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Author Archives: Freedom Hiker
Happiness Is A Life Choice, Not A Resolution
“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.”
―Abraham Lincoln
“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
―Dalai Lama
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
―Albert Camus
Every year, millions of people make New Year’s resolutions. Whether they want to lose weight, save more money or use less social media, resolutions are made and then usually broken shortly after they are made.
With that said, and this isn’t a resolution, but rather a goal or an outlook on life is just to be happy. Now I know that sounds strange, but as I was reading through another blog-“Los Angeles In The Wild,” (https://inthewildla.wordpress.com) and Julie (the author), says the following, “I believe happiness supersedes everything. For every decision, I always make sure my happiness could weigh on my decisions. All year, people have questioned and challenged me that happiness simply can’t be my root motivator — it can’t be everything. Happiness can’t pay the bills and that’s true. All year I confronted these challenges and as I am about to compromise my happiness for “something better”, I come back to find out happiness is the only driver, my only engine life in my life.”
These are truly words of wisdom!
When I have heard people say things like this in the past, I used to think that in order to have this type of mindset you had to be pretty selfish. As I have thought about it more, and seen the results of that type of thinking, I am now a true believer in making life choices that contribute to my happiness. In my view, to spend time making sure that every other person around me is happy (work or at home) at the expense of my own well being is not productive. Of course you have to do things that will make your life easier in a professional sense by making your boss happy, but in the end, you need to be happy. The same goes for your family.
So Julie mentions these mantras. Not resolutions, mind you. You don’t have to come out and say, “My New Year’s resolution is be happy (or happier).” These are just simple tips to put you in, and keep you in the proper frame of mind to be happy. I found them to be very helpful in developing a road map to being happy and staying sane!
Here are the mantras that Julie lists in the following post-
https://inthewildla.wordpress.com/2017/12/18/motivation-monday-happiness-wins/
- Be happy. Be bright. Be you.
- Always look on the bright side of life.
- Do more of what makes you happy.
- Find joy in the journey.
- I am charge in choosing how I feel and I choose happiness.
- Happiness can exist only in acceptance.
- If you want to be happy, be
These are words to live by, not make resolutions with!
Happy Hiking!!!
A New Year?
The end of the year is just two days away,
It’s soon to be history I’m happy to say.
A year full of ups and a year full of downs,
With many more smiles than awfully sad frowns.
At work or at home, the time has gone fast,
But with January upon us, it most certainly won’t last.
The time will slow to a horrible crawl
Waiting for spring and its inevitable call.
So wherever you stand with regards to the new year,
It’s going to happen, don’t have any fear!
An Acrostic Winter
Wonderful scenes of marshmallow magic
Icy days and icy nights
Nice or naughty?
Trees, naked, alone and swaying
Excited young children, one with the snow
Remembering next to the fire, hot cocoa in hand
The Changing Of The Guard
Winter,
Ice cold blue sky
Provides no warmth at all
Trees stand guard, waiting for new life
Rebirth
The End Of The Day
Sunset.
Colored waves drop
All pretense of the day.
Changes descend, unsuspecting
Vessels, detached, reality
The question, darkness thrives,
Dancing lightly
In time
Marking Time
The tree sits alone
Christmas passes, stuck in time
Blues, reds, greens, dimming
Replaced with memories of
Time, shifting and sliding past
I Didn’t Freeze!!!!
“There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
-Sir Ranulph Fiennes
With the weather getting really, really cold (single digits), I knew that if I was planning on getting out to hike anytime soon, I would have to upgrade my current gloves. For as long as I can remember, I have used white athletic socks on the days that I have had to wear gloves. I know that sounds strange, and I can not offer any good reason as to why I have done this for so long. This year, however, I decided to get a decent pair of gloves for a couple of reasons.
First, I have found that as I get older, the cold affects me more than in the past. I tend to get colder quicker and I lose feeling in my extremities Second, also sticking with the “getting older” theme, even when I go out for a day hike I make sure that I am prepared to spend the night in the woods if something happens. This holds true for every hike that I take during every season.
With all of that said, let’s talk about the gloves. The gloves that I purchased were the REI Co-Op Fleece Gloves, size large. Before I ordered them, I used the sizing chart on the REI website to determine what size I should get. After receiving them, I tried them on and was very happy when they fit perfectly.
The hat I purchased to complete the ensemble was the Wigwam Outlast Watch cap. As with the gloves, the hat fit perfectly. Made of fabric that is touted to dry quickly, I am sure that at some point I will be able to test this.
Now, even though I have not worn either of these items while hiking, I was able to test them last night. My daughter had hockey practice last night. While she is practicing, I usually sit in my jeep and read my kindle. When we got to the rink at 7:30 pm, the temperature was 11 degrees and the wind was blowing. Needless to say, it was cold!!!
As I sat in the jeep with my gloves and hat on, I fell asleep, only to be awakened an hour and a half later when the practice was finished. Based on the fact that the only part of me that was remotely cold were my feet, I have to give both items two big thumbs up! My head and hands were nice and toasty and I am sure that when I get into the woods, they will work just as well.
Happy Hiking!
Why Are They My Favorites?
“We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.”
-Katie Thurmes
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.”
-Dr. Seuss
I just finished posting my three favorite hiking pictures as well as my overall top favorites of the year. As I poured through my photos, I kept asking myself whether I should be looking for photos that just had an appealing look and was a “pretty picture”? Or, should I take it a step further and look not at how well the picture came out, but instead how it made me feel. Using approximately a ratio of 80% feeling to 20% appeal, I asked myself a simple question.
How did the picture make me feel? Did it stir any emotions? Good or bad, it didn’t matter. I just wanted to be sure that it produced enough of a reaction and recalled a memory strong enough to include it.
So, each of the six pictures included, after careful examination, answered my question in a satisfactory manner. Each of these photos made me think about hiking and all of the positive aspects of being able to walk in the moment.
Happy Hiking!!!!
2017 Hiking Favorites (3)
A naked tree reaching up to the sky. Pictures like this symbolize the death of one season and the awakening of another. With no leaves, they seem to searching for something that they probably will never find. This is why I love hiking during the fall and winter. You just look up and life is waiting for you!
The Zen Hiker 