View from my window
Icy blocks floating slowly
Unquestioned beauty
The River
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Tag Archives: peace
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!!!
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!
Winter Tanka
Snow covered landscape
Cruel wind blows through naked trees
Icy branches sway
Lonely crow stands watch, waiting
The new year awakes, sober
2017 Hiking Favorites (2)
My second favorite hiking photo of the year! This was a sunset after exiting the woods in Ward Pound Ridge Reservation (late October). The contrast between the sky and the trees is what makes the photo special for me.
2017 Hiking Favorites
A couple of days ago I published my three favorite photos of the year. With the next few posts I am going to share my favorite hiking photos. This picture says it all-on the trail heading off to…where? Anywhere.
Is Winter Over Yet?
“O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
-Percy Bysshe Shelley
I hate to admit it, but the winter has already worn out its welcome. Although I love the colder days and lots of snow, it is a serious buzz kill whenever I even try to think about getting out into the woods. With only two hours of daylight left when I leave my school for the day, it is next to impossible to get to any trail in the area and get any type of hike in before the sun sets. This doesn’t really sit well with me. I guess I’m getting a case of modified cabin fever.
For the last few weeks I haven’t really been able to get out that much. Gone are the days of the summer when the hiking was easy. I could hike all day and not have to worry about losing precious daylight. Days when you could stop and take a breather for any amount of time and not have to worry about freezing to death have certainly gone by the wayside.
As a result, I am forced to be inside a whole lot more than I would like to be. At work and at home, the winter months mean that I will spend more time wishing that I could hike than I do actually hiking. So every night almost as soon as I get home, I pull the stationary bike out, move it in front of the tv and I ride. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that although the bike is excellent cardio training, it in no way can replace being out in the woods. The fresh air, listening to the sound of my breath as I push up hills and crossing the paths of like minded folks is beyond description.
Getting out into the woods is, hands down, the best way to dispose of the mental garbage we all carry. A nice mental enema…
Was It A Trivial Pursuit??
It was a very interesting day, this Christmas Day. At just around 10:15 yesterday morning, the power went out in parts of Mahopac. After about 20 minutes of blessed silence, my son (who was in the next room), texted me asking if we could play Monopoly. That’s right..he texted me. But that’s a story for another day.
Anyway, after not finding the Monopoly game board, we decided to play Trivial Pursuit. It was really nice to be able to sit down with my kids and not have to fight with some form of electronics for their attention. As the game passed one hour and then two, I realized how lucky I was to have two kids who didn’t mind spending some time with their old man.
Although it was forced upon us, those three hours spent together playing a board game made this Christmas Day a complete one. It has been a long time since my two kids and I had the opportunity to just sit down and play a game. It brought back memories of other days when we actually planned to play some kind of game if we had a snow day, or if it was really a hot summer day.
With all of that said, I guess my point is this-if you have older children, take advantage of any time that you get to spend with them. When they are younger, we know that they aren’t going anywhere and quite honestly, the thought never enters your mind. Now that my son, who is senior in college, will be either going to graduate school or entering the work force, is obviously on his way. My daughter follows in just a few short years.
Those three hours playing Trivial Pursuit were probably some of the best time spent during 2017! And BTW-I won!!!!!
2017 Favorites (3)
This photo rounds out my top three photos of the year. Taken at my parents house, I love the colors in this picture, especially how you don’t see a direct cut off, instead the darker colors fade into the lighter.
The Zen Hiker 