Considerations for a New Year

I've always liked the beginning of a new year. It's a time of goals. I've learned a little about goals over the years. The most important thing I've learned is that some people are never happy because they do not reach their goals. I have learned that reaching goals or not reaching them has nothing to do with happiness. I have two little quotes I have picked up from reading "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman: "You cannot attain happiness, it attains you." And "Happiness is not just something you feel. It is who you are." My main goal this year is to "be" happy. The peaceful warrior goes on to explain, that we should act happy, be happy without a reason in the world.

I was taught years ago that a goal not written is only a wish. Once you write down a goal, you own it, especially if you are going to write it on a blog or other public forum. Most of my goals are simple. Most of them are never written for the public. Most of them are personal. This year, however, I'm going to write one goal here on my blog. Again, it is simple in nature, but important to me personally. Here it is: Run the Bear Lake half marathon in June.

With this goal now written, I will begin training on January 3rd. The exact details of training are written down. The plan is formulated. All I need to do is carry it out. I now have ownership. The discipline begins.

Thanksgiving Road Trip

South Rim Grand Canyon (Desert View side)

Dead Horse Point, Utah State Park

Dead Horse Point

Natural Bridges National Monument

Windy, narrow, gravel, steep road off of 2000 foot high plateau down into wide valley near Mexican Hat, Utah (Mokee Dugway, Hwy 261)

Grand Canyon

Monument Valley

Monument Valley

Near Monument Valley

Grand Canyon South Rim

Catching the sunrise at Grand Canyon

Serene calm right before sunrise

THE RIM

We stand on the South Rim

Waiting for sunlight.

Tourists gather

like so many ants

at Yavapai Point.

Upright like small stone

columns, they're motionless

on the overlook,

while trails of others

try to wedge in for a view.

Raven caws clash

against the constant

murmur of human voice

blending as it echoes

off Bright Angel Canyon.

Slowly, the temple tops illuminate:

Vishnu, Zoroaster, Shiva;

the scene brings silence.

Shadow-curtains drop

exposing layered limestone,

Kaibab, Redwall, Tapeats,

too many types to remember.

I walk away from the crowds;

find a spot alone.

My mind mingles with the majesty.

I become a condor

soaring out over the edge,

carried high by updrafts of solitude.

Chants of the Anasazi

beckon me to listen.

I think I hear.

I think I see.

I can't comprehend.