Glen Of Scotland

Take a moment

Take a moment to read this letter, it's from a 12 year old boy who successfully fought a 7 year battle with cancer. You can read the background to the story here. Whenever we go through an illness or some other troubles, it is easy to think we have it tough, there is always someone else worse off believe me. Often too it takes a challenge for us to wake up to what is really important, hopefuly, this letter will serve as that wake up call.

"This is a story of a child called Charlie who was diagnosed with cancer when he was only five years old. In fact, on the fifth day of the fifth month of 2005.

My name is Charlie Williams. I could have died by now. I recently found out I was not going to die.

At Addenbrooke's Hospital I had to endure medical treatments that included radiotherapy, which involved me going into a cylindrical tunnel for about half an hour, which is quite scary for a 6 year old, as I was at the time.

I also had several MRI scans, also in a cylindrical tunnel, with all kinds of noises while you are inside.

The chemotherapy was through a drip which was inserted into my body, in my upper chest, like a transfusion, and went on for a few hours at a time every month. I also had to have lots of blood transfusions.

Needles aren't the nicest thing in the world, and I used to be petrified of them, so you can imagine what it felt like for me to have them inserted into me so often as a child. But I'm used to them now.

Do you think you could cope with all that medical treatment? How do you think it would change you as a person?

Being ill, and knowing that there may be a chance that you will lose the things that make up your life, makes you value those things.

For instance, material things like computers and calculators, even pens and pencils, become special things in a way, because you realise that without them you would not have the tools for your education.

A simple pencil may mean nothing to a child in my school, but to a child in, say, a poor village in Uganda, it may just be the start of a lifetime of education. I think about these kinds of things now after being ill for so long.

In most classes in this school, there will always be one child (sometimes more, sometimes even three) who will distract the rest of the children by doing something daft. It happens so often, maybe every five minutes, sometimes every minute.

The person doing it seems to want to be the centre of attention - he uses the whole class as his stage, to do his performance.

He doesn't really care that there are other people there who really want to learn the subject the teacher is teaching.

He just wants to distract anyone else who, like him, doesn't care about learning.

He is basically being selfish. I just look at people like him and think, 'why?'

Once in a blue moon, I will also misbehave, don't we all, whether we are children or adults, it's part of growing up, and part of life. But like I said, it's once in a blue moon, not every minute of the day.

Being seriously ill makes you think about these sorts of things, because you think about what is important and what's not.

I wonder if those children, who don't care and don't behave, all had cancer one day, like me. Would it change them?

For all you children, food is not just vital, you love good food, think about all those things you love to eat: chocolate, cheeseburgers, fries, sweets, cakes, sausages, roast dinner, and loads of other things.

But imagine several days of not being able to put anything, even a drop of water, in your mouth.

When you have to have so many operations and medicines, you just can't keep anything down.

While in hospital, I would go to the canteen and watch people eating, but not be able to eat anything myself.

Parents may seem unfair but they will always help you

Just think if you were that person dying for something to eat and all you can think about is food, but you have to fast for so many hours.

Since I couldn't eat much, I was fitted with a tube up my nose (sounds horrible but you have to have what you need or die).

It was a little machine fitted with a glass bottle which gave me everything I needed for nourishment.

All that time I couldn't eat like a normal child, made me fussy about my food; now I know what I am safe with and what I like - I have sausages every night!

Parents may seem unfair or not let you do things you want, but they will always help you.

They feed you, they clothe you and they give you a home, but most of all they help you when you are hurt.

My mum and dad sat with me day after day in the hospital, and watched me being pulled about, having all kinds of medical treatment I couldn't stand.

I know first hand what parents go through when they see their child in pain.

I'm sure that when I was diagnosed with the brain tumour, they thought I would not get through it. Can you imagine if your parents thought you were going to die?

Now you have heard from a real life cancer survivor, I hope my story has shocked you in some way into thinking about your own lives.
Here I am a normal child but one who has had an awful journey in the start of his childhood.

