As many of you know. I have a love for the Great Outdoors, everything in Nature, Photography, Hiking and the Mountains. I began my personal journey to live and work in the location and environment of the place I love and long to be about 7 years ago.
My heart fell in love with the North Country of upstate New York in the high peaks of the Adirondacks.
In September of this year, 2010 I finally achieved my quest after 2 1/2 years of trying to sell my house in Harrisburg, Pa. The journey was tough and many times it looked hopeless. I had many people trying to talk me out of moving and selling. Many tried to talk me out of giving up the job security that was seemingly in place after having served the same company for 15 years.
People told me that it would be very hard to find work and that times are tough and living conditions are poor in the remote area's of the North Country.
I had many offers of income and employment in an attempt to keep me from moving North.
All the while my heart continued to cry out for the life I longed to live. To me, anything less than that would be a death sentence.
I was just crazy enough to believe that if I could hold the dream in my heart and mind, then I could achieve it. My motto has been to never give up, stay steady as the Tortoise. Steady wins the race. And it did. Today I am working full time in a job and environment that I absolutely love and I am looking to buy a home in the same location I work in Lake Placid, NY.
As I reflected on all that has happened in my life over the past few years. I am mindful of how my season in life has changed over the course of the last 2 1/2 years after having put our home on the market and began pursuing the line of work that I am most alive and productive in.
This analogy came to me one day as I was hiking and spending time in the wild. I observed that seasons in our personal journeys can so often parallel with the seasons in nature and in the wild.
My heart fell in love with the North Country of upstate New York in the high peaks of the Adirondacks.
In September of this year, 2010 I finally achieved my quest after 2 1/2 years of trying to sell my house in Harrisburg, Pa. The journey was tough and many times it looked hopeless. I had many people trying to talk me out of moving and selling. Many tried to talk me out of giving up the job security that was seemingly in place after having served the same company for 15 years.
People told me that it would be very hard to find work and that times are tough and living conditions are poor in the remote area's of the North Country.
I had many offers of income and employment in an attempt to keep me from moving North.
All the while my heart continued to cry out for the life I longed to live. To me, anything less than that would be a death sentence.
I was just crazy enough to believe that if I could hold the dream in my heart and mind, then I could achieve it. My motto has been to never give up, stay steady as the Tortoise. Steady wins the race. And it did. Today I am working full time in a job and environment that I absolutely love and I am looking to buy a home in the same location I work in Lake Placid, NY.
As I reflected on all that has happened in my life over the past few years. I am mindful of how my season in life has changed over the course of the last 2 1/2 years after having put our home on the market and began pursuing the line of work that I am most alive and productive in.
This analogy came to me one day as I was hiking and spending time in the wild. I observed that seasons in our personal journeys can so often parallel with the seasons in nature and in the wild.
In nature we can predict with accuracy, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. During these seasons we observe Winter as creating a cold and barren land. Life in the outside world for the most part is laying dormant. In many parts of the country the ground is frozen solid. Very little life is evident. In the animal kingdom, life is a struggle for survival. It is a battle of the fittest to find nutrition, water and comfort.
As the warm spring rains and the longer sunny days begin to return, the cycle of life starts all over again. We observe Spring bringing new birth, warmth and nourishing rain.
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In Summer we see growth, warmth, rain, developing crops, and playfulness amongst animals and humans alike. The animal kingdom is busy. Now there is new life among them. They are teaching their young how to survive and how to store up and prepare for the winter ahead. Crops are plentiful, vegetation is lush. Life is good and the bounty is great. Bears (and myself) are gorging themselves on wild berries to fatten up for the long winter hibernation ahead. Beavers are repairing dams and securing their homes. Life is a training grounds for the mature to teach their young how to live and survive the seasons of life.
In so many ways the animal kingdom seems to have it more right than we humans do.
As fall approaches, the days get shorter, the temperature begins to drop and the leaves begin to turn many shades of color from crescent Reds to Amber Oranges and Bright Yellows.
