Keep Walking

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” –Winston Churchill

Keep Walking




Don’t give up. Keep walking.







Edward Payson Weston walked across the U.S. at the age of 70.

He first received attention as a notable pedestrian in 1861, when he walked 478 miles (769 km) from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, DC in 10 days and 10 hours, from February 22 to March 4. During the walk, he faced snow, rain, and mud, and he fell several times. His longest period of uninterrupted sleep was 6 hours, and he usually ate while walking. He arrived in Washington at 5:00 pm, and was strong enough to attend Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural ball that evening.

The walk was part of the terms of a bet on the 1860 presidential election. The bettor whose candidate lost was to walk to Washington to see the inauguration of the new president. Weston lost when he bet against Lincoln, and received only a bag of peanuts for his trouble. However, he also received newspaper coverage and a congratulatory handshake from the new president, which inspired him to further pedestrian feats.

On March 16, 1909, at age 70, he started to walk from New York to San Francisco, aiming to do it in 100 days. Fans turned out by the thousands along the route to cheer him on. “He was snowed on, rained on, attacked by mosquitoes, and menaced by hoboes. Crossing the Rockies winds were so strong that he had to crawl on hands and knees, [making] four miles in 24 hours. But the old man pushed on, hitting San Francisco in 104 days.” He deemed it a great failure and the following year he hiked back, “this time starting from Santa Monica, aiming to reach New York in 90 days. He did it in 76.” (source: Running Past)

See photos and read more about Edward Payson Weston’s walks here: http://www.runningpast.com/pedestrian.htm




The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Keep walking!

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Don’t Quit
Get Back Up!




The Gift of Forgiveness

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” –Lewis B. Smedes




Quotes on Forgiveness:

“We attach our feelings to the moment when we were hurt, endowing it with immortality. And we let it assault us every time it comes to mind. It travels with us, sleeps with us, hovers over us while we make love, and broods over us while we die. Our hate does not even have the decency to die when those we hate die–for it is a parasite sucking OUR blood, not theirs. There is only one remedy for it. [forgiveness] –Lewis B. Smedes – Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve

“With a little time, and a little more insight, we begin to see both ourselves and our enemies in humbler profiles. We are not really as innocent as we felt when we were first hurt. And we do not usually have a gigantic monster to forgive; we have a weak, needy, and somewhat stupid human being. When you see your enemy and yourself in the weakness and silliness of the humanity you share, you will make the miracle of forgiving a little easier.” –Lewis B. Smedes – Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve

“The problem with revenge is that it never gets what it wants; it never evens the score. Fairness never comes. The chain reaction set off by every act of vengeance always takes its unhindered course. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain…Why do family feuds go on and on?…the reason is simple: no two people, no two families, ever weigh pain on the same scale.” –Lewis B. Smedes – Forgive & Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve

“All the years you have waited for them to “make it up to you” and all the energy you expended trying to make them change (or make them pay) kept the old wounds from healing and gave pain from the past free rein to shape and even damage your life. And still they may not have changed. Nothing you have done has made them change. Indeed, they may never change. Inner peace is found by changing yourself, not the people who hurt you. And you change yourself for yourself, for the joy, serenity, peace of mind, understanding, compassion, laughter, and bright future that you get.” –Lewis B. Smedes – The Art of Forgiving: When You Need To Forgive And Don’t Know How

“Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business. Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another’s control…to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always. The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past. Forgiveness frees the forgiver. It extracts the forgiver from someone else’s nightmare.” –Lance Morrow

“Let’s get one thing straight: Forgiving is not something you do for someone else. It is not even something you do because you SHOULD, according to the standards of religious belief or human decency. Forgiving is something that you do for yourself. It is one way of becoming the person you were created to be–and fulfilling God’s dream of you is the only way to true wholeness and happiness. You NEED to forgive so that you can move forward with life. An unforgiven injury binds you to a time and place someone else has chosen; it holds you trapped in a past moment and in old feelings.” –Carol Luebering – Finding A Way To Forgive (article, CareNotes)

You might also like: Forgiveness and the Freedom of Letting Go

What’s the Purpose of Relationships?

Have you ever stopped to think about the purpose of relationships? Do you think they are just for our own enjoyment? Do you believe in soul mates?

Years ago I heard a phrase from a book that caught my attention. The name of the book was “The One: Finding Soul Mate Love and Making It Last,” by Kathy Freston. The book went on to become a New York Times best-seller and was re-titled as “The One: Discovering the Secrets of Soul Mate Love.” Here’s the phrase:

“No matter what the question, this is the answer: we are here in each other’s lives to facilitate in one another a higher state of consciousness. We are here to open each other’s eyes to God. We don’t talk about that; it certainly isn’t the spoken goal of most partnerships. But that is what is at play.”




