Amazing how each moment is a new one.. how each decision is a chance to make a new path.. a new life. I often seem to get so caught up in my own daily routines and and inner mind that I tend to forget how amazing this life that we each have been given really is.. carpe diem.. seize the day.. trust your gut and instincts.  Having just returned from the mother land aka England where I enjoyed a fantastic 5 day trip with my sister visiting family.. I experienced the scenes, enjoyed the time and refocused on simply this.. FOCUSING.. working to put my thoughts into action and believing in myself… in life.. in love.. in living.  We all  have such an innate ability to make ourselves better, the world better, people around us happier… just do it!  We are currently living through a very negative time overall.. but don’t let it be this way..make a difference and do what it takes to make a difference.

Isn’t it great… every day, assuming you don’t have to sleep on a sofa and/or be woken up in the middle of the night due to city public works, generally starts with a fresh/calm outlook and mindset.. a new chance to make something great.. to accomplish a task, to improve the quality of our lives or to improve somebody elses(as I think this is really the key to happiness).   As a day progresses it can quickly become busy, complicated, convoluted, uneventful, but at the start of each day potentiality is generally high! How does one realized the potential..how does one stay on task? Enjoyment of what you are doing..appreciation for all that one has and trusting your own path/gut/instincts are some of the keys.  Often looking at where one wants to be and where one is now can be extremely overwhelming at first..but just start… JUST DO IT! Baby steps..incremental changes and all of a sudden you are there.

What really drives us to do what we do.. to get out of bed in the morning (Dunkin Donuts Coffee for me ), to get going on our day.. to do this job or that job.. this task or that task.  As humans we seem to have a strong need/desire for success and accomplishment versus a dog for instance.. their needs and desires seem simple.. some food, some love and a place to rest.  I guess we, humans that is, are really not that different in our basic needs either though when you truly break it down to these 3 basic components, yet our drive to excel, create, build and grow sets us up for great happiness/sense of accomplishment and also great sadness/frustration when things don’t go the way we want/perceive them to go.. yet it is all in our mind…our brain.. a fantastic 8 lb lump of neurons, synapses and I think a lot of other really cool stuff.

My world in a container.. (minus laptop computer and Ipad of course ).. Having no place to directly call home base at this point.. one might say I am floating a bit.. no big deal really and somewhat refreshing!   To pack all of ones most critical items into a bin 4 x 3 x 3 or 36 sq feet in size..  to transport from couch at sisters, to parents in West Point, to Sprague Hall in Small Point, etc. etc!

With Fall comes refocus, with refocus comes rejuvenation.  Within a society where so many of us have so many material objects.. how often do we really use them? It seems their purpose often is simply so we can think about using them, to feel better about having them .. to talk about using them yet then stress about where to store them thus what should we do with all these items.. throw them out…Find a better home for them….Donate/give them away?!?!!?  I for one just break, misplace and lose mine

What ultimately drives us to do what we do… to live the way we live… to walk the paths we walk?  Acting on instinct and inspiration…listening to influences of friends/family, the media, loved ones, mentors and commentators!  In an age where we have so much information right at our fingertips….so much wealth , opportunity and luxury yet perhaps as a result of this so much more internal dialogue and decision making….maybe not, but I think so…at least I do anyway or (think I do )

Options, options and more options.. to choose one.. to choose wisely.. we all want the best.. to succeed in our own eyes..in the eyes of society…to simply be happy and healthy..the ever changing perceptions and perspectives of life..

Being true to ourselves.. then being as true as possible to others.. making a path that fits.. creates joy and fulfillment… we each have such pheonomenal gifts to share and I think the trick if finding a way to get them out whilst balancing all the other “life stuff”.. equally as wonderful yet more routine and easier to get all caught up in….IT IS COLD IN MAINE..too bad I am not in the Caribbean today

The drive to accomplish….this seems to be an innate human characteristic …it can make up happy, it can stress us out.. it simply gives us something to do .. it enables us to do wonderful things….build and create..imagine and entertain.  How do we measure accomplishment…economically, spiritually, emotionally? Life and our perspective are  in a continual shift… what was important yesterday.. may not be so today and what never crossed ones mind last week could be the source of obsession tomorrow.  I think one key is the constant re-evaluation of it all as each moment…each minute gives us a fresh start to realize our potential…to reflect on our past..to make plans for the future…

What makes us happy? What drives us to do what we do?  We are continually connecting, interacting, experiencing.. some times are fun and fantastic.. other times not so much…do we act and interact the way we do beacause of the way we were raised and nurtured  or are we pre-programmed.. pre-wired by the building blocks of life and our genetic codes.. what happens when a traumatic event strikes… a shift in consciousness.. a new way of thinking.. how does this all happen.. why does it happen…is there a reason and purpose or is life all random? What are our true motivators..selfishness and self interest or is it a deeper sense of connectedness…a  desire to find harmony and balance within ourselves..within the universe…lots of questions..I guess this is what happens when you read the books your spiritual adviser recommends Check her out at www.dagnystjohn.com

Your driveway gets plowed in despite having  just shoveled it out!! A wave crashes on the beach..a flash of brilliance pops into your mind!  It so often amazes me how much we can pack into a day.. into an hour… into a just few minutes. 24 hours x 60 miutes equals 1440 minus 480 for sleeping leaves 1000 or about 200  5 minute pockets of time..how many are you conscious of?  The breaths we take.. the ideas we focus on.. the realities we intend… the potentialities within us all are so enormous yet drifting into routines…wallowing in self doubt/self pity… DON’T DO IT…. take a look around.. take a breath of fresh..the vibrancy of life is forever surrounding us.. colors, people, ideas…try send a good vibe to a friend/colleague/stranger and watch it grow. I recently become a member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences...its been around for ever, but made a bit more famous by Dan Brown’s book.. “the Lost Symbol”   If you ever wonder if more is out there than our reality…our cursory perception..check out out.  Snow snow everywhere… dream, dare and continue to share

How does one choose one path over another…be it as simple as what to eat for breakfast or as seemingly large as should I have children.. sometimes one just knows and other times one deliberates, debates.. internal dialogues, external dialogues…To trust your instincts… I think we all have strong instincts yet we often seem to cover them up, make excuses for them when we don’t want to believe them, turn our mind onto something else.. I wonder why?!?!?.  So on lighter topics .. if you are ever in Washington DC.. I strongly encourage you to check out the Newseum that I had the pleasure of visiting this past weekend… really cool place and the 9/11 exhibit was truly a powerful presentation…what a freaking amazing city with such incredible architecture, history, energy… imagine having to be the one to build all those buildings back in the day without the use of modern technology.

Happy Sunday to all! Have a ball and don’t forget to call somebody you love!

Whoa….I just realized it  has not been 270 days but a whopping 270 days plus one year aka 600 freaking days since my previous entry.. holy smokes!!!.. lots of catching up to do.. but why must I catch up.. the moment is now.. carpe diem it as best I can I guess.  Some days are up.. some days are down.. a little sluggish today, perhaps just physically fatigued having completed day 3 of p90x with my sister(87 more to go)… watch out for the plyometrics!!! Perhaps it is mental based.. things on my mind.. decisions always in life..some bigger than others.. some easy, some hard… what makes them hard… our perception of the outcome, how we will feel, how others will interpret, react….signing off from the great state of Maine and off to see TEAKHA!!!!!!!!