I was moved by a thought that filled my heart while talking to a legend in music. It flooded my process to the point of taking the words into the forest. I wanted to better understand why in the center of such an incredible conversation something so moving leaped into my heart and then onto a page. The weird thing about being a writer. What once moved you has a way of steering you toward deeper waters and valley floors. As much as I was inspired by the short little paragraph that touched my soul. I somehow made my way into another paragraph about standing in front of God. I was asked about what I was thinking while on the path. With so much thought he felt I wasn't serving him but myself. That's an eye opener. Because how many of us say we're in it all the way for the Great Creator but everything we do points us to serving ourselves first? This isn't a Bible thumping message but rather an openness about being aware of your presence in the present. Do your actions and reactions meet the command?

I've spent a lot of time in mediation studying what it means to live in the presence of the present. There's a huge amount of energy waiting to be tapped into. But too often we allow the outside world to crack the code. Putting focus on being in the present allows the movement of all things to become part of your awareness. There are large amounts of natural songs being given birth while putting colors in the sky that no maker of paint can copy or erase. Growing within the shapes and shade of being present in the now isn't a healing task but it does open your heart to the availability of insight. You're able to patiently study the waters flooding your personal goals and ambitions while trying to put purpose in the dented wall you keep hitting. Put down the purpose and operate a better plan. Just because the Preacher up front is spouting that God told him this and that and yes and no should never put your heart in a state of wow I am alone because I never get to hear such things. Trust and Faith take on an entirely different appearance when the openness of the present is allowed to take up shop in the visions you keep setting aside. Locate a place of peace. Go there to only listen. Soon you'll start to write. Then you'll begin a journey of activation. It's a choice. One that requires time. I mean look how long it took you to get here.

We keep hearing how there's too much noise in the world. So much so world leaders are building devices and shooting them off into space just so people can hear his voice. But what happens when chance and opportunity put you inside a forest. Not just any collection of trees but rather on this particular day everything within the limbs and leaves was completely silent. You were sent to sit in the forest not to listen to your heart or study the incredible art of a far out creator. Your mission that day was to do nothing more than understand what it means to be in the presence of the present. Not to use today. But to store away. To study. To return to during moments of furthered lessons. Staring at a blank wall is no different. But do you respect the silence or quickly try to fill it with whatever's passing by?

Science has gotten really good at predicting weather. Through man made technology we can spot a collection of swirling clouds days away from where we presently stand. So often I hear people talk about unexpected things always creating storms in their personal lives. It's followed with, "I never saw it coming." But we can predict the storms. The paths are laid out hours and sometimes days in advance. We choose not to listen to the signals. Being a daily writer I'm able to view word formations that point the writer in directions of decisions being made. Being aware of where you are is living in the moment. Mindfully we can hear the future arriving and can correct certain situations before they take shape. But it requires a lot of work. Especially in an age when most of us can't listen to a full song on the radio. Stop participating with the next thing and hear your journey as it's taking shape.

The things we are missing are the things we keep taking. What if we weren't supposed to have it? What if making such a comment was speaking to our over zealous behavior of always wanting something bigger and better than what we already have? It's extremely difficult to walk into any business and truly find a person with deep happiness. I can spot a fake within 15 seconds of making eye contact. It's almost as if the employee is screaming for help "Get me out of here." Call me crazy right? I accept that. But you didn't complete the presented thought. The goal was to make you aware of how possible it can be to reignite the juices that gave you hope in the positions you hold in the business world. Many jobs get filled with the wrong people? Or is there something in the deeper picture? The things we're missing are the things we keep taking. I challenge you to put it back.

Like a great movie or favorite song the most recent total solar eclipse is still very much alive in my everyday walk. I can't help but wonder if its because my focus during those three minutes of transformation were off the physical bright light becoming dim and more on the reaction of everything around me. Sitting inside the forest to fall witness to how the other living things reacted to something that has been taught to us by way of science, education and social media endlessly discussing that golden moment. The birds disappearing from the scene was a unique experience only to hear a single owl hoot four times in the center of the eclipse. But that wasn't the only exchange of natural expression. The temperature changed in ways that invited a breeze which gave the leaves on the trees a reason to move rather than look down. It was within that moment that I realized something so simple... this must be a visual of what loneliness looks like. No light to warm and no sound to soothe. Only an owl that kept his guarantee to protect those walking in distance.

In the movie Beautiful Mind Russell Crowe's character not only dealt with but lived with several mental beasts. Those voices in your head and heart that seem to always win invisible confrontations. Within my daily writing I've often described them as being faceless beasts. When you look in the mirror you can't see them. When you speak with others they can't find any shape they carry anywhere on your frame. A faceless beast isn't always evil. If you look around they're everywhere. People that act one way at work or school but are completely opposite when in different places. The roles we play are the image of the beast within. We become so that we can't be overcome. We rely on the energy of the beast to move us through moments. By giving them a little power it serves as an invitation for them to stay. Eventually taking control of decisions. When the environment changes but the beast stays the same... Now we have the struggle. Winning before the beast arrives is a step in the right direction.

It's funny how people describe their places in the present. Some enjoy questioning it while others float along as if to be part of a passing breeze. The older I get the more I find myself trying to locate the brakes that'll physically slow down the two hands on a clock. My only discovery to date is to find faith in boredom. I love to sit in the center of a mall or a forest and just do nothing. Absolutely it's painful. It would be so comforting to pick up the smart phone and hit social media but that doesn't slow down the ticks of a breathing clock. In those moments of nothingness I hear things that become the fuel to a new step. Never a beginning but rather a continuation.

Those voices in your head. Some feel like storms while others leave you in question. I don't mind facing each. What is placed within isn't without. What is heard can be a swift change in the wind. But ultimately how you react is the true message. We all get weird messages from moments and far away places. But do you listen to them? What if a wacky sentence that remains unstructured is the first step in lifting your path to a stronger place of leadership and motivation? I know... not you right? The sentences we are given aren't always meant to steal the air from your lungs and or be shaped into negative cupcakes. If you write them down and come back in a different frame of mind you'll see how important you being you truly is. Be the leader you are by trusting the leader within.

Every place we travel from home to work we've become too reliant on two words, "I wish." Most of the time we've got so many wishes lined up that in order to see one come true it would require us to remember why it was we made the wish. Some of the top wishes? I wish it was Friday. I wish I had enough money. I wish I didn't have to do this. In living a "present" life. I've learned that being in the now has taught me that tomorrow is going to be stronger because less energy was spent wanting something that I probably didn't need. I've looked at wishes as being the signal that you're off your path and plan. Staying focused on the moment puts fuel in the execution leading toward success. It was very difficult to stretch beyond wishing and just accepting. But you've already been given so many gifts without realizing the importance. Time is moving too quickly. It's not going to slow down. But your life will when the next step is showing gratefulness for what you already have.