While hiking today I realized just how at peace my soul was. Much of the time was spent not so much in thought as in appreciation of the majesty and simplicity of the outdoors. My inner voice was quiet as I soaked up the wondrous sights surrounding me.

Snowflakes lightly floating through the sunbeams shooting through tree branches creating a glittering fairy tale like scene. Clouds moving out of the way for the sun to light up a small portion of Lake Superior. The ice from mist off the lake creating sheets of crystal encasing the scrub pines on the shore. The labyrinths of icicles surrounding the maws of almost frozen waterfalls.

With all of this surrounding me I felt a deep sense of peace and calm. The sense of peace which seems to only be found in the outdoors.

Quite often in daily life I have to focus on taking a deep breath to help find stillness in the midst of busy-ness. As much as I practice it still requires me taking action to do so. Stillness is not my default mindset. In the outdoors my default response is stillness.

How can I rectify this so that it is my natural response in all of life? What is the root cause of the calm in the outdoors? How do I more readily replicate it in the rest of my life? Is this a default I could actually work towards and attain? Those questions will all have to wait for another day.

Today, I’m focusing my appreciation on the stillness which can only be found in the outdoors. It wrapped itself around my soul today and gave an increasingly warm hug.

Thanks!!!