But I have also had something positive from it all in that I am more serious and thoughtful about life.

It makes me behave better at school and work harder.

Cancer has made me take a step back and look through the window of life at what is ahead of me"

Your best Christmas and New Year

Christmas is just a week away, I hope you are getting everything ready for a great time.

I was talking recently with someone and we were talking about our best Christmases, we broke it out between childhood and adult and we had a good time talking about the memories of family, friends, great food and drink and of course gifts.

Even now, just writing this has memories coming back of the good times, some years as a child we didn't have much, but my mother went out of her way to make it a special day, so much as a child I only had great Christmases and the pattern continued as an adult.

One of my favorite Christmas memories as an adult, was going home to Scotland one year while I lived in Boston. I hadn't been home for a few years for Christmas and I wanted it to be a surprise visit. Seeing as how no one in my family could be trusted to keep a secret of that nature, it was a covert trip, flying in a couple of days before and staying at a hotel out of town to make sure I wasn't spotted.

When I rang the door bell on Christmas morning, my mother answered and just stood there at a loss for words from the shock of seeing me, that didn't last for long though, as we went on to have a memorable time.

It was well worth the time and effort to create  the surprise, I couldn't tell you anything about the gifts that were exchanged, but the laughs were many and we didn't stop talking about it for quite a time.

A Christmas like that was just priceless. What are your favorite memories of Christmas? If you have time this week, make a list of your favorite Christmas memories, I promise you it will be worth it.

I already know this Christmas will be memorable, I have been busy creating a few special touches that will add to the festivities this year, I know they will bring love, fun and laughter to the day.

A great recipe don't you think?

Getting what you want

If there is a post to print out and keep, this is the one!

Early in the spring I was figuring out the places in Colorado that I had still not visited and the wild life that I had not seen. I wanted create a summer of new adventures, you know, enjoy life and experience more.  I had not seen out in the wild, mountain sheep and goats, moose and of course bears. Not long after I did finally see mountain sheep at the side of the road in a non photo opportunity, I'm sure I will see them again.

My research on the moose took me on a planned trip to State Forest State Park, west of Fort Collins, which has the largest moose population in the state. I was excited to finally see some moose, a magnificent creature and with a very spiritual connection too.

It was not to be, although I had a great day in the area, not a single moose sighting which was a little disappointing. I did find out the best time and places to see them and would return there at some point. A few friends asked over the course of the next few days, if I had seen an moose and after the Tuesday, it was all forgotten, but still wanted.

Last weekend I had a trip planned to the Rocky Mountain National Park, my favorite place to be. I had planned a couple of hikes that took into account what was going to be easy to access. With the snowmelt and snow still remaining a number of options were not available due to bridges being washed away and 3-5 feet of snow still in places. None the less the plan was in place.

I set off early on the Saturday morning, it was going to be a hot day 98  in the city and 80's up in the mountains, it was nice though. During the drive to the park, I suddenly had the thought that I should take a walk around Bear Lake, it's less than a mile around the lake and I have been there many times and taken many beautiful photos. I mulled it over, I hadn't planned on being near there, yet,it was a strong urge, so I went with it.

Finally I arrived at Bear Lake, swapped shoes, got the camera ready and got the first picture of the day:

Despite the early hour, there were a number of other people setting off, they went anti clockwise around the lake and I was very deliberate in going clockwise. I stopped in a couple of places to get some photos and just over a quarter of the way around, my right eye caught the presence in between the trees in the lake of a moose! I knew exactly what it was and ran around past the trees.

By this time the moose was mostly submerged:

There was a couple walking around, I said you walked past the moose, they were amazed. Then I said I know where it's going and I ran back the way I came to the spot where the moose came out of the lake. I wanted to be careful and give it space so it felt free, besides a moose versus Glen contest would have only one winner.

