Climbing

Breathe. Stretch. Be aware of your surroundings. Breathe again. Utilize your strengths. Never look back, keep reaching forward. These steps helped to calm my fears while climbing my first rock. I have never felt so satisfied in my life. Climbing these rocks has given me a spiritual sensation unlike any other I have ever experienced. It should also go without saying that I was accompanied by some of the most supportive, considerate, and passionate friends to lovingly encourage me through this new exploit. I felt at one with nature. I felt accomplished. I felt fearless. I still feel fearless. I feel that I want to do it again... and again... and again. I have been racking my brain to figure out what exactly it is about this outing that has me beaming with fulfillment and joy, but it has been impossible to discover. It warms my soul to know that there are magical events that happen in your life that you just cannot configure or anticipate. This completely unexpected adventure has spoken to me in words that I cannot construe. My soul has been energized, and all I know is that my life is now a little more complete. I am proud of myself. I am a conquerer. Conquer on!

Peace is the feeling that arrives when contentment meets love. Peace does not exist without love. Love fosters the emotions that mold the building blocks of peaceful thinking. 

Without a love for oneself, others, the mountains, the plains, the rivers, the skies, the windy days and the cloudy nights, peace is unreachable. 

There is no love without peace, and no peace without love. They walk hand in hand, skipping, strolling into the infinite fields of happiness.

Things like this remind me of the many blessing that nature can give us.  There are so many breathtaking moments that can come from simply sitting and watching. LISTENING, ever so silently. BEING, as still and as quiet as possible. I truly believe that Thoreau stated it better than imaginable when he said, "to be awake is to be alive." We need none of this new technology, over priced music tickets, the latest and fastest processing iphone, for they only reduce the quality of how life is really meant to be experienced. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely guilty of facebooking too much and of spending too much money to see music, however, I am steadily and blindly trying to steer away from using these as so much of an enjoyment in life. I say blindly because I have no idea how hard or easy this will be. Every now and then I stop and think about how beautiful the world would be if everyone would talk to each other instead of texting. I wonder what could be gained by refraining from always having our ears plugged with music while doing outdoor activities. Music makes my world turn, no questions about it, but every so often, shouldn't we stop and listen to the world around us? What would we hear if we stopped for a minute and actually listened to what is going on outside? From hearing the birds, the trains, the trees, the leaves, the squirrels, the snow fall, the wind... oh the wind. Surprisingly enough, just listening to the blowing wind brings many, many soothing tunes to my mind. It seems that nature can give us all the things that we yearn for, we just need to open our eyes, our ears, and our minds to seeing things a little differently. Try to see things simply. Simplicity is the most beautiful quality there is in my opinion. I plan to keep working on my journey to put away the computer, put away the money, and explore the wonderful land surrounding me... and turning on a few FREE tunes can never hurt ;)