Pearls to Ponder

The Quiet of Snow Is Upon Us

We live in the midst of abundance, of universal space, and we receive abundance as a result of conviction in the universal Law of Life. The universal law of life is continuity. … ‘Abundance in the making’ is making new discoveries regarding that which already exists. Gregge Tiffen (Faith is Abundance in the Making – Winter Solstice, 2008)

This week finds me moving in several directions, all forward. I’m preparing to travel and writing this post in advance. I’m engaged in a project with a colleague – keeping it gently moving until we launch an intense focused effort and participating in a community meeting.

In the throes of this activity I’m also moving into the quiet, contemplative darkness of winter and looking ahead to the sacred Winter Solstice. While contemplation has become an important part of my daily life in all seasons, winter offers a magic that seems to deepen the meaning of what I discover. Winter brings a soft curiosity and encourages me to consider manifesting experiences where I will experiment applying those discoveries.

And, winter brings opportunities in the form of challenges. Winter weather can impact the best laid plan. I’m especially aware of that as a winter storm moves in, offering the opportunity to accept what is and relinquish any illusion of control I think I may have. Go with the flow! Allow things turn out as they will and trust that to be in divine perfection.

Doing so is most always easier said than done, especially when travelling.  If I allow them to, reservations and schedules for lodging and transportation become a mother lode of stress and restrict my sense of flexibility and ease. Likewise with plans made for gatherings with family and friends.

Navigating this snowy travel time, I’ve found support in some pearls of wisdom. I offer them for you to ponder as you enter what, for many, can be a hectic, demanding time. As we move deeper into winter, I invite you to give yourself the gift of time and energy for quiet contemplation to consider how you want to be with life.

… Nonetheless, we walk around constantly trying to control and determine what will happen next … No wonder there’s so much tension, anxiety and fear. Each of us actually believes that things should be the way we want them, instead of being the natural result of all the forces of creation. … There is so much evidence that life does quite well on its own. The planets stay in orbit, tiny seeds grow into giant trees … a single fertilized cell grows into a beautiful baby. … they are being done by the incomprehensible perfection of life itself. All these amazing events, and countless more, are being carried out by forces of life that have been around for billions of years – the very same forces that we are consciously pitting our will against on a daily basis. If the natural unfolding of the process of life can create and take care of the entire universe, is it really reasonable for us to assume that nothing good will happen unless we force it to?  Michael A. Singer (The Surrender Experiment – my journey into life’s perfection)

So what if road conditions prevent or delay my travel? So what if I don’t sleep in the hotel before my early morning flight? So what if I miss my flight?  So what if I feel guided to leave early and miss a gathering? Is it possible, dare I probable, that the Universe, wiser than I, has something better in store? How can I live more powerfully from that place?

Faith is conviction that relinquishing control is in your best interest. Trust is the act of conviction that faith will not harm you … that your consciousness is operating by universal direction. Gregge Tiffen (Faith is Abundance in the Making – Winter Solstice, 2008)

Winter Contemplation -Not Just for Humans - Luke December 2015

Popping My Bubble

Checking Out the Woods

The issue is exposure. Exposure is required every day of your life. If you keep your exposure under wraps, there is nothing that can be done. … You have kept the purse hidden away and zipped up tight. Your presence is not available. That is a sad reality and is one of the first things to look at in terms of how you accept universal opportunities. Gregge Tiffen (An Empty Heart Makes An Empty Purse – November, 2008)

As we approach Thanksgiving here in the U.S. thoughts about receiving join my overall sense of gratitude for life. I’m reminded of another of Gregge’s pearls of wisdom:

We have an abundant Universe. We have an infinite Universe. We have an omnipotent, creative Universe, and all these things are available to us. We are willing to receive and willing to give thanks as an integral part of creation.  (Gregge Tiffen – The Power of Giving Thanks – November, 2007)

I often write of the relatively quiet life I live here in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I love this life and I’m deeply grateful to live in the extraordinary beauty of nature that surrounds me.  Nature and quiet feed my soul in ways I never imagined.  For the past couple years, since closing the bed and breakfast and allowing my coaching practice to wind down, I’ve lived in my mountain bubble - writing, reading, reflecting on life, walking with Luke, and maintaining home and hearth – a ‘semi-hermit’ lifestyle that I’ve come to love.

