Walking in Winter December . 20 . 2008

Posted on December 21, 2008 by lautrec

Winter Walk in the Snow . Christmas in NJ 2008

I am eternally grateful to be surrounded by such natural beauty. This is a photo I took on my walk today. Because of the heavy snow I abbreviated my five mile walk to a two mile walk. In this crunchy snow, that was still quite a feat.

I found an incredible storehouse of knowledge today on a website called TruthBeKnown.com that explores comparative religions and religious myths. I warn you, if you have any interest in this field, you might get lost for hours like I did.

The other day, I also found an incredible site called Bibliodyssey. It is an incredible collection of book illustrations from across the ages. Once again, be prepared to get lost. It is a wonderful resource for artists and illustrators.

Become The Story You Create

Posted on December 12, 2008 by lautrec

Cabbage: A Natural Mandala

Today I was doing my morning reading of the New York Times when an article by Judith Warner caught my eye that reminded me of a conversation that I was just having with a friend about her daughters and her inability to keep their problems from becoming hers. I ran across this jewel that I think has a wonderful message for us all today:

“We fuse with the words we use,” the psychologist Keith Saylor told me last week. “We become the story we create. And there’s a story being created about who your child is.”

Of course Dr. Saylor was talking about our relationships with our children but the same principle applies to how we think about ourselves and our lives and what we manifest or create in our daily lives.

I am grateful that I can now manifest and create wonderful things in my own life and that I choose to create love, peace, beauty, wisdom and understanding in my world.

Gratitude . Walking . Affirmations . Healing

Posted on November 29, 2008 by lautrec

Rocks . Road . Fall

As I look back on this past year I know that one of these three things have saved my life: Gratitude, Walking and Affirmations. They have helped me heal and led me to new ways of thinking and living. I am very grateful for the change in my life.

The gratitude keeps me in a spirit of acceptance of what I have and who I am.

The walking just keeps my mind clearer and my body stronger. The visual stimulation that I get everyday from the scenery has helped me get back to my love of nature and it has inspired me to draw again.

The affirmations help me to reach out to the future and to possibilities and to others. I not only affirm good things for myself, but I affirm good things for my family and my friends. My affirmations for my loved ones at this point are manifesting themselves in amazing ways. I am growing in my ability to make affirmations for myself and to make them come true.

My healing has been helped along by all these things and by the help of my family and friends. My healing has been helped by Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Ernest Holmes and others. I am grateful for the journey that I began about a year ago. I am grateful that I have been transformed.

Celebration of Manifestation

Posted on November 22, 2008 by lautrec

November Sunset In New Jersey on the Delaware River

Today I celebrate the manifestation of my affirmations of the past several months in the life of someone very dear to me. I am grateful that the universe has heard my plea. I am grateful for the new opportunities and new relationships that are coming into being at this very moment in time.

The photograph above was taken on my abbreviated walk today. I got started a bit late and the sun goes down very early right now, but the good thing about it is that I was at this spot, at this beautiful moment in time, with my camera.

Life is good!

Celebrating 50 Years of Life

Posted on October 29, 2008 by lautrec

50: A number not to be feared

Today is my 50th birthday and I choose to celebrate my own survival and prosperity this day. I claim every good thing for myself. I look forward to a whole new decade of discovery and growth. I thank the universe for helping me to get over my self [self and negative perceptions of my personality and place in the world] and my obsession with failure and poverty. I embrace my new world. I embrace my own personal “new age”.

I thank Louise Hay for helping me to get here. I thank my mother and my father and my entire family for their love and wisdom. I thank my life partner for being here for me and holding my hand for the past year while I walked through the dark valley of my own making in my own despair and self hatred. I am a wonderfully lucky and blessed man. I am grateful for my father’s visit this past summer and his acceptance and love for me. I am grateful for a roof over my head, food in my refrigerator and cupboards, opportunities surrounding me in every direction, for political freedom, the chance to run my own business, the health to be able to walk 5 miles a day, for stopping smoking this year, for wonderful new destinations that I have discovered, and the blessings of technology that make the Internet and this blog possible.

Turning fifty years old is not scary at all. It is the fear of turning fifty that is really scary. It is a fear that can destroy you; It is a fear that can drive you crazy, but only if you let it. Embrace the possibility of this moment and your future. Embrace The Concept and The Reality of Now.

