Awhile a back I shared I have a worry jar. A place where I write down my worries and place them in a jar so I can let go of them (especially the one’s out of my control). And in doing that, it helps free me  of that worry. I also recently came across an idea from my friend Dawn that I am going to do this year as well. Todd agreed to do to it with me too so I’m excited. We are going to do each month so it is more realistic that we will complete this. Here is how it works: Each month, we are going to write down a memory of that month that we love. And put it in the jar. And then on New Years Eve of next year (2017), we are going to open them up and read the great memories. And celebrate the last year. I hope to make this an annual tradition. Does anyone else want to try this?! You can do every week or …

* Sunrise in Wyoming during a hike (picture from my iphone) As you start 2017, I suggest trying my annual exercise reflecting on the past year. Look back, to learn from your success and failure and set some realistic goals for the year to come. It is a great exercise and highly recommend doing it. Start the year by refueling and re-energizing for the year to come! A sunrise to the year….a time to start over or redo or repeat. Here is the link: http://yearcompass.com/  

So as I was journaling today, I realized how darn good my life is in this moment.  I know what bad times feel like. We all do. Between illness, death, depression, bad jobs, bad luck, break ups/heartbreak, money issues, etc…..most of our life we always can remember the dark times and tend to wallow in them. But how often do we acknowledge and really celebrate the high moments to? Like really stop and be joyful during them. Close your eyes, soak the feeling in, and make sure you have these memories to get you through the dark times. Life is so amazing too. And no matter how dark it gets, you can always find light and joy again. That resiliency and excitement of the unknown is what keeps us going. So today, I am joyful for this moment. It may not last long or it may be a long moment in time. But regardless, I know what it feels like and I am so thankful and joyful for it. I hope if you are going …

I am struggling, admittedly. I am struggling to escape social media, the news, fear, ignorance, and the balance of not putting my head in the sand vs. not being so angry that is ruins relationships.  Trying to unite us yet make it clear I do not believe in hateful words spoken by our next president.  I go from being fucking pissed off, to being accepting, to being hopeful, to being scared, to being exhausted….and then wanting things to go back to normal. As I have written many times, it is all about balance and perspective. So, I do believe that time will answer a lot of the questions. Yet, I don’t know how to balance this with a need to act in some way. I have people I care about that voted for Trump (and Clinton). And while I love those individuals and I don’t think you are racist…..it is hard for me to imagine anyone ignoring such hateful words in order to see a different America. I have so many questions yet I don’t …

As I was on my long hike in the woods today….I was thinking about how often we just don’t show up in our day. We are preoccupied with tomorrow or focused on something in the future. I read a great quote this morning as I started my day that got me thinking while I hiked (are you hiking in Hiketober by the way?!!) “It is one of the saddest facts of human nature that we commonly only learn their value by their loss….There are times in the lives of most of us when we would have given all the world to be as we were but yesterday, though that yesterday had passed over us unappreciated and unenjoyed.”- Williams Edward Hartpole Lecky I loved this quote because it is so true. How often we have regrets or miss something from the past, yet while in that moment, we didn’t fully appreciate or enjoy it. And this really applies to anything in our life. For example, our weight. We are always worried about weighing less verse appreciating …