The moose was aware of my presence and was cool, I was no threat, nor was the couple who had followed me around, so it kept walking up from the lake

It was a stunning sight and the moose kept moving forward onto the trail, stopped and shook all the water of itself:

Then it quickly moved off into the trees on it's merry way. I was blown away, in the five years I have been coming up to the RMNP, I had never even seen nor heard of moose being there, elk yes not the moose. The couple were thrilled and thanked me and I found out later that this was indeed a very rare sighting, park rangers were telling me how lucky I was, not that I didn't know it!

What a start to the day and as I thought back to the whole unfolding I was astonished at the way it all unfolded, the timing and what went on that morning. You see the whole time period from catching the glimpse of the moose and it leaving was 3 minutes, had I been 2 minutes later I would have missed the whole thing.

I set off a little later than I had planned, years ago I would not have been happy about that, I could have over ruled the thought to go to the lake in the first place, it wasn't in the plan, I could have gone with the crowd anti clockwise and not seen the moose come out of the lake and there was a slow driver inside the park who led a long line of cars to get to the parking lot, in the past that would have got me annoyed and left me fuming for a while. I was also present in the moment, not thinking about other things, which allowed me to catch the first glimpse to begin with. Remember a couple had walked right past the moose,which at that point would be standing in the lake!

Other factors at play here were, even though I had wanted to see moose, I had given it no more thought for a whole month and I had no reason to expect to see one in this park. So there is no need to keep thinking about what you want.

There are many lessons here for people who want to create things and complain when they don't happen. First though, you may think it's a moose, I want, money, love, job etc so this is not the same. That is not the case at all, the same principles apply, is it easier to not think about seeing a moose rather than a job, yes it could be if you make it so.

I knew at some point I would see a moose, I keep getting out in nature and I didn't give up after the first time. A lot of people give up or they don't keep getting out there. I wasn't attached to any time frame that I had to see the moose by. Are you attached to a time frame for what you want?

I didn't get upset at things not going my way, a slow driver for example or setting off late and I stayed in the present moment. Are you letting yourself be controlled by things you have no control over? Does that take you away from the present moment?

I trusted the thought that came to me, even though it didn't make sense or was different from what I had planned. Some times I don't go along with those thoughts, it's not the end of the world when that happens. Are you willing to trust what come to mind like that even if it makes no sense?

As I mentioned earlier, this was the last place I would have thought of seeing a moose, just based on my prior experience and knowledge. With everything as I have found, I willing for the thing things I want to come from unexpected sources. Are you fixed on the how when and where of what you want to happen?

If you answered yes to these questions, you can see what to address to make manifesting easier. Note you don't have to be perfect to accomplish this, I'm not so there is room for making mistakes.

So there you have it, my best example so far, yes so far, I know there will be a better one soon and as much as I appreciate this one, I can't wait to see how the next one unfolds!

I'm just not appreciated

It doesn't matter the environment I'm working with, the declaration "I'm just not appreciated" comes up very frequently. It can be at work where an employee feels as if they are doing well or working extra hard or doing things above and beyond what is asked for, and feels not appreciated or doesn't hear any thank you or praise.

At home it can be a husband or wife, the kids and often a feeling of being taken for granted, from their perception never hearing a thank you, a well done or any form of appreciation.

Once that feeling and perception comes up, it's a tough one to shake loose of as that becomes your new filter. Meaning you are doing all those things and maybe even going as far as to say to yourself, let's see if they notice this. You may even start keeping a score card to bring up during arguments as your evidence, if not for arguments certainly in your mind.

Of course the more you notice the lack of appreciation the more you seem to find it, you may notice it follows you around, from work to home to friends, it's everyone, who do you bother you may ask yourself. Quite the self pity party or worse.

I can promise you that under those thinking and beliefs, nothing will change and you will continue to feel bad.

