Day 2,851

Growth:

Questions always lead to better places than answers. Conversations are so much more fun when I ask more questions to learn more rather than when I talk to be heard. My natural tendency is still to talk, I need to keep working on leading with questions rather than talking. There were a few examples of each today, excellent reminders for Future Mike!

Appreciation:

I’ve written about this over and over again, but I am so appreciative for all the outside time I create in my life. This morning I really didn’t want to get out of bed at 4:15am, but I knew I wanted to get outside. I was on the trail and hiking by 4:45am and had about as awesome start to the day as one could ask for. The weather was an almost perfect 58f, it was dark in the woods but just starting to lighten in the sky, and the birds started singing within about five minutes of delving into the forest. Everything was so quiet and still, I was awake and alive while the rest of the world slept. By the time I was out of the woods I had just enough time to get showered up and head off to Eau Claire for work for the day.

Throughout the day I kept going back to the memories created this morning, to enjoying the stillness, to the calm which can only seem to be found in nature (this is something for me to work to grow into, I should be able to find that calm by diving within myself rather than relying on an external factor like the woods). Each decision I made seemed to be guided more closely towards the right direction thanks to the calm and clarity my morning hike provided.

Presence:

Soooo many moments of presence in the woods this morning! There was the first deer I saw hidden in the darkness until my headlamp caught his eyes…

There was the sound of birds singing all around me in one spot on my way up the bluff…

…the deer who stood atop the bluff and watched as I walked to the edge of the bluff and stayed in the same spot until I walked back past her and descended…

…the view through the entire bluff with the clouds settled upon the sleeping city…

…the Disney-esque moment in which the indigo bunting flew in and sat atop a rock to make sure I saw him.

…the deer who also must have enjoyed the birdsong and let me walk past as he watched me…

…and his buddy who walked up the trail and right near me as I was taking the previous picture.

So many wonderful moments starting off my morning in a serene sense of calm. What a gift!

Thanks!!!