In fall we observe reaping of the harvest that had begun it's growth in the spring.
The squirrels are storing up nuts and seeds in preparation for the winter. The deer are filling up on fruits and nuts that have fallen to the forest floor. They too are fattening up in preparation of the impending winter to stay warm and survive off their fat reserves if needed. Life in the forest is busy all around us in preparation for the change of seasons.
Nowhere in nature will you ever see wildlife laying around hoping everything will be in place for them in the change of seasons. Those that may have, I assure you did not survive. A change in the seasons requires action and preparation.
This week as I drove with my family to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for our annual vacation. I was pondering this predictability of the seasons of the calendar year and mindful that the seasons in our life are not always so predictable. I was seeking understanding in my spirit of what we can learn from Nature, Gods Creation and how the Universe operates to better understand the Seasons in our life.
I left Keene Valley, NY on Friday morning where it had just started snowing and was 36 degree's, the leaves are pretty much off the tree's and winter is setting in. I arrived in Harrisburg, Pa. that night where the leaves are just entering their prime and Temperatures are moderate in the 60's.
Sat day morning we left bright and early from Harrisburg to arrive in the Outer Banks of North Carolina by 2 pm.
As I write, I'm currently sitting on a remote beach, overlooking the ocean in only a pair of shorts. (I'll save those photo's for a special occasion :)
The temperature is a very comfortable 75 degree's.
The Outer Banks have some of the most incredible sun rises that you will ever find. Every morning as I sit out on the deck overlooking the ocean with my morning cup of coffee, I see the Pelicans begin their day by diving head first at neck breaking speed, straight into the water to get their morning fish. Sailboats are sailing out to sea to enjoy a day of fun and relaxation. Fishermen are arriving on the shoreline bright and early in hopes of catching the biggest fish of their life.
Oh I say, Life Is So Good. I am mindful that Life can be good because of choices we can make and actions we can take to change our current season.
Hmmm, WOW!!!! As I think about it, In two short days my season has totally changed.
Actually my season changed because of choices I made two months ago to book and pay for our vacation and actions I took two days ago to pack up and head in the direction I needed to go to get here. My season changed on the outside in two short days, from winter to late summer. On the inside, it was a process of events that had to take place over a period of time to make this possible.
I wonder, how many problems we could have solved or how many situations we could have avoided if only we had taken the action necessary to change the season that we are in or to make the decisions we could have made in the beginning?
I believe that some seasons in our personal lives are God ordained as are the predictable seasons in nature. The control of these seasons is not in our hands and they are going to happen whether we agree with Him or not.
Other seasons in our lives can be controlled by choices we make. So often we fail to realize the power that is within each of us to bring about the change in our lives that we so long for and desire. Changes that up until this point have only been a dream.
I know from personal experience that seasons in our lives can be changed by the decisions we make and the actions we take. I know this to be true and accurate. It usually is not easy and the going can be tough, but the rewards of being able to live a dream are out of this world. Not only will it change your season of life on the outside, but it will also change the season of your stinking thinking for the rest of your life. You will never be the same person again.
I promise you.
What if we were to ask ourself these questions ?
What if I had the power within me to do anything I've ever wanted to do?
What is one thing I have always longed for and have never had the courage or belief that I could go for?
What if the longings and desires of my heart were placed there by God Himself to lead me and guide me to my destiny? (What I was created to do?)
What would it take for me to get started in that direction?
William James suggested that, compared to what we ought
to be, we are making use of only a small part of our physical and mental
resources. Stating this concept broadly, the human individual thus lives far within
his limits. He possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use.
Thomas Edison said, and I quote, “If we all did the things we are
capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
I leave you today with a blessing,
May you find all of the seasons in your life to be full. May you reap the bounty of that which you have sown in the spring and may you live as you have never lived before.
Wesley Schock
May you find all of the seasons in your life to be full. May you reap the bounty of that which you have sown in the spring and may you live as you have never lived before.
Wesley Schock