Recently though, I’ve experienced a sense of restlessness, part boredom perhaps, along with missing more engagement with the world. I also recognized that cash has mostly flowed in one direction (out) and that I need to increase the inward flow. 

So began an inquiry familiar to me from times past: ‘What’s next?’  Over the course of several decades, revisiting this inquiry from time to time led me from public service to real estate development to marriage to consulting to coaching to divorce to my move to the mountains and to the bed and breakfast. (Whew!) Each experience held great learning, and each provided for my needs.  

An important element of any ‘what’s next?’ inquiry is to look at where you are now. A candid, honest self-assessment is key to manifesting a powerful ‘next’.  For me that’s meant considering that my lifestyle choices limit the flow of abundant opportunities that can come my way and recognizing the laundry list of excuses I developed to protect it. (Ouch!)

Gregge’s words about ‘exposure’ provided the pin prick that popped my semi-hermit bubble. Today, I’m saying ‘yes’ to possibilities that come my way more often. Rather than making excuses for not attending a workshop out of town, I registered, packed up and drove to Santa Fe. Rather than giving in to ‘it’s too hard to travel in winter’, I’m soon off to see family that I haven’t visited in several years. Rather than using the ‘I’ve never done that’ excuse to avoid exploring a possibility, I’m asking ‘how might I approach this?’.

Although I don’t know ‘the’ answer to ‘what’s next?’ (or even if there is a single answer), the willingness to increase my exposure is presenting an array of interesting new connections, synergies and possibilities.  It’s good to remember that receiving is not a spectator sport. It requires reflection, willingness, opening to possibility and action. We receive.  And, then, we give thanks.

And Now I’ll Rest

In The Flow of Life

Leaves on the Trail: The Flow of Life

The whole concept of life is flow, flow and more flow. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Innovation – October, 2009)

The flow of energy in the Universe is constant, as it is on our precious planet and for each of us. We see this all around whether we are in nature or in the midst of urban life. Nature flows in her cycles. We humans do likewise. As energy flows, change occurs.

Witness the flow of light from night to day and, through the day, the return to darkness. The earth is in motion. Night fades and the gentle light of day comes forth: dawn.  As the earth spins, the sun appears to rise in the sky bringing the bright light of day. We witness this flow of life daily: change, flow, constant, consistent.

We are not mere observers. We participate in the flow of energy as well. The same raw, pure energy that moves the earth is ours to use in whatever ways we choose, or whether we choose or not. That energy is the flow of life.

Yesterday I found myself in the midst of feeling the energy of deep sadness. Tears flowed and, though I had other plans for the day, I didn’t want to stop them. Something needed to flow out, to be released and returned to source. Something wanted to be cleansed.

I cried for Luke’s passing, discovering indeed that tears remained to sooth that loss. I cried because our vet is retiring and won’t be available to provide her loving care for my next canine companion, while shedding tears of joy for her courage to follow her heart’s desire. I felt the curious energy of paradox, of both/and: delight for her, sadness for what feels like a loss to me. I was reminded once again that nothing stays the same. Flow, change, growth are the natural flow of life.

As I felt into the depth of my sadness, I realized that I was shedding tears for others: families who lost their homes and four-legged companions in a nearby community; canines in need of loving homes at the shelter I visited earlier in the week; the creatures in the forest that has been burning some 40 miles north since early September and the humans impacted in so many ways by that same fire.

And, I cried for humanity, for the pain and suffering that we perpetrate on one another and on our planet. I wept for our ignorance which in no way is bliss.

