Day 3,772

Growth:

This morning I realized my soul could use the help and guidance of a very specific book, Montaigne by Stefan Zweig. In his biography of Michel de Montaigne, Stefan Zwieg finds a role model to help him grow through the chaos and evil brewing in Germany in the years before WWII. Montaigne retreated from the roar of the hatred of his own time (mid 1500’s in France) specifically to preserve his inner freedom. So many nuggets of timeless wisdom in the pages of that book.

“In such epochs where the highest values of life—our peace, our independence, our basic rights, all that makes our existence more pure, more beautiful, all that justifies it—are sacrificed to the demon inhabiting a dozen fanatics and ideologues, all the problems of the man who fears for his humanity come down to the same question: how to remain free? How to preserve the incorruptible lucidity of my spirit faced with all the threats and dangers of sectarian turmoil?”

Appreciation:

This was definitely the weekend I needed, an opportunity to recharge, relax, and reset. The holiday season was a lot of fun, but between work and life this was the first weekend that truly felt like a relaxing weekend with zero plans. From meal prepping for the week to a ton of reading to hiking (more on that in a sec) to some game time with the family to movie and shooting the bull time with Gavin to vacation planning time for Becky and I to catching up with Dominic to relaxing on the couch drinking coffee while soaking up a book… Exactly what I needed to feel refreshed and ready for the next stretch of excitement!

Presence:

Nothing like a bunch of bonus outside time while there are almost no other people on the trails! Sure, it might be crazy cold, but we had the woods almost completely to ourselves and the views were outstanding. Between yesterday and today we hiked well over eight miles and saw only one couple on the trail the entire eight miles. Fantastic!

The outside time was exactly what I needed for sure!

Thanks!!!