Grateful for My Mother

Posted on October 22, 2008 by lautrec

Mom

I have not always been grateful for my mother and when she died we were not on the best of terms. Recently my perspective has been changing somewhat as I have been helping a friend whose children keep pushing her away saying they aren’t responsible for taking care of her now that she is getting older and weaker. It has hit me hard how grateful I have to be for my mother and how I want to honor her memory today.

My mother was a wonderfully strange and funny creature. She was very different than any of the women in my family. There was not a woman anywhere in my known universe at the time that was even remotely like this woman. She never had any time for gossip or negative talk about anyone. She never wanted to speak evil of anyone or anything. She loved to read more than any person I have ever met and was always busy with some creative project. She loved working, she loved selling, she loved shopping for her children. She loved people so deeply that when she died it was not just her family that grieved, but her church and her community all felt a deep sense of loss. I miss that woman and today I honor her memory and her hard work to make me the wonderful person that I am today. I am as unique as she was and I am proud of it.

As I help my friend deal with being rejected and abandoned by her children for “being too much trouble” I know now that I must have hurt my own mother deeply at times by not responding when she called out for help. I forgive myself for my own selfishness and I know that my mother in heaven forgives me too.

I affirm for my friend that she will be able to some day be close with her family and have everyone reach out to each other freely without any baggage from the past, without any emotional wounds or resentments and simply love and respect each other in the present moment. I see her with her children and her grandchildren in a warm and happy family gathering of peace and joy.

Abundance

Posted on October 20, 2008 by lautrec

Dinner

Just a note. When you think your life is hard, take a moment to think what it is like in poorer countries: See this comparison of what families around the world eat in one week. You might feel differently after seeing this.

I am grateful for the roof over my head, for the friends and family in my life, for the food in my refrigerator, for all the blessings that I have living in a beautiful part of the country.

Walking in Gratitude

Posted on October 16, 2008 by lautrec

Fall 2008 October in New Jersey

Every day my walks help me to keep my head screwed on straight. I am grateful that I finally decided to get off my ass and start taking care of my mind, my body and my soul. With every step on my walk, I try to remain in an attitude of gratitude. I am a very happy man that my life has changed so much for the better. I encourage all of you to get out and walk as much as you can every day. Do it for yourself. Do it for the universe. Do it for your own peace of mind. Just Do It.

Fall Mandala

Posted on September 20, 2008 by lautrec

Fall Mandala: Infinite Orange

This mandala was made by using a kaleidoscope effect on a fall leaf that I picked up on my walk yesterday. This was done with Paint Shop Pro. At the bottom of this post, you can see the original leaf that the image was made from.

I am grateful for the beauty of the colors of fall and the ever changing quality of nature. There are surprises out there every day for me if I am willing to pay attention and to be grateful. I am grateful for the scanner which allowed me to photograph the leaf and capture these incredible colors and textures. I am grateful for the art program which allows me to transform these images into another reality. I am grateful for the technology that makes it all possible. I am grateful for the inventors that came up with these incredible tools.

I love this fall mandala and the infinity of space that it symbolizes for me.

Fall Leaf: From a walk along the Delaware River in NJ

Affirmations That Work (in their own time)

Posted on September 14, 2008 by lautrec

Rock Window

From Answers.com the definition of affirm:

To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true.

To support or uphold the validity of; confirm.

From my own experience an affirmation is a positive declaration of something I want to see come true. It is much more than a wish. It is making a statement that this deeply desired outcome has already materialized while at the same time thanking the universe for making it so.

Sometimes it can be discouraging when you make the affirmation over and over again every day and nothing seems to budge. The situation seems hopeless and stagnant.

Last night I found out that one of my affirmations that I make every day on my walk is beginning to materialize. It is happening in a different manner than I had affirmed and in a much larger and much more positive way than I could have ever imagined or asked for. I think that the big movements that need to occur in our lives sometimes take more time than we might think necessary. We have to wait for the conditions to be right. Big changes don’t always occur on our schedule.

I am grateful for the confirmation of my affirmations. I am grateful for a changed reality in my life and the lives of those around me. I am grateful for the increase in hope and confidence that this change brings.

Walking . Thinking . Learning

Random Thoughts From My Walks Along the Delaware River

Tag Archives: gratitude