Every day an older man walks a Siberian Husky through our neighborhood park. Bundled up tight against the cold, gray winter day, he walks briskly and rarely speaks. The dog dutifully walking right beside him. There’s a rhythm. And a sadness. The man was never much of a dog guy. The Husky belonged to his son who had passed away not long ago.

Whenever I see the two of them, I wonder if the dog is some kind of lifeline - a way for the father to feel connected to his son. I think about the dog who lost his buddy and now feels compelled to comfort and accompany the father. And I wonder if the son is right there walking with them in silence.

A communion of souls. An opportunity for healing. And the promise that life goes on.

In his wonderful book of meditations entitled, “The Awakening,” Mark Nepo quotes poet Kurtis Lamkin:

“Believing is all a child does for a living”

I’ve been thinking about that quote for the past couple of days as I move my life in a new direction. And it occurs to me that as adults, we would do well to get back in touch with the child in us that had no other options but to believe. And as one who celebrates Christmas, there’s no better time to reclaim Belief than right now.

Sometimes it feels like belief is our only option: The money’s gone. Or the job is gone. Maybe we just saw our spouse pack a suitcase and leave for good. Or maybe we had to ask him to leave. Maybe we just lost a child. Or maybe the doctor just gave us the bad news.

Whatever we face, belief is an island we can swim to in a storm. And it’s a a promise to ourselves that if we just hold on a little longer, the sun will shine again.

And it’s a refuge for the people we love, the ones that may have forgotten their child-like ability to believe. That’s when we need to take them by the hand and heart and say, “I love you and I believe in you. And you’ll get through this.” 

There will be times when we see only one set of footprints in the sand and know that we’ve been carried. And sometimes, those footprints will be ours.

But that’s what life is about:

Believing in ourselves enough to turn dark clouds into rainbows

And Believing in others until they believe in themselves

I think Keats got it right:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” 

As I write, I’m sitting at my window staring at the first snowfall of the year. First snowfalls, even for those of us that are not particularly crazy about snow, are really beautiful. And like a walk in the woods with my dog or time spent in the mountains or on the beach, I’m constantly reminded of the great beauty we have in our lives if we’ll only take a moment to notice.

There are many examples of beauty all around us:

Beauty is the postal carrier who finds the “Dear Santa” letter from a child that asks for warm clothes for her and her baby brother. And then goes out and buys the clothes and delivers them to the child.

Beauty is the joy you feel when your dog senses you’re sad and brings you a toy to play with

Beauty is the foster parent who opens her door and her heart to a child in need

Beauty is …..

Everywhere

All we have to do is….

Notice.

So last week I’m sitting at my favorite Italian restaurant. Mary’s my waitress. At the end of the meal she brings me the check and we engage in some small talk about her major and what she wants to do after college. I could sense the lack of enthusiasm in both her voice and in her course of study. And then, as I’ve been known to do, I hit her with one of my favorite questions: “So what are you passionate about?”

At first she seemed kinda stunned, not expecting such a penetrating question. After a moment, she told me that she loved horses and physical therapy. I told her about some of the equine therapy programs that are in place and suggested that she look into them as a way of doing work that she loved. Her mood lightened significantly. We talked more about pursuing what she really loved to do rather than doing what was expected of her.

And then Mary said something very telling. She told me that she gets together to study with her friends all the time. Says they often study ‘til 1 or 2 in the morning and then sit around and talk about what they really want to do with their lives.

We talk for a couple more minutes and as I get ready to leave she thanks me for the talk and says she’s feeling inspired. Question is: where does she go from here? If she doesn’t act on her inner voice, which is nudging her in the direction of her dreams, what’s the result of our conversation?

* me holding a box of leftover pizza
* and Mary pulling an all-nighter with her friends after work and then talking about what she wishes she could do with her life

While the dream of a life built around passion and purpose is delayed until it disappears

It doesn’t have to be that way. You, me and everyone around us has a purpose for being here. We have talents and gifts that we’re not using. And we have an inner voice that is calling us to move in the direction of our dreams. Whether we’re 19, 99 or any age in between, we can start from where we are and get to where we want to be.

