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,

Why Can’t We Always Have Positivity in Life?

Because change is inevitable – and positivity coexists with negativity. We live in a world of opposites and extremes. But the important thing about this is that we exist within the opposites and extremes. Very few people exist at any given extreme. Near, perhaps – but seldom at. This is why comparing extremes and opposites via a coin misunderstands the breadth and depth of this reality. It’s not a coin, it’s a cylinder with vast space between the given extremes.

How Is The Struggle An Important Part of Any Chosen Path?

Because without the struggle we lack the impetus for growth and change. One of the hardest aspects of working to improve our lives is stepping out of our existing comfort zones. Why is it called a comfort zone? Because it’s comfortable. Though that’s not wholly accurate. More than being comfortable, our comfort zone is about familiarity. It’s what we know, are used to, and consider deep down to be the norm. Such that it is. This is why we often

Is It Really Worth the Effort?

You alone know if it’s really worth the effort – or not. What is “It”? That depends, I suppose. Various things that we can experience will qualify as “it.” Might be something big and scary or small and mundane. “It” might be getting up early to go for a walk. Or it might be applying for that dream job you’ve always wanted. Maybe “it” is finally cleaning out the walk-in closet in your bedroom. Perhaps “it” is taking the time

Why Are We What, How, Where, Who, and Why We Are?

Why we are – and all else – depends on circumstances both in and out of our control. Please pause a moment. Look around you and then make note of where you are. How did you get there? What made you decide to be where you are, right now? Is this where somewhere you actually want to be – or not? For various reasons, you are where you are. Maybe you’re somewhere you have chosen – or not. And even

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