September 15, 2020
How about that year 2020? This amusement park ride continues to deliver! And we keep showing up in line. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make the decision of enough is enough? On this podcast episode we’re jumping back to 8:09 am on August 9, 2020. Hold it. Wait a moment. All of these weeks just went by and I just noticed that the 5.1 earthquake that shook North Carolina took place at 8:09 am on the eighth month and 9th day! I was sitting in the forest during the moment of shake rattle and roll. The very forest that was enjoying a visit from a writer during the huge eclipse from a few years back that left us in the dark for a few moments. Although the earth shook on August 9th nothing changed in this forest. The birds, deer, snakes, spiders, owl and squirrels didn’t seem to be bothered. Maybe there was a ripple in the creek water and the trees acted as if it was just another late summer breeze. There’s got to be a message here. In all that’s happening during these documented days of 2020 why does nature seem to be shrugging its shoulders? What’s the missing language? Somewhere along the way we’ve lost the pronunciation and definition guide that fully explains what’s happening. It’s all right here. It’s physically happening! I feel like we’ve become horridly addicted to social media and headlines in general because we use it to check in. To find out how other people are reacting. At times we fall witness to those who are respecting other people’s place on the map. Then there are those moments when it’s nearly impossible to let anything sink inside. We keep taking these hits without learning the intended message. The entire image reminds me of Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, “Yes sir! I’m not quitting sir!” The positive sits in the number of global people who aren’t sitting down during these chapters of new age struggles and very little victory. It may not look like we’re united on the forefront of unpredictable change but there’s physical evidence of that hidden drive to compassionately be present. Today there’s five tropical storms and hurricanes racing across the Atlantic Ocean, the west coast is still on fire, the homeless rate is on a major increase and not too shocking a new report reveals that intimacy in marriages has hit an all-time low. How much can we take and is there an emergency exist? In this moment of now be aware that calm starts with choice. I spilled hot coffee his morning and laughed about it. When compared to everything else going haywire, losing a cup of Joe on the floor seemed to tickle the over protected soul. Choice. It’s where conversation begins. It’s where listening continues. Richard Gere endlessly had to make a choice in An Officer and a Gentleman. Men were dropping out because the stress of the daily test was getting to be too much. Mentally and physically they were on a path of destruction and not resurrection. Big word right? And it’s not even Easter. Choice. It empowers your present place in the now. It may not have the Hail Mary championship trophy at the end but you still displayed the courage to work not just through the storm but beyond the storm. I take my first walk through the forest every morning at 4:30. It’s my choice. To be in nature. To figure out how to shrug my shoulders and keep moving on. Find your inner leadership. It starts with choice.