As always happens, the incredible vacation I’ve been enjoying this week is suddenly coming to a close.
Tomorrow in the early morning, I hop on a plane back to Maryland.
Here’s a short list of my favorite things I’ve done this week in Denver as well as the lessons from them:
1) Spending every day with some of my closest friends.
Friends are meant to spend quality time with. We’re social creatures and the relationships in our lives shape who we are and what we’re capable of.
Yesterday was my best buddy’s birthday. We all spent the day at the biggest park I’ve ever seen, drank spiked Kombucha, and played spike ball. (Wow, so much spike.)
Visit your friends. Invest time and money into the people you love. It pays dividends as the years go by. I’ll remember that day at the park forever.
2) Playing chess every day and going rock climbing.
There will always be a part of me that loves to party: staying up late, drinking, experimenting with drugs…
But at the ripe age of 27, I find I don’t have time anymore for relationships where that’s all we do.
It’s important to find friends you can do challenging things with, have beautiful conversations with, and inspire each other to learn and take action.
I brought my buddy into the world of chess. It excites me to see him beat his other friend with the lessons and practice we’ve shared. It also excites me to show him how much I improve at rock climbing since he and his partner brought me into that world.
3) Waking up to the view of Denver and the Rocky Mountains.
From my friends’ high rise apartment, I can look out right now and see the entire Denver skyline, Red Rocks amphitheater, and three enormous snowcapped mountains.
I’ve never seen so many dogs, Teslas, and open spaces for humans and dogs to roam around…in one place.
It’s important to go exploring. It’s always a lovely learning experience when you get out of your little bubble and meet other humans in their bubbles.
Getting out of my bubble for a week has been well worth any amount of time or money I put into this excursion.
In short: Visit your friends, find friends you can do challenging things with, and get a dog…or a Tesla.