The first question, is it even true, that they don't appreciate you? I have found situations where words of appreciation were given that were different from what was expected. A seemingly casual "oh thanks" versus your expectation of a big scene of more words or even a ticker parade will never match up to what you feel you deserve.

The next thing I would ask you to look at, is what are their actions rather than their words. Are you getting pay raises, promotions etc at work, or flowers and gifts at home. Those are actions that indicate approval, acceptance and appreciation, though again they may not be what you have built up in your mind.

Next, I would suggest looking at the individual and seeing if they are capable of providing what you are looking for. Everyone has been brought up and had different exposures in life and not everyone is comfortable with expressing love and appreciation. The good news is that is something that can change from the influence of others in the environment, mainly YOU.

The intention is not to change them, rather to create an  environment of appreciation and it entails YOU being the one to start appreciating others, especially those you feel you are having problems with. Yes that may seem tough to swallow, given your current view point, be willing to let that go for now and start complimenting rather complaining in your mind and verbally.

I promise if you apply this diligently and with a pure intention you will see a change around you very quickly. Apply it first to what you consider your easiest of all the situations first then move from there. Don't try to control how others express appreciation, even if it is different from the words you would choose, it's still appreciation.

New Experience

Every day brings the opportunity for new experiences, even if the difference is only small. Each new experience brings the opportunity for learning, fun, happiness and variety.

The Red Sox were recently in town to play the Rockies, so it was an opportunity to enjoy the game, hang out with friends, see the Red Sox and enjoy a really beautiful ball park. I didn't realize that half the crowd would be Red Sox fans, I have never been to any sporting event live where the crowd was split this way and it made for an exciting time.

The atmosphere was electric as the Rockies had the best pitcher in baseball pitching and took the lead, a cheer would go up, "lets go Rockies" followed by "lets go Red Sox" which was maintained throughout the night. Then the Red Sox started a comeback and tied the game, I mentioned to my friends that the pitch count was getting high for the Rockies, no sooner had I said that, a home run, the Red Sox were in front with a 2 run lead.

The atmosphere held up as we reached the 9th inning, one of the best closers was in the game for the Sox, the fans were on their feet, then bam a home run for the Rockies, tied game, next hitter oh no, an unheard of back to back home run and the Rockies win.

Even though the Sox lost the whole evening was a blast, so much fun, excitement, the atmosphere, everyone was buzzing, it was that good, the result didn't matter so much as having that good time.

Now that I have had that experience, I am in alignment to go to a higher level in the future. People often say it doesn't get any better than that when they have a good time, take that limitation back as it does keep getting better.

Oh, and just writing this all out for you, brought all that excitement back again.

Perfect Game

I recently wrote about I movie I enjoyed called the Perfect Game, based on the perfect game pitched by the little league team from Mexico in 1957.

At the professional level in baseball there have been only 18 perfect games pitched in major league baseball dating back to 1880. Each team plays at least 162 games a season so it gives you an idea how rare this feat is.

Interestingly this year there have already been 2 perfect games in the same month officially and 3 within 30 days unofficially.

Is there a connection between the movie being out, maybe not as it wasn't widely seen or is the 4 minute mile effect after Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile barrier and others followed suit quickly thereafter, or a combination of both. Makes you wonder.

At the time of writing this the unofficial perfect game is that, the umpire blew the call for what would have been the last out, but for that if was a perfect game. The pitcher, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers, knew he had the out and was graceful at the end of game. Here is a great quote from a reporter, the last paragraph is something to remember for everyone, especially those seeking perfection and those demanding perfection:

 

Galarraga pitched a perfect game on Wednesday night in Detroit. I’ll always believe that. I think most baseball fans will always believe that. But, more than anything, it seems that Galarraga will always believe it. The way he handled himself after the game, well, that was something better than perfection. Dallas Braden’s perfect game was thrilling. Roy Halladay’s perfect game was art. But Armando’s Galarraga’s perfect game was a lesson in grace.

