Hi,

Ciao from Italy.

I got to Italy, and it is not what I expected.

After a lovely travel experience, I arrived at my apartment, and the cab driver said to me, “Oh, you’re far from town.”

I had spoken with the owner before booking and was told it was a ten-minute bike ride into Florence. Having studied abroad and lived here for nine months, I thought, Okay, that’s great. I love to bike.

What I didn’t realize was that the apartment was more than an hour’s walk from the center of the city.

Everything I had planned—from the gym I wanted to join to the networking events, business opportunities and the life I intended to create while I’m here—was in Florence.

Because that’s how I like to travel. I don’t travel like a tourist. I travel as though I live there.

I had already paid for the apartment. It was done. And suddenly, the experience I had planned, intended and envisioned in my mind wasn’t the experience I had arrived to.

Disappointment doesn’t even put words to what I felt.

I hadn’t slept on the plane. I had been awake for more than 24 hours. I was exhausted, frustrated and so sad. A part of me immediately wanted to beat myself up and say, How did you not look more closely at the map? How did you not see this?

And then I stopped.

I let myself cry. I slept—a lot—and then I reminded myself of something I know but, in that moment, needed to remember again:

I have the power to change things. There is always something that can be figured out or done differently. This does not have to be the final answer.

Yes, there may be inconveniences. Maybe I’ll lose money. Maybe I’ll need to move somewhere new, find another apartment and haul my three suitcases across Florence.

Or maybe something entirely different will unfold.

I don’t know yet because I’m writing this in real time, while everything is still being decided.

I SHARED MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN REAL TIME HERE

But I do know I was reminded of something powerful.

We can make bold moves and bold declarations. We can do all the research, make all the plans, pray on it and have incredible intuition—and things can still not go our way.

The idea that everything will always go exactly as planned isn’t actually the goal.

The goal is knowing that when it doesn’t, you can trust yourself enough to handle what comes next.

As Marie Forleo says, everything is figureoutable. Nothing is ever truly final. And when you trust yourself—when you know you have the ability to change things, that you are supported and that you will always be taken care of—it changes the way you make decisions.

We become so afraid to commit because we’re afraid of making the wrong decision.

But is there ever a guarantee?

No.

The only guarantee is that no matter what happens, you’re going to be okay. The only guarantee is trusting yourself and knowing that you can handle whatever comes your way.

That was the most powerful reminder for me.

Because in that moment, I went from crying tears to feeling immense peace. I went from looking at myself and thinking, Why didn’t I do this? I should have done that, to knowing:

It’s going to be okay.

Maybe this is part of the story.

Maybe there is something here for me.

Maybe I can take what is happening and allow it to work for my benefit and actually support me.

And once I did that, everything inside of me began to adjust.

I found myself sitting there thinking, Wait a minute. I’m in Florence, Italy. Wait a minute. I have this incredible life.

Maybe I get to have a different experience. Maybe this month I’m outside the city and next month I’m in the middle of it. Maybe there’s something here that I haven’t seen yet.

All I can do is ask for the changes I desire, trust myself and turn it over.

And that is exactly what I’ve done.

So as you live your life today, recognize that you hold the power and nothing is ever truly final.

Take the pressure off of what you’re making every decision mean.

Your power isn’t in knowing that everything will work out exactly as you planned. Your power is in trusting that when it doesn’t, you will know what to do next.

And there is one more piece to this story.

My intuition had actually led me toward a different apartment—and my mind overrode it.

That is something I’m going to tell you about next week because this is where the ego can get tricky. Sometimes we think it’s our higher self guiding us when it isn’t.

But that is a lesson for next week’s Bold Life Letter.

Until then, remember:

Rewrite the Rules.

All my love from Italy,

Melissa Kathryn