Serenity

I begin with the beauty all around me. I take a breathe & suddenly I am not just seeing the beauty but now I become apart of the beauty. Even though I continue to walk on this mountain hike I am no longer just walking. I am going deep inside myself & I feel my soul being refilled.



The physical effort that I need to exert is difficult. The air begins to get thinner as we move from 3,100 feet above sea level at the beginning of the hike to 4,800 feet above sea level at the end of the hike. But even as I try to catch my breath & my legs begin to ache, it's not the physical feelings that I feel. It is the peace & serenity all around me. I am amazed at the quiet. Occasionally we come across other hikers but for most of this 3 hour hike we have only each other & the quiet of the mountain. It's the quiet that amazes me & in the quiet I discover the quiet inside of me. I am no longer hiking in the mountains I am on a journey to reclaim the connection I have with my soul & in part with everything that is.



The sound of the water is constant along the trail & in fact there are times we walk through the water as it makes its way to the mountain stream. We can still see snow & as we make our way to the top there is more & more snow along the sides of the trail. The wind begins to get stronger & we feel it blowing at times along the path when there are no trees to block.

The path ahead becomes very difficult as it's now all rocks & because of all the rain & the melting of the snow the path is very slick. We pause when we need to, to allow our legs to rest & to again catch our breathe. Every time we pause I go deeper inside myself. I feel that I have known this mountain my whole life even though I've never been on this hike before. The connection to each tree, stream & rock brings me back to time long before I was born. I imagine what it was like to encounter this beautiful area for the first time. I hear the birds & their song moves me to places I haven't been in a long time. As we continue on I wonder why this connection is so deep within me. I also question whether I've missed an important part of my life by not working in nature. I set my intention to find a way as I get older to be able to at least volunteer at some of these beautiful treasures we call the National Parks.

At last we make it to the top. The wind is now blowing over 40mph & it is actually very cool. The temperature has continued to fall as we made our way up the mountain. The view from the top is wonderful although it's bit odd because of the lack of green. The Smoky's always have vast amounts of green but since spring has been a bit slow to come here most of the trees haven't even started to bud. So the rolling hills now below us are more brown then green but the view is spectacular!!

We stand at the edge for a while & just take in the beauty. The words are difficult for me to explain the feeling I get when I stand on top of a mountain. I have done many times & vistas ahead of me cause my heart to swell & eyes to tear up. Its been too long since I've been able to feel this feeling. Its been too long since I've seen a vista like this & its been too long since I've been so deeply connected with myself.

The serenity of this hike is amazing & journey back to my soul is always deeper in these natural settings then anything I can feel at home. I capture these moments to always remember them so even when the world keeps me from coming back to the mountains, I am able to close my eyes & come back in my mind. This process serves me well even when I'm under great stress. Like a favorite song the picture in my mind of this moment brings back to me all the joy I have at that particular moment. I will never forget the memories of this walk & I will return often even if it's just in my mind.

We begin the hike back down & the body is starting to remind me of my age & lack of exercise over the winter. I'll be sore for days but I don't mind, the hike was well worth the pain. I wish for each you to find your place of serenity & to visit it often. It is only through the discovery of our inner self that we can be a beacon of light in the world today. We each need to be willing to take the journey to our soul & to discover our connection with everything. May your day be filled with peace & love.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"The serenity of nature calls me back to the true connection I have with my soul. Whatever opens your heart to this connection, take time for it today!"

Lost

Have you ever felt lost or disconnected in your life? Have there been times where nothing seems to go right? Dealing with the feeling of being lost or disconnected can be challenge. The truth is the more we fight to try to reconnect with our life, the more we push ourselves away.

When I was younger I thought I had the answer to everything. I was always fairly bright & I could figure out a way to make anything happen in my life. Life seemed to be easy. Unfortunately the truth was that in the end I was always disappointed. I never thought about the kind of life I wanted to live. I just went through life grabbing what I thought would make me feel better & more connected.