And when my young daughters ask, “Why didn’t he get mad and scream about how he was robbed?” I think I will tell them this: I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s because Armando Galarraga understands something that is very hard to understand, something we all struggle with, something I hope you will learn as you grow older: In the end, nobody’s perfect. We just do the best we can"

Joe Posnanski

Not to be forgotten either is the fact the umpire after seeing the replay, immediately, owned the fact he made a mistake and apologized to the pitcher, a rare thing these days too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving here in the USA, I hope you have a great day with family and friends, that you appreciate the company and good food. That you have many things to be happy about, to bring a smile or rip roaring laughter to you. That you relax and and see the best in yourself and those around you and that you find peace within.

Every day is Thanksgiving, today it is more concentrated, with turkey and the trimmings and football!

Peace and love to you all

Glen

Creating

During the summer I was hiking up in the Rocky National Park, it was a stunningly beautiful day and the universe was doing the equivalent of throwing the everything and the kitchen sink for me. More about that later though.

One encounter I had was a first for me anyway, a humming bird, it was beautiful and was flying around me in one spot and then again a little further up. It was weaving and flying, very quickly it was very meaningful for me too the message that was being conveyed. I wanted to get a photograph, it was moving to fast and I wanted to continue receiving from the moment. 

I wanted to experience that again and I wanted to have photographs too. A couple of weeks later I was at the botanic gardens and there was another humming bird, it was busy feeding and flying around, not paying me any attention. I did get a photo, which I appreciated and I wanted an even better one.

Another few weeks later I was up at the Royal Gorge, a very high vibrational area in Colorado, and at the bottom of the World's steepest incline railway there was the opportunity I had been creating. It was better than I could ever have imagined and I was able to spend time with the humming birds as they were drinking, not only did I receive great photographs, I also was able to have the experience on video!

I'd like to share my creation with you over the next few posts. It  is fun to create, especially when we are not attached to the outcome and for many the outcome tends to be greater than they imagined. When there is no attachment,we are not worried about the how, when or where, unfortunately, many do get worried or attached to just that.

Changing perspective

In the early 1990's I was traveling a lot throughout the country by plane. One day I had a flight canceled and the airline offered to fly me to my destination with Southwest Airlines, I wanted to get where I wanted to go and I said sure and was given a ticket.

I got to the gate for my flight and it was a mob scene, there was no assigned seating and it was a free for all. There was no way I was getting on that plane, I went back to the agent and was somewhat irate and asked if she was trying to punish me or something. I was given another fight on a different airline and got to my destination.

Fast forward to last year and due to changes with airlines, Southwest came up again, they had changed their boarding process to a more orderly process, still no assigned seating, however it was obvious that getting an A number was key to getting a window or aisle seat, or even an exit row with more leg room. To get those coveted A numbers it was critical to be logged on to the system exactly 24 hours before the flight.

I enjoyed my flight, I was even served a free drink (non alcohol)   and  peanuts, which is a rarity, no fees and the vibe from the pilot and flight crew was really good. I enjoyed the experience and it really changed my perspective about them.

This year, I have flown Southwest quite often and as the year progressed I found the need to log onto to the system 24 hours  before my flight a bit cumbersome. That contrast had me asking the universe, wouldn't it be nice to get an A number with more ease.

A month or so ago, I was drawn to a news report online that Southwest were now offering early boarding for a $10 fee each way. For me this was great, for $10 the system would automatically assign me an A number and I could check in  anytime. What great ease this has turned out to be for me, some others don't like this fee, for me I love it! all this ease for $10.

The lessons in all of this are be open to changing views, perspectives as things are always changing,  this is a universe that is not stagnant, there will always be change. Also use the contrast in any situation to ask for or get clear about what you want, anything is possible as this example shows.