When darkness came, I put my head on the pillow with gratitude for the day’s cleansing tears. As I embraced the day, the grace of wondrous curiosity began to bubble: What else is possible? How might I direct my energy now? What can emerge in the spaces created by what I call ‘loss’ and with the dawn of each new day?

Dawn: How Will I Use the Energy of This Day?

Happy Solstice!

Summer is bursting into bloom!

Nature is intimately partnered with us in this physical experience, and that is perhaps the greatest boon of our incarnate existence, as nature is directly connected to and informed by the Universe. Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter – The Journey Continues)

A cycle ends. Another begins. Here, north of the equator, spring gives way to the summer season at 9:54am Mountain Daylight Time tomorrow, Friday June 21.  At the same friends south of the equator will bid adieu to autumn and celebrate the Winter Solstice.

Nature, quiet and restful in winter, began her slow awakening in late spring here in the Rocky Mountains of southern Colorado. Right on time, she is now bursting forth toward full bloom. Bird songs and the buzz of hummingbirds fill my listening heart with joy and gratitude for our planet and for where I’ve landed on it. The roar of Cottonwood Creek, just past peak flow from the snow melt, and the howl of coyote add their voices to morning’s song.

The cycle we call summer begins. It is a time of action, activity: planning, planting, having fun. Projects that languished in winter find new energy and focus. New opportunities present themselves abundantly, offering outlets for our attention. How will we choose to expand, to learn, to grow?

Summer Solstice is a sacred time to remember our partnership with nature. It is a time when heaven and nature sing ‘joy to the world’, not with ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’, but with the clear voices of birds and beasts responding to the renewal that the cycle of summer brings. Bountiful blooms and with the burbling Cottonwood Creek add to the chorus of auditory and visual delights. It is a time to remember that cycles of life move with nature, and that nature knows nothing of the clocks and calendars of man’s world.

As I write this morning, a mere 24 hours of spring remain. Having experienced a couple weeks with more scheduled, timed events than are usual for me, I look forward to celebrating the longest day of the year quietly here in the woods, enjoying the warm of the sun and allowing the flow of the day to inform me whether to move or not.

My celebration begins unexpectedly when, midway through writing, I open the door to check on Luke. New sounds entered the soundscape: clip-clop, clip-clop, the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves and a sound that I can’t describe, yet I knew it was my neighbor’s buckboard coming up the road. As she passed, I hollered a cheerful ‘good morning!’, and she invited me for a short ride. I accepted the gift as a reminder of the flow that is present always, in all ways. An auspicious beginning!

As I do in December with its partner, the Winter Solstice, I will use the Summer Solstice to recalibrate, syncing myself to the new cycle: the light that nature, my intimate partner on this journey, brings forth right on time. I invite you to give yourself some quiet time in nature to do the same.  

Flow! An unexpected start to my Solstice celebration!

The Grace of the Universe - A Rerun

Looking Ahead Through the Portal

This week I’ve been reflecting on change and how I respond to events that life presents, especially events which I didn’t see coming and that present challenges.  Those reflections led me back to the basics of life and law (Universal law that is) and to what is important each day:  choosing how I want to be present and how I want to respond to life.  Employing the law of magnification supports me to remember the importance of my choices and, hopefully, to choose wisely moment to moment, day to day.  May this rerun bring light to your day!

You live by the grace of the Universe interacting with you. You do not live by yourself alone. … The Universe always magnifies your action. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Change – May, 2009)

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. Dalai Lama

The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

Whether we are aware of it or not, the Universe is interacting with us 24/7, magnifying each and every action we take in its own way.

Think about that. Let it sink in for just a moment. Everything you do is magnified. EVERY THING!

Say a kind word, offer a smile to someone experiencing challenging times, listen deeply to another view, share an uplifting post on social media. MAGNIFIED!  Take action on a project; choose to eat healthy, nourishing food; call or write your elected representatives. MAGNIFIED!