I don’t really know the purpose of relationships but do believe we are here to grow.

Being the curious person that I am, I just had to go buy the book. So, if you haven’t realized it yet, there is no problem-free relationship. People seem to think that if they just find their “soul mate” they will live happily ever after without any relationship problems. According to Kathy, that isn’t the definition of a soulmate. This is a little bit of what Kathy had to say about soul mates and relationships:

“A soul mate reflects back to us that which is unhealed while testifying to what is already perfect. Soul mates provide different things at different times: sometimes a safe haven from which we can branch out and explore, and sometimes challenges that bring us to our knees. In every case, they help us as we make our way along the path leading to the innermost sanctum where Spirit resides.”

“We need the challenge relationships provide by calling us out on our prejudices, and we need people – partners, friends, casual acquaintances, and even strangers – who will walk with us as we make our way to our soul’s potential.”

We want things to go smoothly, but it seems we need the challenges relationships present in order for us to grow.




Here’s some more food for thought from Kathy Freston:

“I realized that somewhere along the way, we as a society had lost sight of the truth. Instead of finding peace within ourselves, we looked for happiness in the form of another person, situation, or thing. We would work hard to “get” someone, but then the relationship would “fail.” Either the magic seemed to wear off or we never took the chance to commit to a partner because there might be a better deal just around the corner. Or, saddest of all, we suffered quietly in an unfulfilling marriage, dreaming of what might possibly set us free.”

“The challenge of finding and keeping a soul mate is the perfect impetus for our metaphysical maturation. Our love relationships bring us face to face with our demons, and we are willing to confront them and learn how to better ourselves because we want so badly to fulfill love’s magical promise. It is by using the experiences that arise within the context of partnership – both joyful and painful ones – that we come to embrace the enormous spiritual capacity that lies within us, making us capable of magnificent things, not only in the area of relationships, but in every area of life.”

“We can’t possibly know or dictate what will bring us our awakenings; no two people are exactly the same, and one soul certainly requires different lessons than the next. We simply have to rise to greet the occasions as they present themselves to us. The perfect set of conditions for bringing about your soul’s unfolding is always at hand, but you probably won’t recognize this while you’re going through it.”

“Our spiritual task is to calm our overactive ego, to catch it when it starts climbing into the driver’s seat and tell it when to get back where it belongs. In terms of love relationships, we need to become more focused on treating our partners – or potential partners – with respect, honoring the fact that they have their own higher mind to follow and we have no right to push our personal agenda on their lives. We need to stop insisting on getting our own way and allow them to be who they are. We can make suggestions and we can express our opinions, but it gets us nowhere to insist on having things our own way. We can’t change anyone else; we can only work on changing ourselves.”

“Power struggles are a major problem in love relationships, and I have found that whenever a power struggle develops between partners, at least one of the following aspects of ego is at work: 1. The need to be right; 2. The need to be in control; 3. The need to be distracted; or 4. The need to feel superior or inferior.

1) The need to be right pits us against each other. When we are attached to being right, we feel compelled to defend ourselves at all costs. We don’t want to see the other person’s side of the story, because if we did, it might threaten the case we’ve built. So we dig in our heels, hoping to wear the other person down. We do this because deep down inside we feel small and afraid. The ego believes only one of us can win, so it’s fighting for its life.

If we were to take a more spiritual approach and recognize that the Spirit in me is the same Spirit in you, we would no longer need to be right. Rather than fearfully clinging to our smaller, more selfish agenda, we could shift our goal to finding common ground.

2) The need to be in control is the ego’s way of urging us to hold tightly to the reins if we want to be safe. We’d better put things in their place, including our partners, says the fearful voice inside us. When I get into control mode, it’s usually because I am scared that things won’t work out as I think they should, and that, at the end of the day, I won’t be okay.

3) The need to be distracted is the ego’s way of coping with the anxiety of going it alone. There is a tremendous amount of fear and pressure that goes with the belief that you have to figure everything out for yourself. When the responsibility becomes too much, the ego looks for distraction; it is a way of surviving. And in our society, there is no shortage of distraction from the deeper issues of our humanity. Sensational news, demanding work schedules, lifestyle pressures, sports events, e-mail, computer games: these are just a few of the stimuli that compete for our attention. And trumping all of these is the drama we can create in our relationships; nothing beats a good knock-down drag-out fight to get our mind off the gnawing fear that we can’t keep it all together. When we sweat the small stuff, we successfully distract ourselves from the larger anxiety that the ego maintains of being separate and alone in a big, scary world.

In other words, you may make a big deal about your husband coming home an hour later than he said he would, or lay into your wife for not running the household as well as you think she should, but really, deep down inside, you are just trying to distract yourself from the absolute terror of not being able to keep all the pieces of your life together. But you see, we are not meant to hold it all together; we are not the glue of life. Spirit is. We are at our best when we accept our role as co-creators with Spirit.