Yes it takes courage. And a shifting from fear to faith. But we can do it!

So what are you passionate about?

Carpe Diem!

I was standing in line at Starbucks the other day, when I struck up a conversation with a nice woman that had recently graduated from a local university with an art degree. After congratulating her, I asked her what she wanted to do now. She told me that she really wanted to move to California. I could feel the positive energy and excitement in her response. Said she had a relative out there that she could stay with. Told me she felt that God was calling her to do it. But that she was afraid.

I woke up this morning thinking about my conversation with the woman. And it reminded me of the story about the guy standing on his roof as the flood waters rise. He’s praying for God to save him. A boat and a helicopter both come to carry the man to safety. He refuses the help and tells them that he’s waiting for God to save him. Long story short. The guy drowns and goes to Heaven, where he confronts God about the reason why God didn’t save him. God tells the man, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter.”

It occurs to me that we’ve got two issues here: Fear and Signs.

I understand the fear reaction. But It’s not something we showed up with when we arrived on this planet. It’s something that has been cultivated in us over time, often by people who wanted to sell us something (home monitoring systems, political ideologies, etc) or by people who wanted us to follow the tribal script and not make any waves.

But what about California? I told my new Starbucks friend that the reason she was afraid to go to California, was the exact reason why she should go to California!

Case in point: A couple of months ago I got my multi-engine rating so that I could fly twin engine aircraft. It involved three days of intense, “drinking through a fire hose” learning, followed by an oral exam and flight exam conducted by an FAA representative. I’ve gone through this process for various licenses and ratings, four times now. And each time I put myself in that environment I feel the pressure and fear. But I do it anyway, because I love to fly and I know that it’s the way we grow. I’ve come to believe that we’re either growing or dying. And I’d rather push through the fear and grow.

Now to the subject of signs. Just like in the boat story above, we all have an inner voice that knows our gifts and talents. It understands our purpose for being on this planet and wants to guide us in the direction of our Best Lives. The question is whether or not we’ll listen to and act on that voice. When we hear it and the Universe conspires to open doors of opportunity for us, we can walk through the door or stand still.

As always, it’s our choice.

Carpe Diem

I was in the post office yesterday. The woman helping me noticed my flying pigg T-shirt. She looked at my last name on the envelope, Pigg, and looked again at my shirt and proclaimed, “Oh, I get it.” That launched us into a conversation about flying and the fact that I’m a pilot. She said her ex-father-in-law was a pilot and that she’d flown with him on several occasions. Said she’d had fun doing it. 

As I started to walk away from the counter, she asked if I really enjoyed flying. Without thinking, the words “It’s what I live for” fell out of my mouth. She looked at me kinda funny, as if she didn’t expect my response. I felt kinda funny, because I didn’t expect that kinda response either. It was as if there was a direct line from my heart to my mouth that bypassed my brain. No processing of information. No consideration of fear or other considerations. Just truth.

So I’m curious about your truth. If for a moment you could throw away the tribal script we’re all raised with, the one that tells us how we should live our lives, and really LIVE your life, what would you live for?

Carpe Diem  

Tonight, driving through the Shenandoah Valley, I watched a beautiful sunset slip behind the mountains to create a mountain outline against the darkening night sky. It was ten minutes of soul-stirring magic, and then it was gone.

In the eleventh minute it occurred to me that I would never again see that sunset exactly the way I saw it tonight. A moment of beauty and a connection to creation that moved me to think about the things in my life that really matter.

It’s not important that the rental car company charged me ten dollars too much this weekend. And what that politician said about his opponent this morning is completely irrelevant.

What’s important - what’s relevant - is the beauty of a sunset and our connection to it.

In my last few moments on earth, as I contemplate my next adventure, I want to remember sunsets. And I want to feel the joy of connection. A few moments of soul-stirring magic before I’m gone.

Carpe Diem!

When’s the last time you stepped out into the yard and gazed at the nighttime sky, taking in the beauty of the stars and planets? When’s the last time you took a walk through the woods, carefully studying a beautiful red fall leaf as it released itself from a tree and floated to the ground?