The Universe is benevolent (at least that’s my belief), but it is not selective in what it magnifies (everything – remember?). We humans were given the gift of free will, the power of choice that the Universe did not keep for itself in this grand design called Life. Make a snarky remark. MAGNIFIED!  Engage in an act of violence. MAGNIFIED!  Protest in anger toward others. MAGNIFIED!  Shut down in fear. MAGNIFIED! 

I’ve been reflecting on this law of magnification in terms of what I want more of in my life as well as the kind of world that I’d prefer to live in.  That reflection brought me right back to where I live, the simple choices I make each day. If I want to be a writer, WRITE. Give the Universe words strung together into ideas and step back to allow the magnification. Know that magnification is happening even when I don’t see it. I’m making adjustments in how I create each day to do just that.

If the world I envision is one of peace, kindness, compassion then my responsibility is to choose thoughts, words, and deeds that are peaceful, kind, and compassionate. Give the Universe THAT to magnify.

Of course, the Universe does not magnify alone.  We are its agents, little magnifiers one and all. My words each week are a magnification of something I read, experienced (usually both!), or am in the midst of considering. You read those words and are inspired to make a change in your life, or to share the post with others, or to delete. Whatever your choice, your action magnifies mine and it offers your own to be magnified.  

The meadowlark sings its cheerful song each morning in the meadow where we walk. The president tweets. Both are magnified by a Universe that magnifies everything. But we, you and I, have the freedom and the power to choose what we magnify. Imagine a world where the meadowlark’s song or the Dalai Lama’s quote is the ‘breaking news’ of the day, and the president’s tweets go mostly ignored. Do the words peaceful, kind, compassionate come to your mind’s eye?

That world is possible if we have the will to choose to put our attention on peace over conflict, kindness over anger, and compassion over judgement. It’s already emerging daily in the thousands (perhaps millions) of thoughts, words and deeds that are peace-filled, kind, and caring. May we choose that path – moment to moment, when the choice is easy and, especially when it’s not.The grace of the Universe presents the challenge of our times. May we rise to meet it in kind.

The River of Life often flows like the spring snow melt on Cottonwood Creek …

Using These Times to Benefit YOU!

Gleaming Peaks in the Morning Light

If there is anything you don’t want in life, it is to plateau out. You want life to challenging. You want it to give you all sorts of elements which allow you to use yourself in a variety of ways. … Humans have the opportunities to move within events and gain something from them. Gregge Tiffen Down to Earth as quoted in Open Secrets: Revealing Habits – February, 2011

Over my years of coaching I frequently heard ‘I just want to retire, stop, get out the rat race, do nothing’. I see it today in social media posts and in financial institutions advertising their services to lure people in to get to the so-called ‘good life’.  Like the side effects of drugs that seem, at least to me, to outweigh their benefits, stopping for anything other than a respite to restore is not in our interest. Doing so removes us from the flow of life and the energy of learning, our prime purpose on this sojourn.

In these, shall we say interesting times, we may find it easy to want to retreat from where the flow of life seems to be heading. For many it’s easy to fall into despair, anger, fear, overwhelm, or faithlessness when looking only at the surface of events globally. This is especially true when we forget that we are here to learn and that, indeed, we learn from the experiences provided in the events that engage us. The magnitude of those events matters not. We can learn from them all – from the ginormous life changing ones right down to our daily walks with the dog and taking care of ourselves.

Without a doubt, these are intense times. In the midst of such intensity we may forget that there is no ideal end state that we’re aiming to create (then everything will be hunky-dory) or that ‘if I just do this’ then ‘that’ suddenly everything will be okay (whatever the heck that means). 

This week I began to ask myself:

• How are you using these intense times?

• How do you want to use them?

• What do you want to learn?

• What do you want to contribute?

• What more do you want out of this sojourn?

Questions like these bring me back to my center. That’s my purpose in reflecting on them.  I’m not aiming for enlightenment level ultimate answers, rather for a simple guidepost to my next step or two. Importantly, such questions remind me that I’m not a victim to the extremes at work in all aspects of life.