4) The need to be superior or inferior is the ego’s way of keeping us apart from each other by focusing on flaws. It plagues us with attacks of self-pity or delusions of grandeur that keep us from the fundamental truth that we are all created equally and from the same source. Because the ego has no awareness of our inherent Oneness, it sets us adrift on our narcissistic wanderings. Our sense of worth should never depend upon how much better or worse we are doing than someone else. Rather, it should be rooted in the knowledge that we are all created perfectly by God.

These four ego-driven needs present obstacles to our awareness of deep and unconditional love because they keep us focused on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. They drive us apart rather than bring us together. Each time you see one of these needs arise in your thoughts or actions, recognize it as a warning to relegate the ego to the backseat.

Ego may present us with many pitfalls, but it also has its benefits. It assists us in recognizing and celebrating our differences. We are unique, after all, and this uniqueness works in concert with our core spirituality. As we learn to coexist and enjoy the different qualities we all have, Spirit is renewed and expanded. Life becomes more textured and lovely.

The question is not whether ego is good or bad, but rather to what degree we allow it to rule our lives and relationships. Ego is an aspect of the mind that serves a purpose; we just can’t let it get out of hand. If we keep choosing to stay alert and awake to all the forces at work within us, we can create a well-balanced and soulful partnership.”




Here’s two good reads about the Ego:

Ego – The False Center

Edging God Out




About Kathy:

Kathy Freston is a health and wellness expert and a New York Times best-selling author. Her books include Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness, The One: Discovering the Secrets of Soul Mate Love and Expect a Miracle: 7 Spiritual Steps to Finding the Right Relationship. Her newest book is THE QUANTUM WELLNESS CLEANSE: The 21 Day Essential Guide to Healing Your Body, Mind, and Spirit, (Weinstein Books). Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Dean Ornish penned the introductions for her two latest books and her work has garnered accolades from such respected names as Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Neal Barnard, Marianne Williamson and Dr. Deepak Chopra. http://www.kathyfreston.com/

Quote of the day (1/25/10)

“We must listen before we can learn.
We must learn before we can prepare.
We must prepare before we can serve.
We must serve before we can lead.”
–William Arthur

Life’s A Dance

“Everything in the universe has rhythm. Everything dances.” –Maya Angelou

These are the lyrics to a country song that offer some words of wisdom about life. Enjoy!




Life’s A Dance
by John Michael Montgomery

When I was fourteen I was falling fast
For a blue eyed girl in my homeroom class
Trying to find the courage to ask her out
Was like trying to get oil from a waterspout
What she would have said I can’t say
I never did ask and she moved away
But I learned something from my blue eyed girl
Sink or swim you gotta give it a whirl

Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don’t worry about what you don’t know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go

The longer I live the more I believe
You do have to give if you wanna recieve
There’s a time to listen, a time to talk
And you might have to crawl even after you walk
Had sure things blow up in my face
Seen the longshot, win the race
Been knocked down by the slamming door
Picked myself up and came back for more

Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don’t worry about what you don’t know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don’t worry about what you don’t know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Life’s a dance you learn as you go
Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow
Don’t worry about what you don’t know
Life’s a dance you learn as you go

Life’s a dance
Life’s a dance
Life’s a dance
Take a chance on love
Life’s a dance
You learn as you go




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Having A Bad Day?

If you are having a bad day, get another one and get it quick! –Rissie Harris

When you’re having a bad day, do you take it out on others?

I’m sure we’ve all had days where we wake up feeling grumpy and the day gets progressively worse. Or the day started out great until we got to work — and it was downhill after that. Whenever I feel irritable (which is rare for me), or like I’m having a “not so good day,” I like to keep to myself and talk to others as little as possible. Why? Because I don’t want to take things out on others. After all, that person is innocent. They have nothing to do with my mood, or my having a “bad day.” It’s unfair for me to take things out on them. We all know what it feels like when someone takes their feelings out on us — not good! I don’t wish it on others. Here’s something I remind myself of whenever I’m having a bad day:

“If you are having a bad day, it is a personal problem the world does not have to deal with. If you get up on the wrong side of the bed, it is no one’s fault but your own. If it is that time of the week, month or year for you, what would you have the world do? It is never an excuse for being rude, cruel or abusive to anyone, to simply say, “I’m having a bad day.” It is not appropriate to scream, swear, lash out or do things that have no place among civilized people because “you have something else on your mind.” We cannot abuse or tramatize others because we are facing a challenge. LIFE IS A CHALLENGE!……Tradition tells us that it does not matter what difficulties we face. Our worth is measured by how we face those difficulties. If we are to grow and reach our fullest potential, we have no time to waste on bad days.” –Iyanla Vanzant

You might also like: What do you say when you get Angry?