Parenting

One aspect in life that seems to bring doubt to the forefront more than anything else is parenting. It feels like everyone has a solution, which brings more confusion to the matter. Here is an interesting article that you may find helpful, I would suggest reading it a few times to allow it to sink in. The article is here and a quote is below:

"In practice, according to an impressive collection of data by Dr. Deci and others, unconditional acceptance by parents as well as teachers should be accompanied by “autonomy support”: explaining reasons for requests, maximizing opportunities for the child to participate in making decisions, being encouraging without manipulating, and actively imagining how things look from the child’s point of view".

Things that help

Over the past year I have invested in various products that make my life easier. Of course I could manage without them, I actually did before, so then why bother? It adds  another level of ease for me and with that ease I'm feeling even better than before, a higher level of feeling better if you like.

It's much like having a great experience and thinking this is as good as it gets, only to discover later that it can actually get better, as a new experience actually topped that one from before.

That's been the case with my navigational system, before the ease of going to mapquest and printing out directions was a big step forward, that replaced carrying a big map and stopping to see how I was doing. Mapquest was more ease than the map book, even with both I still managed to get off track from time to time.

Now with the navigational system I plug in the address and a voice gives me turn by turn directions on where to go. It's much easier than before and I'm sure much like I thought mapquest was as good as it gets, this navigational system will be replaced by something even better and easier.

In the mean time I really appreciate how much more ease it is getting around different cities.

Research Study: Want to be happier? Be more grateful

This from Kent State University:

Want to quickly improve your happiness and satisfaction with life? Then the pen may be a mighty weapon, according to research done by Kent State University’s Dr. Steven Toepfer.

Toepfer, an assistant professor of family and consumer studies at university’s Salem Campus, says that expressive writing is something that has been available to mankind since ink first appeared in Egypt more than 4,000 years ago.

“Everyone is pursuing the American dream. We are wealthier than previous generations, consuming more and experiencing more, but yet so many of us are so unhappy,” Toepfer says. “The question of ‘is there something simple we can do to be happier?’ is one that I have been thinking about for many years and one that has interested people for much longer.”

With that question in mind, Toepfer enlisted students from six courses to explore the effects of writing letters of gratitude to people who had positively impacted the students’ lives.  Over the course of a six-week period, students wrote one letter every two weeks with the simple ground rules that it had to be positively expressive, required some insight and reflection, were nontrivial and contained a high level of appreciation or gratitude.

After each letter, students completed a survey to gauge their moods, satisfaction with life and feelings of gratitude and happiness.

“I saw their happiness increase after each letter, meaning the more they wrote, the better they felt,” says Toepfer, who also witnessed improvement in participants’ life satisfaction and gratitude throughout the study. “The most powerful thing in our lives is our social network. It doesn’t have to be large, and you don’t always need to be the life of the party, but just having one or two significant connections in your life has shown to have terrific psychological and physical benefits.”

In all, 75 percent of the students said they planned to continue to write letters of gratitude even when the course was over.

Studies demonstrate, according to Toepfer, that practicing expressive writing is often associated with fewer health problems, decreased depression, an improved immune system and improved grades.

“We are all walking around with an amazing resource: gratitude,” says Toepfer. “It helps us express and enjoy, appreciate, be thankful and satisfied with a little effort. We all have it, and we need to use it to improve our quality of life.”

Did you notice?

If you practiced those acts of kindness this week, did you notice anything different? Are people treating you better? Do you feel better? Have things been going a little bit easier?

Is it a coincidence?

Would you want to keep doing all or some of it?

Kindness Week -5

Would you be willing to look them in the eye and thank, all those serving you today for being there for you?

Kindness Week -4

Happy Thanksgiving!

Would you be willing for today to love,support, encourage, listen, accept and respect those you will be spending the day with?

This means no criticizing, complaining, blaming, punishing or nagging just for today.

Kindness Week -3

Would you be willing to give $10 to a stranger or leave it somewhere where it will be found?

Kindness Week -2

Would you be willing to buy and have lunch with someone at work today? Or thank the mail clerk, janitor, receptionist or someone else you may have taken for granted?

