Winter Wake-Up Call

Listen closely, and you'll hear your wake-up call.

I've been asking for what 2015 is about for me, and while I had a clue, I wasn't feeling it.
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Part of the reason I believe I wasn't feeling it, is because I've been too busy (consumed is more like it) being miserable in the cold weather.

From my mind perspective, I know better. I know all about mind over matter. I'm well-trained in mindset work… and yet, the cold, dark, winter days really do get to me in a way that almost nothing else does.

So, on Saturday after taking my mother to the airport, I went straight to the Chattahoochee National Park, just a quarter mile from home, inside the city of Atlanta, and went hiking. I was determined to enjoy my time in sunny weather. I can handle cold and sunny. I struggle with cold and gray.

Anyway, I walked in the woods, along the river, as I usually do. I spent some time resting on this big rock perched up high, where I could feel the sun on my face, and I actually began to embrace my experience of the cold weather. It wasn't bad at all. As a matter of fact, the crisp air was sort of nice.

Mind. Body. Got it. We're making progress.

Typically, the rock is a stopping point for most because the path that continues beyond it is no longer a walking path… it becomes one of scrambling, needing your hands and feet to get down the cliff-like side, and in below freezing temperatures, it was icy.

I had never gone past that rock.

A man walks past me and begins his descent down the scrambling path and I ask him about it. Now I'm curious, engaged in the possibility of going down that path myself, only I'm thinking that I don't want to invade his space by following him, and all the while, also desiring to still keep my own space.

So I decide to leave and return the same old way I've always gone. Immediately I begin to regret it and realize that it's way too early in the year to have any regrets.
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I ask him if I can "sort of follow him" and he says yes. Great! He explains the path to me and he's ahead and I'm enjoying my own journey.

I wind up loving it!

I began to recall hiking with my father in the Swiss Alps while growing up.

I began to feel aliveness again, simply because I followed my calling in the moment.

I connected with my inner power, and found joy, simply because I followed my heart, my intuition.

It was so simple, and it made all the difference.

Now my body is engaged. Alive. Participating (rather than the habitual suffering of the cold). Now I am warming up, having FUN, smiling.

Do you know that every action you take, every thought you think, at every moment is either moving you towards more life or moving you towards death? Death here can also mean less life in your experience of that moment, and yes, it is towards a death of sorts - your aliveness is dying inside or your body is losing health or your mind is contracting instead of expanding. You get the picture.

So, if you are in the northern hemisphere and you're in the middle of winter, what is your winter wake-up call?

During a time of hibernation, what are you bringing more life to?
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I'm finding a balance between hibernation and my winter wake-up call. In my desire for hibernation, I'm writing. I'm sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around me, and I'm going inward to see what's to be revealed in 2015. AND, simultaneously, I'm also going outdoors to connect with nature and to keep connecting with my winter wake-up call.

Finally, it dawned on me that if I were to hibernate all winter long, I might actually get bored with myself. So, for me, I know that my time to come out and play is the spring (perhaps because I'm an early spring baby), but really, I want to honor the rhythm of the season and what feels congruent with my body, without engaging in total inertia. That would not thrill me either.

I am bringing more life into my body, more life into my mind, and more life into my business.

How are you bringing more life into your own life?

Join the conversation and comment below. As you share, you will create more life in your own life - your body, your mind, your business, your family.

Our community will come to life as we participate and share together.

I can't wait to hear from you!
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With love and gratitude,