Bad Day by Daniel Powter




Where Are You Running?

Are you someone people would describe as a “drama queen”?

Does your life seem to constantly move from one drama to the next? I’m not someone who likes drama in my life. However, it seems like some people seem to thrive on it. Things do happen to us that are beyond our control — I’m not talking about those situations. It seems like some people seem to attract drama while others don’t. Ever wonder why? Perhaps it has something to do with their way of thinking. The following story offers some food for thought.

Where Are You Running?

Oh, just to escape and get away from it all! Negative relationships, problems at work, unresolved issues at home — these are just a few of the demanding situations we live with day in and day out.

But before we go running off, change our name, and start over again someplace else, we’d better think about the common denominator in all our problems. Most of those thorny situations have a lot more to do with us than they do with “them.” Our unfair boss doesn’t know our irritating neighbor, and neither of them knows my landlord. The only common element in all those relational problems is me.

When we take the time to search inward for change, we see everything in a different light. What we previously thought vital, becomes trivial. We delightedly perceive that we can truly choose to change from victim to victor. Many people spend their entire lives hoping their circumstances will change for the better. Circumstances only get better as we get better. Things change when we change. A wise man has said, “Unless you change what you think, you will always get what you’ve got!”

Resolving the issues that face us almost always means changing something in ourselves. Much of the hurt that stems from all of them is self-inflicted, whether actively or passively. Even if we ran from those situations, we would likely re-create them in a new setting. When even a part of the problem is us, the solution is ours as well. We can’t run far enough to escape ourselves. –Dennis Kimbro

What 1 Degree of Effort Can Do

The line between failure and success is so fine that we … are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success. A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. –Elbert Hubbard

What 1 Degree of Effort Can Do – 212 Degrees – The Extra Degree

No one succeeds without effort…. Those who succeed owe their success to their perseverance. –Ramana Marhasi

Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Half effort does not produce half results. It produces no results. Work, continuous work and hard work, is the only way to accomplish results that last. –Hamilton Holt

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. –James Lane Allen

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

If you remain in your comfort zone you will not go any further. –Catherine Pulsifer

When is the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?

Leave water sitting in a pot for two or three days and the stagnate water starts to smell bad. So what do you think happens when we stay in our comfort zone — we stagnate. At the beginning of every new year people make up a long list of resolutions. Are the same things on your list year after year? Then maybe it’s time to try some new things, or a new approach. We all have a comfort zone where everything feels safe and familiar. We tend to not want to venture beyond it, however if we allow ourselves to stay there we will not be challenged, experience personal growth, or learn new and exciting things.




My Comfort Zone

I used to have a comfort zone where I knew I wouldn’t fail.
The same four walls and busywork were really more like jail.
I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before,
But stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.
I said it didn’t matter that I wasn’t doing much.
I said I didn’t care for things like commission checks and such.
I claimed to be so busy with the things inside the zone,
But deep inside I longed for something special of my own.
I couldn’t let my life go by just watching others win.
I held my breath; I stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone goodbye and closed and locked the door.
If you’re in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true.
Reach for your future with a smile; success is there for you!
–author unknown




“Life Begins At The End of Your Comfort Zone.” –Neal Donald Walsh




Comfort Zone Challenge Interview

Comfort Zone Quotes:

Although when you first step out of your comfort zone
it may feel difficult and fearful,
you will at some point become comfortable again.
–Wendy Hearn, from Use Your Unique Abilities to Shake The World

A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future.
You must break out of your current comfort zone and
become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.
–Denis Waitley

Life loses its meaning when we get stuck up in comfort zone. –M.K. Soni

We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are. –Max DePree

Nobody ever died of discomfort, yet living in the name of comfort has killed more ideas, more opportunities, more actions, and more growth than everything else combined. Comfort kills! –T. Harv Eker

What are you going to do to step out of your comfort zone?




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Quotes on Happiness

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us. –Helen Keller

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up. –Mark Twain

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost. –H. Jackson Browne

The best vitamin to be a happy person is B1. –Author Unknown

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. –Epictetus

My creed is that: Happiness is the only good. The place to be happy is here. The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so. –Robert G. Ingersoll

Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination. –Roy M. Goodman

Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. –Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Talk happiness. The world is sad enough without your woe. No path is wholly rough. –Ella Wheeler Wilcox

When a man has lost all happiness, he’s not alive. Call him a breathing corpse. –Sophocles

All men have happiness as their object: there are no exceptions. However different the means they employ, they aim at the same end. –Blaise Pascal

Don’t mistake pleasures for happiness. They are a different breed of dog. –Josh Billings

Happy New Year!