Kindness Week

Would you be willing to spend 10 minutes just being with someone in your household? No distractions, just you and them, holding, touching, listening and sharing.

Giving Thanks

It's Thanksgiving week here in the USA, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for being part of my life. Family, friends, clients, acquaintances, strangers and those just passing through, I have enjoyed our moments together. Each moment has been an experience that I have valued and learned from and has made for an exciting year. It really does keep getting better and better.

I thought I would call this week, kindness week  and just offer suggestions through the week that would allow the energy of kindness to be dominant.

Have you noticed?

How much gas prices have dropped in the last few weeks and how much money you are saving, compared to the summer? Have you noticed how much you are saving over last year? Prices are over a dollar cheaper than last year.

I know people who are saving $200 a month, it all helps and I appreciate it for myself. It's easy to focus on what's going wrong and miss things like this.

Are you appreciating?

Are you appreciating the recent decrease in gas prices, the have dropped 50-60 cents per gallon from  the recent peak. I'm sure that is adding a few dollars each week into your funds. Are you making good use of this extra money?

You might argue that yes, prices are still higher than last year, and the oil companies, this and the government that and all those other stories which are true. Yet going there takes you away from prosperity. Which would you rather have?

I'm sure most would choose more prosperity, just avoid trying to control how and when it comes to you and watch for the variety of ways it will come to you. I feel as the year progresses there will be a lot of things deflating in price and some inflation too with other things. There will be an opportunity to come out ahead.

If you choose to fight the other things, that's okay we are all here for different things.

Road Trip 4

Finally the last leg of the hike and the destination, Hanging Lake, a double waterfall and a nice clear lake. I really appreciated this whole experience and the great trip I created, I want more of this.
 

I was curious where all this water was coming from, a hiked a little further, as far as you can go and found a spouting hole, I don't know where the source is, and I don't need to know, just appreciate it. The hike back was faster and recovery was in the hot springs in town, which was ideal to rest up for the next day, I wonder what is in store.

Good Fun

Everything lined up nicely for my first experience on a snowmobile, something I have wanted to do for quite a while. The drive was great, very little traffic at that early and we made good time, in fact got there earlier, and by chance the company could fit us in.

Once again the tour guide was excellent, he knew the comfort level of all the riders, it was a small group, and led us through 20 miles of trails and meadows and hills for over 2 hours. It's quite exhilarating, driving an 800 pound machine at 30 miles an hour through the snow, being aware and focused  on drive. There was a light snow as we got higher up and that felt so good, it was a lot of fun.

It feels so good when things flow nicely like that and it's good to appreciate creating that and meeting all the other people, very interesting people, who in combination create a fulfilling experience.

Nice drive

I was driving to the gym, the early mornings are getting warmer compared to a few weeks ago. The sun was rising and over to the west there was the beautiful full moon against the blue sky. As I turned the car, there in east was the rising sun, very bright and beautiful. Nice to have the energy of the full moon and the sun on the drive, that can only be once a month if clouds cooperate.

Driving down the road, it's time to meet a pair of Canadian wild geese, just walking along side the road as they have for the last 2 mornings. On the way back they are over the other side of the fence having breakfast. A couple of magpies fly over in what seems perfect formation.

At the light a glance over and they are up early, stretching with their noses in the air, absorbing what is going on, smelling the air, yes, it's the prairie dogs starting their day.

It's the same drive, same route every day, yet every day is different, something new, something changing, life force all around, new cells, new excitement. Life is really good, are you participating? would you like to?

Use the gift of your senses and start today!

Snowboarding

Snowboarding is really popular, more  with the younger age groups. I was struck by the excitement in people when they talk about snowboarding, they really light up. When I was visiting Winter Park, I used the opportunity to observe some of what was going on with snowboarders. Here are some things I found:

Loose, flexibility, freedom, no rules, excitement, colorful,  no limits, expressive, individual, independent , thrill, high, creative, new heights, soaring, free form, in charge, flowing.

