The Hornets In Life.

Today was a most beautiful day. I chose today for a much needed hike on the Appalachian trail on Peters Mountain up near Halifax, Pa. The temperature was in the mid 60's when I headed up at 6:30 am. The sky was blue and humidity was low. Ahhh, picture perfect day for a good hike.

I grabbed my backpack and filled a water jug. I mixed up a little homemade trail mix for nutrition and energy and headed out to my best adventure buddy. My recently acquired and greatly appreciated 1991 Jeep Wrangler Sahara. What a beautiful day it was. I rolled down the windows and enjoyed the cool crisp air of the early morning as I made my trek up the mountain to one of my favorite hiking spots. When I arrived there was only one other car in the parking lot. "Yes", was my first thought. This is good. I can head in to nature with no other sounds or beings except myself and Gods creation. I need this time.

I hit the trail this morning with great hopes and expectations on really digging deep inside myself to ask those questions that we all need to ask ourselves from time to time. I had recently been reminded through books I have been studying and by a good friend that it is wise to stop along the journey of life on occasion and ask ourself the most important questions in life.

You see, I have been working for a year now (In whatever spare time I can seem to find) to develop my own internet marketing business all the while working a very full time job. I have a training course that is very detail oriented and when completed is said to be equal to getting your Master in Business Association. I am entrepreneurial minded and long to have the freedom to work for myself as well as have the time to spend in the beauty of nature and help others along the way. This is very exciting and liberating to me.

The questions I posed this morning as I entered the woods on the Appalachian Trail are as follows:

1. Other than having more time and freedom, "Why," am I pursuing the Internet Marketing business?

2. Why do I feel I need to be free?

3. What am I created to do on this earth that will fill a need that only I can fill?

As I looked out across the valley I recognized that not only was I above the valley below, but I was above the clouds. I suddenly had a feeling that I was very high up in nature, almost like a closer to God feeling. I thought to myself, you know, this is where the answers are. We need to come to the mountain, the higher place to seek our answers in life. God knows. We need to be still and know and listen to that still small voice in our hearts.

After hiking for about 50 minutes I came to another overlook that again reminded me of the power and beauty of nature. I have found that the beauty and dangers of a trek in nature so parallel with our journey of life. We can be walking along totally immersed in the awe and the beauty around us yet danger is lurking only a few feet away. We have choices to make. Are we going to live in fear and not leave the house because we might get hurt? Or, will we choose to enjoy life and prepare out minds and bodies to be strong and fit and go out and enjoy life, go out and do what we are called to do.  Entering nature is so much like entering the journey of life. There are so many unknowns. Do we have a plan where we want to go? Are we preparing our minds and bodies to be strong and fit with proper nutrition, exercise, and spiritual food? Are we choosing life or will we choose fear,defeat and just give up?

This is my special place I like to go when I need to get out and be still. I have a huge cliff type structure that I sit on with my feet over the edge. I call this processor rock. The location is private, off the trail a bit and no one knows you're there.

I received many answers to my questions as I sat here this morning. I journaled four pages of inspiration. This blog came out of this mornings time in nature and I will continue to share the lessons I have learned and continue to learn. My desire is to bring hope and encouragement to all who are hungry.

I ended my quiet time much sooner than usual today because I had answers immediately and I was excited to get home and pursue the longings and desires of my heart with passion and purpose.

As I headed back, I was once again struck by the awe and beauty all around me. The day was perfect. The temperature was perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day.

If you look closely you will see that this is a nice sized cobweb right at the edge of the trail. Right in the very center of the picture is a spider. I was mindful of my trek in to the woods a few hours earlier when I was constantly plowing through cobwebs. My thought at that time was, "This is a good sign. This means that no one has gone before me." Sometimes our journey in life is very much like that. We are challenged to go where no one has gone before. Will we go for it and plow through the cobwebs or will we go back to our car and go home, only to miss the real adventure that was through the cobwebs of the unknown?

As I took this picture I received a great revelation. It came like this.

"It is essential that one go before his followers to clear the cobwebs."

Think about this. If you are called to be a leader, then be prepared to clear some cobwebs. If you find yourself clearing a lot of cobwebs but don't feel you're a leader. Think again.
You have experiences in life that others can learn from. Ask yourself the question: "What am I created to do on this earth that will fill a need that only I can fill?" Anybody can learn something from everyone.

 

And now the real surprise on my trek back to my car. A real hornets nest that was alive and functioning well. I had walked past it earlier in the morning. I did not know it was there, I had no apprehensions or fear of it. I was having a beautiful journey through nature, deep in thought, loving the cool crisp mountain air and was not hindered by a thing.

Now on the way back, as soon as I saw the nest, I stopped dead in my tracks. Whoa!!!!!! LOOK AT THAT!!!!!

Those two holes at the bottom? There was a steady stream of hornets coming and going.
 I walked up close enough with my blackberry to get this picture without zooming the lens. I knew that as long as I didn't inflict fear or danger to them they would accept my presence. I also knew that I needed to respect them and as soon as I got the picture I had to back off.

I stepped back a few steps and I stood and watched this nest for quite some time. I thought that for the size of this nest, it has been up for a while. I walked by a couple weeks earlier and had not even seen it. It was cool and rainy that day so I was probably walking with my head down at that point, I'm not sure.  I wondered how many people have walked past it and didn't know it. I wondered how many people have seen it, and of those people, how many respected it and walked around or how many were struck with fear and refused to go past it and went back home?

On the journey of life. We can be strolling along with great passion and purpose. Life is good, life is beautiful. Heres what I want to do with my life and this is the path I feel I need to take to get there. My passions and longings are to do this in life and all I have to do is take this journey to get there. How many times have you been to that place in life only to run in to the hornets nest of naysayers who tell you you're crazy. That's not the way things are done. You're making a huge mistake. You're not smart enough, you're not coordinated enough, you didn't go to college, there is no way that you can do that. No one's ever done that before, it can't be done or there is a reason no one else is doing that.

 How many of these have you heard? How many of you have given up on your hopes and dreams in life because you believed what others have spoken into your spirit? I did. Over and over and over. Not any more.

I have turned 50 this year and I am determined that the hornets in my life no longer have control of me. I fully intend to make the next 50years, the best years of my life. I refuse to be the little old man in the nursing home one day who is sitting there with a tear in his eye thinking of all the opportunities he had in life to live and experience life to the fullest, yet for one reason or another he didn't pursue it.

Will you join me on the journey? I am excited to share my journey and what I have learned and am learning.
I want this to be a tool of encouragement and beauty for each of us as I have the privilege and the opportunity to go out and bring you back a piece of nature and the beauty that is all around us to see what we can learn from it. I am mindful that so many people are not able to get out and go to the places I go. It would be my greatest honor to bring that to you. God created the beauty and danger of nature for our food and enjoyment. He saw that it was good. We are created in His image. We too can have opportunity to see and experience that it is good. I welcome your comments and insight. We all have something we can learn from you too.
Be blessed.