Remembering that I am an integral part of an infinite, intelligent, kind Universe moves me forward rather than into destructive patterns of thought. Coupled with remembering that I am here, now, on a brief learning journey – just one stop in the infinite journey that is my individual consciousness – puts the world in perspective. That world, crazy and hostile as it may seem, is merely the environment of the campus on this current school called ‘life’. From this place I can choose how and what I want to create and contribute.

Without a doubt, these are intense times. And, they are but a teeny, tiny blip on the infinite timeline of the Universe. Systems are crumbling and we know not what will be created in their place. Whether or not we are front and center on the lines of creating what is to come we are contributing, consciously or not, to their form and their qualities with every thought we think. Ponder on that. What are your contributions?

Icicles

Answer The Call!

Hints of Fall!

Here is your educational mission: (1) Find the very best in you each day and use it; (2) Show the world your beauty, your courage, your understanding, your awareness, your creativity, your love. … If we are to live in joy and in accomplishment, we must release our cells from self-imposed restrictions so they can sense, interpret and move with us in the changing times. We need to be ready to respond, and to use experiences to our advantage. … there must be a willingness to let your cellular structure respond to the immediate event. Each day should be looked upon as the entrance to an adventure … Gregge Tiffen (What You Should Get From Education – September, 2007)

This week a deeper understanding and appreciation of my willingness to respond to what’s in front of me to is unfolding. I’m experiencing the joy and satisfaction of having responded to the flow of life in the moment rather than putting it off for a ‘more convenient’ time. And, I’m examining some habitual responses to life’s daily events.

Since closing the B&B, I often answer the phone only if I know who’s calling, and if it’s convenient, and if I want to engage. The unanswered calls go to voicemail to be checked later … sometimes much later. When I’m engaged in a focused project or conversation with someone else, this approach is great for maintaining flow, focus and concentration – necessary elements in business and life.

But, an event this week has me questioning my approach other than when it’s absolutely necessary.

A missed phone call on Monday morning – I didn’t reach the phone until the call had rolled to voicemail – and, not recognizing the number, I finished the task I was engaged in before checking to see if the caller left a message.

Yes, they did. “Hi, it’s ____ (a friend whom I’ve known for 10+ years). I’m in jail and … . Please call this number and let the sheriff know you got this message and whether you can help. Thanks!”

It took a few moments to get my head around what I’d heard. My heart kicked in as well. “Yes, I can bring money for your bond …” I said when I quickly returned the call and the sheriff brought my friend to the phone. I moved into action – calmly and clearly much to my surprise – transferring funds and stopping at the bank to withdraw cash (filled with gratitude that I was able to do so and knowing that I’d be repaid immediately). Cash in hand, I drove across the county, feeling calm, curious and aware of the opportunity to embrace and learn from a totally new experience. No, I’d never bailed someone out of jail before.

I had no idea what to expect in the process, why my friend was there, or what their state of mind would be. The process was straightforward and the sheriff on duty was one of the kindest, most professional public servants I’ve ever met. In sharing what had happened my friend said, “well, that’s an experience I’ve never had!” showing calm and courage in the midst of stressful conditions coupled with recognizing the event as a learning opportunity.

The day unfolded with several related events and adventures. In reflecting later I wondered ‘what if I’d not listened to that voicemail and responded fairly quickly?’ How would I feel and what opportunities might I have missed? What if the situation was reversed and I was the one in need of assistance?  In these reflections, I concluded that ‘it’s good to answer the call’.

My willingness to go with the flow, to “let my cellular structure respond to the immediate event” was reinforced as I recognized that a chance introduction on a morning walk several months back when I’d taken time to engage in a brief conversation manifested a friendship that expanded into a collaborative business opportunity taking shape just this week.

With our daily routines, our habits, jobs, responsibilities, etc. etc. it’s challenging to embrace each day as an adventure, an opportunity to “find the best in ourselves and use it” to show the world (and ourselves) our beauty, our courage, our understanding, our awareness, our creativity and our love. But in this week of surprising events and new awareness, I’m deepening my commitment to do just that.

