to do that.

Trying out a bi-coastal life
For a long time, I’ve had this dream of a bi-coastal life, using both New York and California as homes from which to live and work. I know New York suits me. I just don’t know if California does so I’m going to try it out. If I come back to NYC missing California, I’ll know I’m on to something.

Figure out my career
I left my corporate job exactly a year ago tomorrow. I forged this career path of my own design and it’s been an incredible learning experience. I got involved in some wonderful projects with wonderful people. I made some huge mistakes. I succeeded and failed in equal amounts, and I’m proud of all of those experiences. A life and career change of this magnitude is worthy of some dedicated reflection so that I can more clearly see the path ahead. This requires me to zone out the noise of everyday life and tune into my sense of purpose and passion. A change of scene will help me do that.

Where will this lead?
I have no idea. Honestly, I’ve put every facet of my career and life on the table for consideration. I have no definitive must-haves and must-gos. Like Hillary, the future is completely TBD for me. If someone of her stature can be okay with total reinvention, then certainly I can, too. Here’s the one thing I know for sure: I’m going to do what makes me happy.

choices, creativity, love, work

Beautiful: Get Back to What You Love

Christa Avampato
Maybe the best piece of career advice you could get…

“Forgetting about what you love to do can be a form of self-sabotage – get back to what you love.” ~ Madisyn Taylor for DailyOm

In yoga, the principle of ahimsa (do no harm) is a cornerstone of the practice on and off the mat. Many forms of harm are obvious. Some forms of harm are much more subtle, and I’ve found that those forms are the ones we really need to consciously keep in check. Moving away from what we love is one of those.

I completely understand that we may need to take a job that we don’t love because we need to pay the rent and put food on the table. I’ve been there. Some days, I’m still there. In the past year, I have made a very clear and conscious effort to bring more work I love into my life, work I love so much that it feels strange to even call it work. Now I write, teach, and do more to support good works through my consulting practice than I did a year ago.

This shift of getting back to what I love by starting my own business has improved my mental and physical health in ways I never imagined. I was so bogged down when I was solely working for a check on projects that I didn’t care about. It was scary to leap off that cliff but I knew I needed to do it for my own well-being.

Magical things happened once I committed to a path paved with more of the things I love. Doors opened and they let the light in. It didn’t happen overnight and didn’t happen in any ways I expected, but that doesn’t matter. It all worked out much better than I had planned.

The root of this good fortune lies in a conscious and unrelenting choice to be in love with my life. It took me a long time to learn that truth, a long time to trust it. Do yourself a favor – don’t let another day go by without getting back to what you love.

choices, decision-making, generosity, grateful, gratitude, story

Beautiful: Share Your Good News

Christa Avampato

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be. How much you can love. What you can accomplish. And what your potential is.” ~ Anne Frank

It’s important to share your dreams and triumphs. First, people who love you and care about you want to hear about them. I would argue that more importantly you never know just who will be inspired by them and how much that inspiration will alter the course of someone else’s life. You’ve lived your story; the life you’ve created is the result. Stories in and of themselves do not have value. It is the sharing of those stories that makes them valuable. Sharing gives us time to reflect on them and it lets others do the same. When we keep our stories to ourselves, we never realize their full potential.

So go up to the highest mountain top and shout about it. Tell people what you’ve done, and how and why and what you plan to do with everything you learned in the process. Listen to their questions and do your best to answer them. Tell them what your fears were and how you overcame them. Explain your gratitude and thank those who helped you along the way. Talk about your choices and their consequences. Share what you would do differently the next time around. Help others learn from your mistakes.

We have so much to gain by telling our tales and others have so much to learn from hearing them. Be a hero. Share your news.

choices, decision-making, time

Beautiful: The Time It Takes to Make a Decision

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest

“A peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.” ~ Rita Mae Brown, American writer

Decision-making can be an agonizing process. We flip-flop between choices, write pro-con lists until our hands cramp, lose sleep, and wrestle with opportunity costs of going one way or the other. However, whenever I actually make a choice, I find that a peace settles over me, regardless of the choice I make.

When I began to consider leaving my corporate job to go out on my own as a freelancer, my mind began an endless debate of “should I or shouldn’t I?” When I first started Compass Yoga and was trying to settle on the appropriate business model, I would make a choice, try it out, assess its value, and then change it until I found that a nonprofit model worked best. These were two very different processes because the stakes for each were very different. Despite the difference in the stakes, I learned so much about the process of decision-making and its effect on my psyche.

Even though I tried many different ideas with Compass, I never experienced the angst I had with making the decision to leave my corporate job. I made a number of choices early on with Compass that weren’t quite right but I never regretted any of those decisions. When it was clear that my choice wasn’t the right one, I just let it go and quickly made a different choice. With my corporate job, I took a long time to make one choice. The feeling of angst had nothing to do with the stakes; it had everything to do with the time it took me to make a choice.

We often delay decisions because we are afraid of making the wrong choice. The truth is that we can’t think our way through this process. We have to make a choice, sit with it, and see how it feels. If I can make a decision quickly and confidently, I do it. (Hint: meditation helps!) I know that no matter what the outcome, I am strong enough to change course if need be. If a quick decision isn’t possible and I really can’t see a clear path, I try this trick: I make a choice in my mind and walk around with it for a few days. That simple act lets me see how the decision sits with me, in my body and my mind. If it feels right, then I go with it. If it doesn’t, then I make another choice and start the process again.

What do you do when you have a decision to make and can’t clearly see which option is the best for you? 

choices, priorities

Beautiful: Make Your Convictions Your Full-time Job

Christa Avampato

“Decide what you stand for. And then stand for it all the time.” ~ Clayton Christensen

Integrity is a long road. We will be tried and tested many times along its path. We’ll be asked to state and re-state our convictions, defend them, and ultimately live our lives by them. We may question ourselves, reconsider our positions, and doubt our abilities. We’ll be tempted to shrink back from criticism, confrontation, and disagreements, but in those moments our integrity will rise up, just when we need it most.

Integrity is a leg to stand on. It’s a warm blanket on a cold night. It’s a light during our darkest hour. You can hang your hat on your integrity, and there’s a lot of power in that knowledge.

How do you need to live in order to be true to yourself, to wake up and be proud of the person staring back at you from the mirror? Figure out what matters most to you and then do whatever it takes to build a life around those priorities. It’s the only way to be certain that we fulfill the promise of our potential.