The truth is I was lost within my own life. I would will something to happen & do whatever was needed to make sure it did happen. Then I would wake up & realize that this "thing" that I willed into my life wasn't what I wanted at all. I was disconnected from God/universe & at the time I had no idea how to get reconnected. I didn't even really know or understand that there was a connection I needed to find in my life.....remember I thought I knew everything!

My life became a cycle of things going really well & then a crash would occur where nothing went right at all. During these times I felt helpless & truly disconnected/lost in my life.

Finally as I began to grow in my knowledge of myself & of the true connection I have with God/universe. I began to understand that I was never alone at all. I was only disconnected from my Source. This disconnection is very empty feeling and I hope you'll never have to feel it.

So how do we move beyond this feeling of being disconnected/lost? First we need to realize that many us walk through our life in a fog. Never truly even knowing what we really want. This fog, to a large extent, is caused by the EGO. The EGO wants comfort & always believes that if we get the "next" thing life will be better. Sometimes the EGO even believes that if we get the next thing (job, car, house, etc) we will actually be happy. This is the lie of the EGO, as long as we are searching for happiness outside of ourselves we'll never find it! Happiness isn't that great job or house, etc. Happiness is a state of being not the world around us.

The connection we all want in our life is the connection with our true self which I call the soul. Once you've made that connection in your life, your life will be amazing! The hard work is to love yourself & take the time to feel this connection. There are several ways to do this but for me it always begins with being quiet. There's way to much noise in our lives today & we are very easily distracted. We need to take time to look inside & listen. When you take this time everyday your life will be much more fulfilling & you will always be able to reconnect with your soul no matter what you're facing in your life.

Find your path to a better life today. Reconnect with your true self & discover the joy in being connected to everything.

I'm off to the Smoky's for a few days, thanks to a nice tax refund. If any of you are in the area...let me know maybe we can connect. I'll be traveling tomorrow so I won't be able to write a blog. I hope you all have a great rest of your week.

Hugs,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Whenever you feel lost in your life, take the time to reconnect with your true self (soul) & discover that you are truly connected to everything."

Being able to Forgive

Are you able to forgive others? or do you always hold a grudge? Forgiveness can be one of the hardest lessons we all need to learn. Sure at times it's easy to tell someone that you forgive them, but do you really? Or do you bury the hurt feelings you have?

Forgiveness is difficult for us because we know we've been wronged & our sense of fairness says that the person that wronged us should have to face some kind of punishment. The truth is that forgiveness can set us free. It is only through the act of forgiveness that we can move beyond the tragedies of our own life. By forgiving & moving beyond the pain of the circumstances, we discover a deeper love then we would ever know without learning to forgive.

Too often we say the words "I forgive you" & don't really mean what we're saying. Even if we're able to move forward with the person, we either hold a deep seated resentment about what they did to us or we choose to never trust them again. Both of these reactions are normal but extremely counterproductive. By forgiving another we aren't caving in on what we believe we are moving above the hurt & opening our heart to love.

One of the best ways to move beyond the past is through forgiveness. Whatever has happened to us in the past, we need to remember it's in the past. Once anything happens to us it can't be changed, so to move beyond the past we need learn to forgive. I try to remember two basic things: 1) We are all human beings & as such we all make mistakes. I am no better than you so I have no right to judge you. 2) Most people try to do the best they can. Their best may not be what we want to see but most people try to do their best.

These two truths helped me move beyond many of the things that have happened to me in my life. I learned to forgive, understanding that the people that hurt me were only trying to do what they thought was right & that they did the best they could. Even in circumstances of tragic proportion, Forgiveness will free us to live a better life.

So how do we forgive? I believe that forgiveness is a very personal process. I have found couple things that worked well for me. I sit quietly & focus on the pain that the other person has caused in my life. I allow myself to feel these feelings & then I let them go. I release these feelings to God/universe and my soul is lifted up. I feel love & a great calm. The other way I've handled this process is to write down everything that this person did to me & how what they did to me made me feel. Then I either rip up the paper or light it on fire. As the paper is being destroyed I again release those feelings & I am feel lifted up & freed from the situation.

