Stronger Now

"To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other"....(Carlos Castaneda). I have not been writing as much over the past few months but my thoughts of course, have continued to process the endless material that is part of living this life. I hike almost every day now and on my hikes, I take in the incredible beauty of a water fall I pass every day, as well as the birds, lizards, flowers, grass, stones, dirt and butterflies. I process my dreams and try to understand the theme of the day. There is always a theme you see. Sometimes my dreams will set the tone of my day, or my kids or just my mood. Sometimes, the first song I hear on my iPod spins me off in one direction or another. I love the quote at the beginning of this blog article. Every day we have a choice...to be a warrior or to be average and to slip off the radar. I wasn't always a warrior. I had the spirit of a warrior lying dormant inside of me...but it took a lot of work to wake the warrior within and to gain strength and confidence in being a spirit warrior. In my early years, I was a survivor...but I had adapted by fading into the background. I was afraid to be myself and saw myself and life from a very limited perspective. Last weekend, I took my kids to Joshua Tree State Park. What an amazing place. Even more amazing is that I went to college in Riverside, only about an hour or so from Joshua Tree and yet in the seven years I lived in Riverside....I never went to Joshua Tree. What a shame! My other favorite place is Lake Arrowhead, even less than an hour from Riverside and you guessed it, I never went there during those seven years. Now of course, nothing stops me from weekend road trips and visits to spectacular places. Back then though, I was limited in my perspective and I guess I was just surviving. Many people go through life like that, just surviving. Many people live life boxed into roles, jobs and expectations that keep them stuck. It's kinda scary at first when you set in motion the energy it takes to awaken the warrior within. Being a warrior is a lot more fun however and your perspective about yourself and the world becomes more compassionate, more flexible and much, much freer. I love my daily hikes...another example of how becoming a warrior changed my life in numerous ways. My vista's have changed and instead of the daily grind, I commune with nature every day now as well as challenging myself to hike a pretty strenuous trail to get in better shape. One year ago, I imagined what my new life would be like and now....I am living it. Dare to challenge yourself to face your fears and to strengthen the warrior within as well. If there are things you've wanted to try or beautiful places nearby you have not seen, break out of your usual routine and go see them. Do things you've only dreamt of and challenge each and every fear that has stalled you in the past. "You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do"...(Eleanor Roosevelt).