Is it any wonder so many young people are drawn to snowboarding? I wonder how we can spice up some of what we do in our lives more interesting, and bring in some of the above that surrounds snowboarding. Just a thought!

It's been fun!

The year is almost over so I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting the blog, your feedback, comments and appreciations mean a lot to me. Thanks also to those who came along to the classes, I learned so much from you and it was a lot of fun. I appreciate all my clients too, it has been an exciting year, you have no idea the joy I receive working with you all. I really am excited by what each of you have accomplished this past year and feel blessed to share the experiences.

I love you all and I look forward to more excitement next year!

I will be posting photos of my hiking adventures for the rest of the year, I hope you enjoy them. I'm still available for appointments though I will have a limited schedule next week. Feel free to browse the archives, there are 2 years worth of posts you can browse through that cover a variety of topics.

Enjoy the holiday season, have fun and be well!

Loving it

I'm really loving my drive to and from the gym early in the morning, there is a lot for me to appreciate and with the variety in weather it keeps me aware. The early morning temperatures vary from 12 degrees Fahrenheit to the 40's so that means being aware of the temperature and choosing what to wear.

Then the drive out of the garage and the first thing I see are the Canadian Geese who have migrated to a large pond about a 1/4 mile ahead. As the drive continues I meet the hawk who is resting and surveying the area from a top the street light, some mornings facing me others with its back to me.

Coming back from the gym which is only 10 minutes or so away, I meet the prairie dogs, quite a number of them basking in the early morning sun and observing. One morning they weren't there, there was a fox who seemed to know where to come. Another morning there was snow and sensibly they were deep in their homes or holes.

As the drive continues there are geese flying off somewhere in the customary V formation, I wonder how they learned that, then as I enter the garage there are hundreds of geese in and around the pond, not paying attention to the nearby cows.

Are you observing on your drive to work or are you on autopilot?

Holiday Time

It's Thanksgiving week here in the USA, a time for families and friends to get together and give thanks. Feel and share the love and enjoy each others company, eat good food, watch good football and have good shopping the next day.

It can also be a stressful time too, as some of those old arguments rear their head, memories of past slights are activated once again, that old familiar pattern or habit right in front of you. If you choose to focus on these things and make them bigger it will cause a lot of stress.

People often say, it's easy for you to say that, you don't know what they did in the past. I reply that it's true I don't know what anyone did to hurt you in the past, however I can tell you this from my experience of  being with those who are ready to cross over to non physical or what is known as dying. Not one person focuses on those things those past injustices, hurts or even their material possessions, such as the car, the house etc.

The focus is on the love that they have for those in their lives, the good times, happiness, those who come for forgiveness after years of no contact are quickly forgiven. There is a calmness and peace in the focus of all of this and naturally a little bit of fear too before the death in the physical body.

You don't have to wait until death then to have this peace and joy, choose to live this day as if it were your last. On an average day in the world for approximately 240,000 people it will be their last  day. How would you want your last day to be?

A Celebration

Today is the 500th posting to the blog! I didn't expect to write so much on here or receive so many visitors, it's been a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who logs on to read and argue write to me, I do appreciate you!

All of these blog entries have built the momentum for writing my book and I'm pleased to say that the book is coming along well. I will be posting on here less frequently (at least weekly next year) and concentrating on the book and of course working with clients. Feel free to browse the archives for inspiration as there are many great articles that will help you through your day and some will even give you a laugh.

Look for a new look early next year as I update things.

Nature Day 5

I had been hearing the sound all day, the sound of the Elk call or rutting as it's the Elk mating season. This was my first sighting, the first of many that would come in the next few weeks.

It must be love:

That was a wrap on the day, I was feeling really good and in a state of great appreciation for what I received that day. Life really is good and fun.