This week I learned a very important life lesson, hope.It is defined by the dictionary as “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.” We go through life thinking that we’re a certain way until life tests us. In this case life tested me. It was a lovely sunny, warm Monday morning. I was in a happy and grateful mood having just spent a memorable weekend filled with friends and family. I was walking my mini shnauzer Elvis as I do every morning when he suddenly he cried and began to drag his back legs. I checked to see if he stepped on something but I couldn’t find anything. He hobbled back home and he was not getting better. The vet diagnosed it as a slipped disk and said that it may or may not get better and sent him home with two anti-inflammatories. I was broken and and hopeless. The story does not end there. There were a lot of details in between but the important part of the story is not to give up.My daughter based on advice from her friends took him to a hospital in the Pennsylvania. There they gave us hope and from that minute on I knew he was going to be fine. I needed someone not to give up when I subconsciously did. My daughter did not give up and today Elvis is at home, walking around, recovering from surgery with more years in his happy doggy life. The decision by my daughter not to wait, but to act based on hope changed the trajectory of Elvis’s life. Hope is more powerful than we know!!!
I’m a huge music fan and I like most genres. There are very few that I can’t listen to. Every time I attend a concert I wonder at the diversity of people all gathered for the same reason; to hear music that speaks to their soul. That’s correct music speaks to the soul not the brain. We don’t think we love it, we love it because it makes us feel a certain way. So today as I was sweating on the treadmill listening to a song called rhythm of my life I thought was is the rhythm of my life. What exactly is a rhythm? Rhythm: repetition which creates patterns through predictability. If you listen for it, you can find rhythm just about anywhere: in a basketball being dribbled, raindrops falling, or hands clapping, and especially in your life. Rhythm is what makes music move and flow. Rhythm is made up of sounds and silences. What makes you move and flow? Do you allow yourself to be silent among all the sounds? Listen to your soul… it knows.
Action…
Many people including myself find themselves stuck in different areas of their life. We just can’t seem to get our feet out of what feels like quicksand. Why is that? Well, most people are focused on what is going on in their heads-painting pictures of fear and failure. “How will I do!” “How do I begin?” :I don’t know what I am doing! And so on. The quicksand is imaginary. Action is what is needed to drag our feet out of what feels like the impossible.
Speaking from experience, taking any step, no matter how small in order to move forward is liberating in itself. It feels like the crack of sun peaking through the clouds after a long spell of darkness. Once the crack of light comes through it begins to spread and soon enough you are well on your way towards something you have been avoiding. All you have to do is put one foot in front of another and you will get to wherever it is you want to go!!
I recently spent nine days with my husband and kids exploring Peru—a beautiful country. I have heard about for years and was looking forward to seeing the famous Macchu Picchu. It was beyond our wildest dreams. What a beautiful country filled with rich culture, history, and a diverse landscape. The people are friendly, kind, and proud of their rich heritage. We traveled all over the country seeing a variety of landscapes; from the capital Lima, to the south known as their summer getaway and desert oasis, of Paracas, to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon Jungle, to of course the most famous Sacred Valley where we saw one of the wonders of the worlds, Macchu Picchu. My family and I came back with a sense of growth, perspective, and life experience that helped us better understand and appreciate the luxuries that are afforded to us. We take so many things for granted;: paved roads, running water, electricity, and Wi-Fi, to name a few. Travel has the capacity to expand your mind and inspire you in ways
you never imagined.
