From the Outside In

Jul 23

Change is inevitable, but transformation is by conscious choice. - Heather Ash Amara

The past few days I have had the opportunity to be on retreat in a beautiful location nestled at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains here in Colorado. As with most times that we go through the process of quieting our minds, I gained deep introspection about several things in my life.

Sitting outside my room one afternoon gazing at the beauty of these special mountains I saw… a grasshopper. Yes, a grasshopper, that little creature that has been the bane of my existence the last month or so, as I have been sharing here in the Victory Letter while they have been plaguing my garden and the fields surrounding it.

The funny thing was watching this grasshopper all by itself, I found a compassion for the little creature. Very unlike how I feel about the destructive ones that are literally in the hundreds upon hundreds back at home.

Interestingly, prior to leaving home we decided to take a stronger approach in removing them from the outer fields because the truth is without removing the source of a problem you can’t get rid of the problem. My focusing on just the garden where they were landing was not stopping the problem. So, with a butterfly net in hand, Ed and I started sweeping the fields and removing them by the 100's... still very organically.

As we think about this approach in our lives ask yourself, what is the symptom of a problem that you have perhaps been trying to resolve without getting to the true source of the problem? Getting to the source can resolve it once and for all.

Sitting in deep meditation practices for several days has done wonders for my soul – something I highly recommend as you look from the outside in.

Have a great week ahead!

Slowly but surely with the right tools and preventative measures, and oh yes, belief that we will conquer them, we are winning small battles every day. I have belief that we will win the grasshopper war.

With that, what is the challenge in front of you right now? What can you do to create a belief so strong that you can, and will, make necessary changes to give your problem the necessary solutions? Try removing the worry and fret from the scenario as you use that energy to make the shifts and plans to change the outcome.

Wishing you a week full of solutions!