Accepting Ourselves Means We Must Accept Both The Good and The Bad

Nobody goes through life without both good and bad. Accepting that is empowering. I’ve done some stupid, foolish, even selfish things in my life. From many, I learned valuable lessons. From others, I learned what not to do in certain situations. Truth be told, from some of the stupid, foolish, selfish things I gleaned no lesson I can put a finger on. Guess what? I’ll make more stupid, foolish, and selfish choices in my life. No matter what and how

Does Your Morning Routine Set the Tone for Your Day?

How does your morning routine – or lack thereof – impact you? Everyone sleeps. Some people sleep better and more deeply than others. Because everyone sleeps – everyone has a “morning” when they wake up from their slumber. It might not be the standard “morning” time. But I postulate that the time immediately after you wake up – be it 6am, 12pm, 10pm, or whenever – is your morning. Many self-help, mindfulness, and other spiritual gurus and similar expound on

Turning 50 – Where Am I Now and Where Am I Going?

Reflecting on becoming my true, genuine self and expanding that going forward. When I turned 30 in 2002, I freaked out about it. I was (mostly) single, working a lame-ass job, and largely discontent with my lot in life. What’s more, I was much more prone to believing the messages about how my life was supposed to look. At 30, as far as I knew, I was supposed to be at least in a serious relationship, following a real career

Do We Age Like a Fine Wine or Outdated Computer Hardware?

How we age – and perceive aging – is a choice we get to make. Birthdays can be a mixed bag for most people. I’m going to generalize here – but most people have 1 of 3 responses to their birthday: Joy Dread Utter nonchalance I’ve seen all of the above among my friends and family. Hell, I’ve shifted between these myself. My 30th birthday freaked me out. But my 40th simply occurred. My 50th is upon me – and

How Do We Embrace Pain and Suffering for What They Can Teach Us?

We can choose to learn from pain and suffering. Everyone experiences pain. Everyone experiences suffering. Not just a few people – EVERYONE. Pain and suffering are a part of the life experience for everyone everywhere. Why? Because both are channels for growth. Pain and suffering almost always suck at the time of their occurrence. But afterward, they can teach us amazing and incredibly useful things about life, the Universe, and everything. Pain and suffering are two very different animals. Both

How Do You Choose to Navigate the River of Life?

Everyone gets to choose to swim, flow, float, or sink in the river of life. More than a decade ago, I decided that I was not going to just let life live me. I had a desire to choose the direction of my life – and what I would do with it. When I started blogging regularly at the beginning of 2012, my Pathwalking philosophy was born. Over time it’s evolved. A lot. And though many of the original tenets

Positivity Is a Choice to Empower Taking Control of Our Lives

Positivity is less about how we feel than about how we choose to approach our lives. How easy is it to feel bad? To find negativity in the world? To see darkness, sadness, and hopelessness? Too easy. Surf the internet. Watch cable news. Shouldn’t take more than a minute or two to start down that path. Because it is so extremely easy to find the bad and the negative in our world today – they often become dominant. And if

Why Does Getting Over Feeling Hurt Take So Long?

Even unintentional hurt that we are made feel tends to linger. Someone that I care a great deal about hurt me. Let me be clear about several facts in this matter. First – I know it was not their intent to cause me hurt. They were in their own odd headspace, and it made them less receptive to the impact their actions had. Second – Given our history, this should not have come as the surprise that it did. Yet

What Are You Doing Today and How Does it Make You Feel?

Today is one-of-a-kind. What will you choose to do with that? I have just completed an annual vacation that was interrupted by the pandemic for two years. Every summer since 1996, I have spent 1-2 weeks at a massive medieval reenactment event called the Pennsic War. It tends to draw 10,000+ people to it for numerous medieval classes, combats, glamping, and socializing from all over the world. Due to COVID-19, the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. This year,

Can Pathwalking Be for Everyone Even if it’s Not One-Size Fits All?

Pathwalking is for everyone because it is an open practice with almost infinite options. When I accepted the challenge to myself to write weekly, Pathwalking was born at the start of 2012. Over the years since then, it’s evolved into a much larger, richer, and deeper life philosophy. I like to think of Pathwalking as taking the best parts of other Universal life ideas and making them accessible to more people. I strive to do this with plain language, simplicity,

1 … 22 23 24 25 26 … 146