Have you ever let yourself get so busy, with so many ‘must-do’ things that you actually can’t make any progress? You’re trying to get the most out of every moment and opportunity but the more you try, the further from your goal you feel? That’s how things were going for me the day I took this photo.

Some of us are planners, list makers, stay busy or we can’t possibly be doing life right types of people. On vacation some of us can’t shut off the productivity switch.

Things that should be relaxing and enjoyable become sources of stress when we live that way for too long.

It probably has something to do with why every photo I was (or wasn’t) taking on this trip didn’t seem to come together. When you add in uncooperative weather the entire photo taking vacation felt like a bust.

Sometimes when we have pushed ourselves so far with our plans and personal pressures, there comes a point where we have nothing left to do but show up. Head out into the world and take whatever comes our way. That’s also one of the times where the world can surprise us the most.

In this case, the sun was starting to set and finally something special happened. The clouds pushed excessive color out of the sky but let just a hint of pink bleed through and the reflection against the water brought everything to life.

This is the power of showing up. It’s what can happen when we let go of the lists, and the stress, and the heavy expectations we create for ourselves. Sometimes our hand feels forced in these matters, I know the weather can certainly twist even the best laid plans. Other times we have finally had enough and make the conscious decision to let things go and just step forward into whatever comes our way. Either way, every now and then, when we do nothing but just show up, we finally hit the mark.