Forgiveness is the only way to move forward in your life. It helps us learn to love regardless of the mistakes of the other person. Believe in forgiveness, discover true love & find more joy in your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Forgiveness moves us beyond the past. It teaches us to love unconditionally & opens our life to discover more joy."

Rebounding

In honor of the NCAA tournament that began this past week. I thought we'd discuss rebounding. Do you rebound from situations? Can you bounce back & go back up?

The truth about the word rebounding is there are good & bad meanings in the word. Like so many things in nature, we need the balance to understand the contrast. To begin we'll discuss the positive side of rebounding.

Often in life things don't go the way we planned them. Sometimes we're knocked down by others or by the circumstances of our life. It takes true resilience to pick yourself up & continue on when things don't go the way we want them to. As with rebounding in a basketball game, it takes strength, preparation & a strong base to be able to snag that rebound. In life we need to possess the ability to move beyond adversity. We need to have the strength to pick ourselves up & continue our journey forward. This strength comes from our strong base which is our connection to God/universe & therefore our connection to everything. Trust in this connection & no matter what happens you'll find the strength to continue on.

Life isn't always easy. The truth is even when we practice living in joy we can encounter difficulties in our life. These difficulties are often things we need to learn in our life to grow & move forward but it's extremely difficult to move past these times when we're in the middle of them. Trust in God/universe. Trust in your practice & trust in yourself!! You can do anything if you believe in it!

Don't bury the pain & hurt accept it, learn from it & move beyond it. I know sometimes this is easier said than done but I know you can do it!!

Now, the negative side of rebounding is often finding a replacement for what you've lost in your life. This is especially true in relationships. We have a break-up or we lose someone that we loved & cared about, instead of reflecting on this loss & learning from it. We move onto another relationship to replace the relationship we just lost. This can be a cycle that's very difficult to move beyond & the truth is that we're hiding from ourselves. We don't want to take the time to deal with the loss because we're afraid of what we might find in ourselves that caused this to happen.

We may simply be afraid of being by ourselves period. I can relate to this because for many years when I was younger I didn't like to be by myself. I always wanted others around to talk to, to play with or to have fun with. The problem with this thinking is that we are always looking to someone else to bring us joy! The truth, as we've discussed before, is that the joy you are looking for has to come from within not from without. No matter how much you love someone else in your life they can't bring you happiness & joy. They can only contribute to the joy & happiness you already have. Discovering yourself & the joy & love you have inside is the pathway to a more joyful life. Believe in yourself move beyond the feeling of lack & you can do anything you want in your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"The ability to rebound from difficulties in your life is very important. Learn from the obstacles in your life, grow beyond the troubles & discover the joy in every moment!"

Storms

I read a post by my friend Marty Duane the other day about his first experience camping. In the story he described how a big rain storm came & flooded the tent. This story reminded me that we all face storms in our lives. These storms could be anything and our natural tendency when we face a storm in our life is to hunker down & hide. This is especially true when things just aren't going our way. We tend to get caught up in the negative energy around us & become more & more negative ourselves.

Negative energy that is surrounding us by situations beyond our control or negative people that for the time being are in our life are difficult to deal with. It takes a lot of practice to move beyond the negative in our life. One of the things I always remember when facing a storm in my life is a very simple phrase..."This too shall pass". No matter how bad the storm is in our life, no storm lasts forever.

When we're caught in the middle of a storm it's difficult to remember that this storm will end. We feel in the moment that in fact it will never end & we lose all hope for a better tomorrow. Sometimes, as with nature, storms are needed to help us grow. The lessons we learn from the storms in life may not always be easy but we will move beyond them to a better tomorrow.

Everyday is a precious gift & if we begin each day anew today could be the start of the life you always wanted. Today could be the end of the storm you're facing in your life right now. Today can be anything you want it to be! It's all up to you, you have the power to make anything happen in your life. Believe in yourself & remember no matter how difficult it is right now....this too shall pass.

Have a wonderful weekend, see you Monday.

Bill

Quote of the day:"Today you have the opportunity to move beyond the storms you're facing in your life. Look at each day as a new beginning & discover the joy in each moment."