What/Who is calling you right now? Pick up the call!

Evening Shadows In the Sacred Sangres

The Antler

The Antler of Wisdom & Awareness

Shedding is nature in action, the easy, effortless flow of life. Clinging upsets this natural flow, creating suffering, stress, and dis-ease.

The whole object of pruning is that it improves your growth, it regenerates your brain, and it opens up new opportunities. Experiences that are no longer being used in a positive manner should be cut from the creative tree inside of you and taken away. Gregge Tiffen (Give Nothing, Get Nothing – August, 2008)

Take a moment to imagine a male deer resisting shedding his antlers (my first thought was a beautiful buck dashing into the market looking for super glue) or a snake holding on to its outgrown skin (duct tape anyone?).  Imagine an autumn walk in the woods if the leaves weren’t falling from the trees. Or what we humans would look like if we didn’t constantly shed cells of our skin.

While no deer, snake or tree was interviewed for this musing, I’m quite certain that they don’t resist this natural process. And, I’m hardly aware of the daily loss of my skin cells.  Shedding is nature in action, the easy, effortless flow of life. Clinging upsets this natural flow, creating suffering, stress, and dis-ease.

Yet we humans cling. We hold on to ‘stuff’ – so much stuff that our garages have no room for our cars and ‘storage’ is a thriving business. We hold on to jobs, relationships, as well as to ideas, habits, and beliefs that, at best, we no longer need. Sometimes in our busy-ness we simply aren’t aware of what we are holding on to, much less its toll. For the most part we don’t look at events in our lives to discover their meaning, their gifts, and their clues to what we need to change.

One morning tending to my garden on the deck, I discovered several beautiful, almost ripe tomatoes had been partially eaten. Argh!!! I suppose the pesky pack-rats I later trapped (and relocated several miles away in an open field) concluded I didn’t need them since there was a box full in the house awaiting the dehydrator.  

Harvest time brings allergy season – itchy eyes for me, shedding and itching all over for Cool Hand Luke. In my angst over his apparent discomfort (and my annoyance at the almost constant biting, licking, scratching) I lost sight of the fact that shedding is natural, normal, and that I know how to ease Luke’s discomfort.

I was ‘dealing with’ these events without much thought and no reflection. Then, I found ‘the antler’.

Shed sometime in the late fall or winter by one of the many bucks that hang out here in our woods, ‘the antler’ woke me up, cueing me to the theme of ‘shedding’ present all around me and inviting me to that thoughtful, reflective place. I accepted the call.  As I walked home with the antler, I understood that I’m in a shedding period of my life. I’ve ‘shed’ the bed & breakfast creating the spaciousness for something new to emerge.

I became aware of Luke’s shedding as a normal part of canine life. I was aware of an eating habit that contributes to my itchy eyes and that now can be ‘shed’. And (ugh!) I was aware that the pack-rats, which come by that name quite honestly, were suggesting it was time to complete the culling of ‘stuff’ that I began several months ago (yep, what I culled in the house, is in the garage!).

I wondered, what else would it serve me to shed? Perhaps it’s time to shed my habit of using my ‘critical eye’ to judge the actions of others and aim it lovingly on my own actions.  

What other thoughts, beliefs or ideas no longer need to reside in me? Perhaps it’s time to banish thoughts that undermine my conviction that the Universe is a friendly place, unfolding as it must despite so much evidence to the contrary.

What distractions are blocking the emergence of something new? Perhaps my protective reaction to signs of growth and change popping up in our community provide a clue.

As I go about life, these questions are alive in me. No push. No rush. No clinging. Open heart to discover what to shed and prune next. And, simple gratitude for the space to receive these gifts.

