Sitting on the couch, 6:27am. I’ve been awake now for over an hour, my mind racing. I’ve been doing work, reading blog posts and getting up to date on my food news stories. Pandora is playing my “George Winston” station in my pink earbuds, green tea brewing in the cup beside me. It was just now that I realized the sun is coming out. With its light flooding the room, peaking around tree limbs and casting it’s rays on the side of the hill.
Recently I was reminded of all the old posts on this blog which caused me to go back through and read over again what I had written while living in Indiana. This moment right now is so familiar to me from that time I was in Indiana. Getting up early in the morning to get what little time I could for myself. I would always turn George Winston, brew my first cup of coffee (first of many throughout the day) and sit and write blog posts or dream of being back in Oregon. If I close my eyes right now I could be there, that thought alone makes me shudder.
As I said before in one of my reflective moments flying to NY from Indiana, “life is for watching sunrises and climbing mountains…”. I was only in Indiana for a brief moment but it was long enough. I realized quickly there in that time (luckily) that I wanted to watch sunrises and climb mountains. If I had stayed like I should it would be coming up on one year. I sat in bed last night as I realized that… Wow. How messed up would I be right now? Would I have totally lost it by now? Would I be so out of sync with my thoughts and myself that coming back here to this quiet and peaceful life would be scary?
I remember being on the drive back home wondering if I would ever be able to get back to my old mind set. I wondered if I would ever be able to back to the state of peace and calmness that I had worked so hard to be at before I ever went to Indiana. Well it was this morning that I realized I have. I’ve been back in my calm state for quite sometime now but just now fully realized it.
Sun light peering on the deck where our container garden sits, George Winston playing, my morning cup(s) of green tea (I stopped drinking coffee awhile ago). I’m so glad I saw through that life in Indiana. It really took a lot of guts to go to that place and leave so quickly. Always make sure you’re happy in life. It really is short. You hear that all the time from people but until you do it for yourself you’ll never quite understand why it’s so important.
This year my younger cousin, 18, lost his two-year battle with cancer. That alone is a very powerful motivator to live life, not stress the small stuff and to take time to appreciate beautiful moments like this right now this morning. This is what life is about. It’s not about a job, a house, a fancy car or money. It’s about appreciating what’s around you. What you have, not what you don’t have. That is why I am moving down to the family farm, building a yurt and am gonna raise some food. Live a simple, small, peaceful life.
You hate your job? Think about why you have that job. Is it to pay for your new car, new fangled-latest-greatest cell phone-a-ma-jig, big screen TV, new clothes, fancy-lavish vacations? Get a smaller car (you’ll get better gas mileage too, a double bonus!). And all those other things? They are just a result of your stressful job and they are adding to your stress. Think about it. You wouldn’t need a vacation if your life was free of excess stress. And, you wouldn’t need the stressful, high-paying job if you didn’t need all those excess things. That’s all they are. Just things. Things that don’t go with you when you die. Things that cost money and stress you out.
Be happy. Everyday. Really, do it. If you’re waking up and dreading work, dreading life. Change. Each day could be your last. Live. Turn off the TV, go for a walk. Take time to enjoy the real beautiful things around you, they don’t cost any money.