Peace

Peace, something we all strive for; "To bring more peace to the world". Is peace possible? Can little old me actually make a difference in the world? The answer to these questions are a resounding YES!!! The world can discover true peace once we all learn to find love. I've written before that love isn't something you should seek out. Love is something that begins from within. Each of us can discover the love we have inside & by believing in this love & letting it flow out of us we will have love in our life.

The same principle is true with peace. Once we discover love & we realize that every person has love inside them. We can begin to open our heart to others & act from a place of love first. By letting go of the need to judge, acting from a place of love first & accepting the differences we all have, peace can grow from within us outward to the rest of the world.

Believe in the power you have individually. Anything you want to do, you can do & peace is no different. Stop accepting the fact that there will always be violence & unrest in the world & start believing in the love with all have within us.

The biggest stumbling blocks we have to a world of peace are two fold. First, as I just mentioned, it's an acceptance that there will always be unrest. Remember thoughts become things!! So by accepting that there will always be unrest....there will always be unrest. Change your thoughts to believe that peace is possible & that the world can let go of differences & move to a time of peace.

The second stumbling block to peace is the EGO. The EGO's need for more is the driving force behind the violence in the world today. Take a look at your own life & understand that when you act out it's your EGO that's being hurt & making you react. By pausing & letting go of the immediate thought we can move beyond the EGO & into a place of love. We all have gotten hurt in life by others, but by letting go of the EGO & focusing on the love you have inside we can move beyond the EGO & begin to see the love that others have in them.

Start creating the world you want to see today. Let go of the old & believe in a world of peace & love. It can happen now!! Be the spark to ignite the change.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Peace in the world is possible through each of us believing in ourselves & creating the world we want to see."

Become apart of the change...take the vow of peace & non-violence & change the world.

I take the vow is a website to start the change...join today.

Dreams

It begins with the closing of my eyes. I slowly drift between reality & another world. Sometimes I pause at this in-between place where I can still hear the sounds of reality but the beauty that's waiting for me continues to call me deeper. Slowly, ever so slowly I drift off to my new reality the place of my dreams. Often my dreams start with a walk through a garden. I smell the beauty of nature as I continue my decent into the reality of my dreams.

Dreams are an amazing thing. Something we all do. In fact if we didn't dream we'd actually go insane. There's a lot of research that's been done on the meaning of our dreams & I've read several books on their interpretation. Dreams, for me, are one of our easiest connections to our true self if we can move beyond the noise of the day.

The natural process of dreaming is to digest the day & make sense of it. The mind uses this process to quiet our fears or to make them bigger. We feel our raw emotions when we dream & it's through that connection that we can find our true self. Dreams can be self-directed to some extent but in my experience this direction only lasts a short period of time. Once you've fallen into a deep sleep it's very difficult to direct your dreams because your conscious mind let's go & allows your sub-conscious mind to take over. The wonderful thing about the sub-conscious mind is that it is much more preceptive than the conscious mind & therefore through dreams we can discover the signs we are looking for in our life that were previously overlooked.

The biggest challenge many people have with their dreams is actually remembering them. The average person only remembers a small percentage of their dreams each morning & the further they move away from waking up the less of those dreams they actually remember. The best remedy for remembering your dreams is to leave a notebook on your nightstand so that you can write down your dreams as soon as you wake up.

The interpretation of specific dreams is beyond what I can write here, if you're truly interested I would suggest picking up several of the dream interpretation books. One of my favorites is: "The Dream Encyclopedia" by James R. Lewis. I would caution you in that some of the explanations for dreams vary from book to book so take what they say with a grain of salt. What's important to me is to understand the depth of your perception of events that occur in your life. You have a deep meaningful connection with everything around you & through your dreams you can begin to understand that connection.

Trust in your dreams for they have signs & meanings that need to be explored. Begin to keep track of each of your dreams & you'll discover the steps you need to follow to bring more joy into your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Dreams have deep meanings beyond our conscious mind that will uncover the path to true joy & the true connection to our self."