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The Road Less Traveled
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
~ Robert Frost
Friendship ~ Love
Friendship is a quiet walk in the park with the one you trust
Love is when you feel like you are the only two around.
Friendship is when they gaze into your eyes and you know they care.
Love is when they gaze into your eyes and it warms your heart.
Friendship is being close even when you are far apart.
Love is when you can still feel their hand on your heart when they are not near.
Friendship is hoping that they experience the very best.
Love is when you bring them the very best.
Friendship occupies your mind.
Love occupies your soul.
Friendship is knowing that you will always try to be there when in need.
Love is when you will give up everything to be at their side.
Friendship is a warm smile in the winter.
Love is a warming touch that sends a pulse through your heart.
Love is a beautiful smile to which nothing compares:
A tender laugh, which opens your heart,
A single touch that melts away your fears,
A smell that reminds you of the tenderness of heaven,
A voice that reminds you of the innocence of youth.
I have a sign that I keep in my camper, it simply states Believe.
Whenever I see the word I am reminded that there are always possibilities and there are always wonders that are out there to behold. I am reminded that as long as I can have faith, anything is possible. Ask, Believe, and Receive.
I am realizing that I am the master of my own destiny. I need to believe in what I want out of life and know that I alone can attract that into my life. My life is what I think it is. I attract what I am.
Every circumstance in my life can change and will change if I believe. By believing something to be so, it becomes so. I am the director of my own life, my dreams are mine to make real and I need to make myself aware daily of the fact that my thoughts are what are making my life the way it is.
If I want to attract my soul mate, I need to believe, if I want to attract money I need to believe. I draw what I think about most into my life.
My life is a mirror of the dominant thoughts that I have. I am the master of my thoughts; therefore I am the master of my universe.
In the truest since of the word, love is unconditional. I experienced this love for the first time on the days that each of my children was born. Amazingly, the moment I saw my own children appear, a feeling overtook me and I knew that I would sacrifice everything and willingly lay down my life for each of them. I knew that no matter what paths they walked down or what turns their lives took I would always love them without question. They of course, having grown up, are now stepping to their own beat and living their own lives. So, life goes on….
Hopefully, through all of the heartaches of growing up, they realize that though the choices I made were not always the best and the decisions I made were not always the ones I would choose now, I loved them both completely and without any reservations. I loved and love them with every fiber of my being. I hope that they learn, sooner than I did, the true values in life. I hope that they find peace and contentment and joy. I hope that they learn to embrace life and savor every minute.
In the early part of autumn with the leaves changing color and the cool breeze in the air I am reminded of Oktoberfest. This year the world’s largest fair is taking place from September 18 until October 4, 2010 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. This area of the world is the most romantic, picturesque place imaginable. I was fortunate enough to attend this event a few years ago and look forward to returning.
Oktoberfest began as a celebration when the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities leading up to the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. The fields where the celebration takes place were renamed Theresienwiese (“Field or Meadow of Therese”) to honor the Crown Princess. Today they area where Oktoberfest takes place is referred to as Wiesn.
I will be writing about my excursion into Germany in upcoming posts.
It has taken me a long time to realize that in order to achieve and find joy and balance in life, we must become masters of being in the zone. Having never been involved in sports, except as a fan, I’ve never personally experienced this phenomenon on the playing field. As a sports Mom, however, I have come to understand the expression.
Being in the zone is the pinnacle for an athlete. It is that moment of time in which everything comes together, the training, the talent, the discipline and the passion. It is a moment of magic when normalcy is transcended. It is as though time has slowed. It is as though things have begun to flow.
As proposed by Mih¡ly Cskszentmih¡lyi, this flow is the mental state of operation in which a person in an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.
According to Cskszentmih¡lyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand.
We must become focused on enjoying the moments. We must take the time to “do one thing, do it very well and then move on.”
This is a favorite expression of my “amour de ma vie” who follows his own advice by giving the utmost attention to whatever task he is involved in and lives his life as though each moment he is in is his last. He takes the time to treat everyone with courtesy and respect and tries to make everyone feel special and happy.
Because of knowing him I am learning to live in the here and now and to enjoy the time it takes to experience, while tasting, savoring, exploring and thoroughly applying myself to the task at hand. This principal applies to life as a whole. It means being awake and aware and consciously involving myself in life’s activities because it is these life experiences that are most important. It is these that make up our memories and our lives.
I am learning to reevaluate the priorities in life by adjusting my thinking concerning what is most important in life. I am trying to make a distinction between the things that give me joy internally and the things that are a part of our external world. With this thought process it is important to decide for ourselves if it is more important for us to receive joy from within or the praise and admiration of others. Why is it that we spend so much energy hoping to receive accalades from others instead of directing our own play and setting the stage ourselves? It is so much more important, in my mind, to feel confident and secure with myself than to depend on the opinions of others.
We have been given the opportunity to live our lives exactly as we see fit, to set our own goals, choose our own directions and involve ourselves in the things that interest us.
I am learning, through the love of my life, a master at living life to the fullest, to love myself, to set my own goals, to find joy in the task at hand, to listen to my heart and to strive for inner peace. Though this may be a long journey, I am on the right path and am excited about the journey ahead. I am doing what I love and living life on my terms.
Oh my, what a great adventure!
Be happy in the now. Remember the childhood exhilaration of just being? Remember spending time with nothing but your imagination to keep you comfortable? Come with the enthusiasm and belief of a child and you will find your inner joy.
The Dawes KPRI concert aboard the Adventure Hornblower in the San Diego Harbor was fabulous. The afternoon was simply beautiful and the music was wonderful. I hope you enjoy this clip I recorded even though the videoing is simply awful and the scenery of San Diego does not do it justice. This harbor trip is one of my favorite things to do in San Diego. Enjoy!!
As I watched the full moon rise higher in the sky I reveled in it’s beauty and realized that this was the first full moon of Autumn. It is indeed a rarity that this harvest moon appeared precisely on the first day of Autumn, September 23, 2010, the last time this occured was almost 20 years ago in 1991.
I make it a point of going outside and enjoying practically every full moon that I am aware of. I enjoy sitting outside under the stars and moon and reflecting on the absolute wonder of it all. I am one of those people who always looks up and wonders if the one I love is looking up from where they are and thinking of me. I am a romantic pure and simple and to me the magic of a full moon is one of life’s greatest joys.
Full moons have a way of bringing about a since of nostalgia in my mind. I remember all of the things that have brought me to this place in my life, all of the choices I’ve made along the way and the results of all of these accumulations. At this time in my life I am excited about the choices that I have made and about the time I’ve spent growing and learning. It seems that whenever we open ourselves up for new experiences they appear and we are able to jumpstart our lives on to the next adventure. What a great way to live, going from experience to experiene, learning more every day and opening our minds and souls up to experience all that this wonderful life has to offer.
This is a wonderful song by Blackmore’s Night about dancing and frolicing under the moon.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns rays
And dares to claim the sky.
But a BIRD that stalks down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through his bars of rage
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
Of things unknown but longed for still
And his tune is heard on the distant hill for
The caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze
And the trade winds soft through
The sighing trees
And the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright
Lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged BIRD stands on the grave of dreams
His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
His wings are clipped and his feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with
A fearful trill of things unknown
But longed for still and his
Tune is heard on the distant hill
For the caged bird sings of freedom.
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