Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Hey there! I’m back. After over two years of weekly blogging without a break I took the last two weeks off while we vacationed in Maui. I didn’t read, write or watch tv at all the entire time we were there. It was such a great vacation, we just kept meeting the coolest people who would tell us about a place to check out, or we’d just run into something to do or a place to go without even trying. Just kinda magical. Earlier this year we went on two prior vacations that didn’t quite work that way – I got food poisoning in St. Lucia – wow, that was a fun evening – if you’ve ever experienced food poisoning you know how bad that can be. At least I think that’s what I had. Anyway, the trip was good, but just not as great as the Spring trips usually are. Then we went to Yosemite in July and both of us got sick. Neither of us gets sick very often, but geez – I got really sick, spent 12 hours in bed one night, and just when I was coming out of it she got sick. Tough trip to be sick on as it’s mostly hiking and physical activity. So the earlier trips this year weren’t as great as we had hoped. Then this trip to Maui. Now, Maui is maybe my favorite place on earth. We’ve been there many times. But this trip was just amazing. And that’s a metaphor for life, right? Maybe not the best one, but it’s fresh on my mind today. We all have things that don’t go as planned. We all have disappointments and frustrations. Ups and downs. When I’m going through a down time, or if something is going on in my life that is disheartening and hard to deal with, I’m always thinking in the back of my head “I wonder what great thing is about to happen that this is setting me up for?”… because for me, it’s those frustrations, the hard times, the pain and suffering we all have to deal with that set us up for the great moments to come. How would we know our finest moments without knowing pain? I’ll go one step further – to me, life is somewhat like a rubber band stretched between two points. If you pull the rubber band down eventually you’ll get to a breaking point, where you can either keep going and the rubber band will break – or you can let go. The baggage we carry with us weighs us down, stretches the rubber band. But if we can just let go and give ourselves a break – however far down we stretched it is how far we can shoot ourselves forward when we do. To me it’s all about love. Learning to love ourselves, to forgive ourselves, to be the best we can be every moment of our lives, to make good decisions, to live a life of integrity, and to touch the heart of another being every day. Our lowest lows set us up for our highest highs. Knowing this has helped me through many difficult situations in the past. Touch someone’s heart today. No matter where you’re at, you’ll feel better. Make that call. Visit a lonely friend or relative. And be kind first to yourself. Because when you love life, when you’re grateful, and centered with who and what you are – you’re light will shine on everyone you meet.
