Lifting each other up!

Times have been hard for many of us over the past couple of years. I know for me it’s been a very difficult time, starting with 15 months of unemployment & ending with moving my family halfway across the country after being apart for 6 months. I’ve written often about how I kept positive & continued to move my life forward even through this difficult time.

The one thing that stayed consistent for me was helping others. I believe strongly in the law of attraction which simply states “Whatever we give out comes back to us magnified.” The reason I could continue leading a joyful life even when things weren’t great for me is because I knew that I would in someway be given back for everything I’ve done to help others.

This happened to me over & over again with small & large gestures from family & sometimes from people I hardly knew. The bottom line was that I found great joy in all the little surprises that came my way & helped me to get through a difficult time.

In addition to receiving the benefits of the law of attraction, I rediscovered the simple joy in just helping others. The acts of kindness that each of us undertake on a daily basis can truly change the world. We don’t always see the ripple effect of what we start by helping another person but trust me the ripple continues well beyond what you can imagine.

The smallest gesture can change another person’s outlook & that person can then affect everyone they come in contact with & so on & so on. Sometimes you may never see how a simple word or gesture changes a person’s life forever but trust me it happens all the time.

The challenge we all face is understanding the way we can affect others that pass into our lives, even when they are chance encounters with someone we don’t know or will never know again. Your actions are like a pebble in the pond of the universe & I challenge each of you to take action everyday to lift another person up. Help a neighbor, help a friend, help someone you don’t even know but take action today.

Don’t make this about money, it’s great to give to organizations that help others or help causes we believe in but this is about a personal daily connection in your life that will make a difference. Smile, do the smallest thing & watch the ripples grow. Your life as well as many others will change for the good because of your actions.

Take the first step today & watch the world change around you!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Take the first step today to lift someone else up, by taking this action your life will change forever.”

Moving out of your own way

For many of us this title sounds like an easy thing to do. We believe we know where we’re going & just what steps we need to take to get to our ultimate destination but in fact this can be one of the hardest lessons to learn in life or at least it was for me.

I know I haven’t written much lately & I apologize to all of you for that. Life has been very busy settling into a new job & relocating to a new state. I’ve had many thoughts but not the time to write them all down & then yesterday I was reminded that so often we get in our own way of happiness. In fact we set ourselves up for disappointment, how do we do this? For many of us, it’s expecting a result.

I’m not going to tell you that all expectations are bad, but I’ve learned in my life that there really is no place for them. The best result that can happen way we expect a result is that we get what we expected &, for me, that diminishes the result because we only met our expectation. On the other side of the coin if we don’t get what we expected we can be crushed & left wondering why? or what’s next?

So often in life we make up our mind that “this” is what we need to be happy & when we don’t get it we blame God/universe for our sadness because all we needed was “X” & you didn’t give it me.

The truth is we set ourselves up for this disappointment because we think we know what’s best for us. I have found in life that opening your mind to possibilities will allow things to happen in your life that you never thought could or would happen. That’s truly the way we create our future. It’s an ever evolving path that we create cooperatively with God/universe. It is only through this ebb & flow that we can create the life we want to live, for when we get set in our path or in our ways we close off the world of possibilities & stay stuck where we are, which may not be the best place.

How many times in your life have you discovered after the fact that the thing you thought you wanted the most wasn’t really all that great. I can’t answer for you but for me it was often. When I was a young man I made things happen by sheer will. I wouldn’t take no for an answer & I moved through life knowing that I could get the “brass ring” anytime I wanted.

The sad part was I was never truly happy because I thought I knew what I needed to be happy & I believed that I knew what was best for me. I went through my younger years with great highs & sometimes very deep lows because the truth was I had no idea what I wanted & I allowed my EGO to dictate what was best in the moment. The EGO always wants the instant gratification & by following the EGO we can discover tremendous highs. The problem is that the EGO is never truly satisfied it always wants more & when it doesn’t get it, we crash & burn.

I have discovered that by stepping out of my own way that life is on a much more even keel & expectations play a big roll in that. I allow the best outcome to be created, rather then expect the result that I believe is the best.

The bottom is it’s all up to you: Open your mind & allow possibilities or close your mind & expect results. Trust me when I say this choice is life changing.

Until next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “To expect an outcome only diminishes the result, be surprised, be open to the possibility & watch the world change around you.”

Grand Tetons National Park

I debated greatly on which park to include in today's blog. I knew right away the park I wanted to finish with tomorrow. But I've had the pleasure of seeing many national parks, so deciding on the top 4 that I've actually spent time in. Wasn't hard, overall because 3 of them came to me right away.The problem came in with choosing the final entry I've probably been to 10 National Parks & as I mention yesterday each of these park are a jewel & have something wonderful to offer any visitor. After much debate (with myself) I decided on Grand Tetons National Park. The majesty of the mountains always draws me to this park.

Grand Tetons National Park is located an easy hour to hour & half drive south of Yellowstone National Park via state highway 89. State highway 89 South from Yellowstone is not open during the winter (Nov.-Mid May) so the only way to access the park in the winter is driving North from Jackson Wyoming.

The most vivid memory I have of this park is the beauty of the mountains as I walked on the trail around Jenny Lake. The crystal clear water of Jenny Lake was the perfect forefront for the amazing peaks of the Teton Mountain range. The wonderful thing about this hike is you can walk all the way around the southern half of the lake & when you get to the other side you're able to take a boat back to where you begin. I hiked this trail to Inspiration Point & the view was simply breathtaking.

The wildlife viewing in this park is also very good (being in the same general area of Yellowstone) & as I returned down the trail from Inspiration Point I ran into a large male Elk. I've mentioned before in this blog that I've always had a connection with animals. I've never understood exactly why or what it is that I have but this event was a great example of that connection. As I returned from Inspiration Point, as I mentioned, I ran into a male Elk. I was within 3-5 feet of this beautiful animal, he looked at me & I told him how beautiful he was & that was just going to sit here & watch him until he wanted to leave. That is what I did, I sat down where I was standing (3-5 feet) from this beautiful animal. I sat there for at least 10 minutes he looked at me & I looked at him. He would occasionally eat some of the grass between us but overall we just stayed there looking at one another. The situation only changed when more people came down from Inspiration Point, as the crowd began to gather (probably in the 10-15 minute time frame, the crowd became approximately 10 people) he looked me then looked at the others & turned & left. It was an amazing encounter for me, something I will forget in my life.

That's how close you can get to the wildlife in some of the National Parks, it's an amazing experience to see wildlife in their own natural setting. There is no place in this country to experience wildlife more vividly then our National park system. Reconnect with the land take a walk in nature & if you're lucky enough to live near a National Park take time to enjoy the beauty of the park near you.

Till Tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"In core of every human is a connection to the land that goes back to our beginning, rediscover this connection & find the deep & lasting joy inside yourself."

Journey to Joy: Love - Let go of excuses