When’s the last time you were fully present in life? Whether it was patting your dog, holding your child’s hand, or sitting alone in a room contemplating the meaning of your life.

When’s the last time?

In the last few moments of our life on earth, as we draw our final breaths and contemplate our next journey, will it be important that we

• voted for the candidate that attacked the person we hated
• never missed an episode of our favorite homicide TV program 
• got the last word in during the argument with mom

  Or will it be more important - more meaningful - that we

• allowed ourselves to be amazed at the deep darkness of the nighttime sky and the twinkling of a distant star
• gazed in wonder at the magic and beauty of a firefly as it lit up its little corner of the world
• discovered and pursued our purpose for being on this planet

Time on earth is finite. Moments are precious. And opportunities for creativity, abundance, and kindness are endless. If we allow ourselves to be present for them.

Carpe Diem!

Okay. So you may be thinking to yourself: Martin’s gonna hit me with some kind of religious message. Well, you’d be wrong.

This is Chuck. Or as he calls himself, Cross Carrier Chuck. Last week, I passed him on a road near Bullhead City, Arizona. I passed him quickly and it was kinda one of those, “Did I just see what I think I saw?” moments. After all, I had spent most of the past four days working in 100+ heat. 

So, as anyone who knows me knows, I had to wheel around and get the full story. I pulled alongside Chuck and asked if I could take his picture. He was happy to oblige. I got out of the car and we spent 10 or 15 minutes chatting about why he was out in the middle of the desert with a cross-on-wheels.

Turns out Chuck’s been rolling a cross across the country for the past 10 years. At 40, he quit his job working for a railroad company to devote all of his time to rolling his cross from coast to coast, spreading the word that we need to have Jesus in our lives. He proudly told me that this was his 7th cross in 10 years. We spent a few minutes talking about some of his good experiences along the way, as well as some of the troubles he’d seen as well. I mentioned that he should put up a website (the marketer in me) and he told me that he had a website until recently when his dad, who maintained the site, passed away. We talked for a little while longer. He told me his next stop was Needles and he asked me how far it was. I told him about 20 miles. I gave him some money for food, water and his time. We wished each other well and I got back in my car. Pulling away, I watched in the rear view mirror as he picked up his cross and continued his journey.

Later I spent some time thinking about Chuck and his physical, spiritual, and emotional journey. I thought about the dedication it takes for a person to do what he’s done for the past 10 years: living on the kindness of strangers, being rousted violently out of parks when he was just trying to get a few hours sleep, losing his father along the way, and probably countless other difficulties one would encounter on such a journey.

But through all of it, he has carried on. He has picked up his cross and moved forward!

There are any number of religious metaphors that come to mind. But for me, Chuck’s story is about Passion. One guy on a dusty desert road, 20 miles south of Needles, Arizona, believing so much in what he’s doing, that no matter what hardships come his way, he will persevere because that’s what he loves to do.

The “Cross Carrier Chuck” lesson for me: All of us have crosses to bear. We all have challenges to overcome on the way to our Best Lives. And whether we’re aware of it right now or not, there’s a Passion inside of us just waiting to come out. It’s something so important that when we embrace it fully, our lives will be changed forever.
   

What’s your passion?

 
Carpe Diem!

I’m watching all of the negative energy being floated by political candidates and bashers of everything gay, muslim, and undocumented and I can’t help but ask myself: How is being against anything going to brighten your day? How is spewing disdain and disgust going to improve the quality of your life and the lives of the people around you?

Should contempt really be a rallying cry?

Contempt seems to be fashionable these days. It gets people noticed. It brings in campaign dollars. Television ratings go up. It gets people elected. It satisfies the ego. And unfortunately, for some it pays the mortgage and buys their groceries.

But I’m curious if, at the end of a life based on negativity, one doesn’t feel empty for missing out on the beauty of our world and the potential each one of us has for living lives of passion and purpose. 

Does “gotcha” really get you anywhere worth going?

How ‘bout we start a new movement, based on solutions instead of soundbites! Finding common ground instead of finding fault! And feeling Joy instead of feeling contempt. 

Maybe it’s time to start a “we-party.” 

Carpe Diem