Signs of Growth, Signs of Change in The Woods

Fifty-Six Cents

Two Washingtons, One Jefferson, One Lincoln = 56 Cents

You give energy direction. When you focus on something, you magnetize raw energy. Pay attention! (Gregge Tiffen, The Language of a Mystic: Originality – January, 2009)

I found 56 cents on our walk this morning. Two quarters, a nickel and a penny glistening in the road caught my eye as I called Luke and changed our route to avoid walking in the dust of an on-coming road grader. I picked them up with a smile. My next thought was that this morning’s find was in stark contrast to an unpleasant encounter on a morning walk earlier in the week.

Today, I felt a sense of being reminded: be open to the flow, trust, and know that flow is always present.

And, I knew that this reminder showed up right on time, (Duh! That IS how the Universe works!) as I’m in the midst of considering letting go of what’s been a significant source of income for several years so I can honor a yearning I’ve had for quite some time (more about that as the year unfolds!).

As we continued our walk, I reflected on how the week has brought me numerous confirmations that where I put my attention and focus determines what shows up next: former clients reaching out to explore coaching with me again, a friend inquiring if I’d be interested in exploring a partnership around an idea that I’d thought about before but discarded because I didn’t know how to pursue it (Ah, yes – divine timing!). I also could see that my ‘unpleasant’ encounter was simply an opportunity to keep my focus and not be triggered to go down the rabbit hole of negativity that I could have easily done.

That’s what managing our personal energy is about: maintaining awareness so that we are consciously choosing where to focus.  For me, that means that rather than worry about all the ‘bad’ things that might happen if I let go, I put my attention on where I want to go, continuing to unfold a fulfilling life that suits how I’m designed. Stay tuned. The adventure that is 2018 is just beginning.

What about you?  What’s showing up in your life and what does that say about your focus?

Snow. Snow. Where is the Snow? Come. Please. We Need You.

Step By Step

On The Road ...

Whatever step you choose will take you closer to where you want to be.   … Creative force is the energy necessary to begin a new experience. … Energy is always in motion.  Gregge Tiffen – Life: The Staircase of Many Steps – January, 2008

Happy New Year! The page has turned, and here we are with the blank canvas of a new year to paint. 361 more days to engage in life - to live, to love, to experiment, to learn, to grow - before we complete the cycle of this calendar year.

Traditionally we set goals, make ‘resolutions’ and plans, to start a new year. And, all too often ‘life’ steps in with other ideas. Or, resistance in some form rears its head.

Overwhelm happens when we forget that all we need to do is take a step. Then another and another, continuing on step by step allowing each step to reveal the next.  When we do this moment by moment, day to day we have the potential to make huge progress on our journey.

The Beauty of Exploration - Hoar Frost on The Palouse - Pullman, Washington

It’s oh so simple, yet from time to time most of us find ourselves stopped, stuck, resisting anything resembling movement.  For me, that’s the time to remember that my body doesn’t give a hoot about love, life or learning. It sees the new, the adventure, and growth as dangerous threats to its sole concern – survival.

Clever in its ways, the body throws out all manner of reasons to not participate in life.  I’m tired. It doesn’t matter. It’s not worth it. I don’t know how. These are the cloaks my body wears to hide what I’m coming to understand is simply resistance. They are clues that I need to step up, challenge, and command my body to MOVE, to take a step, to be in action.

In responding to these clues I’m strengthening my ability to call forth my will.  It helps me to remember that the journey of 1,000 miles begins with turning on the ignition and that the journey is complete mile by mile. The 2656 mile road that I took in December is a fresh reminder as I look ahead to what I want to accomplish in 2018.

I also find that engaging curiosity counters the lethargy of resistance. The simple shift from ‘I don’t know how’ to ‘I wonder how/what I can learn’ is powerful fuel for moving into action.

As I practice these skills, I notice that the creative force needed to engage in new experiences comes forth more naturally and that a gentle flow of life’s events seems to emerge. Step by step through these events I live, I love, I learn, I grow.

Step by step we can accomplish much in this year that is just beginning. May we each step fully into the energy that is always in motion!

Almost Home ... Sangres in the Distance