LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/21/07 - THE ROAD TO SOMEWHERE

Hello Friends! I hope today finds you happy and well
and filled with the infinity that is love and the
capacity to give and receive it freely today!

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INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:
(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

Every new day begins with possibilities. It's up to us to fill it with
the things that move us toward progress and peace.

- Ronald Reagan

TIM's BLOG
(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

As many of you know, I've been writing LOVE WORKS for a number
of years now.  From time to time I gotten too discouraged to
continue and gave it up for a few months only to return
again with full steam.

At this point in the game, I have written so many, on so many
topics that I find that writing a complete new essay each
day to not only be a daunting task, but one that simply
covers the ground I have already covered.

So now I write 1 or 2 brand new ones each week, and repeat material
from the past that I think is worthy of another view.

The ROAD TO SOMEWHERE is one of those examples.  This was
written in the Spring on 2003 and is one of my "rules for
living" stories.  It recounts a terrifying mountain trip
in my childhood, followed by another I had as an adult.

Only goes to show..you can preach it...but you can't always live
it....

Still gives me the chills reading this today...but a great
lesson for me, and I hope for you as well!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

Some of the following is true.  Some of it is not.
The names and places have not been changed...and thus, we
have not protected the innocent.
Memories can work that way. 

However,  the message is clear.

FLASH BACK - 1978

I am twelve years old, and the only thing I remember is our car nudging
ever so close to the edge of the mountain pass. As I looked out my
window, the drop was easily a mile down. I was terrified. My father
had become ill while driving and on the narrow two-lane highway
had no place to stop or pull over. So as he became more and more ill
the inside of the car became filled with the horrible smells of illness.
He couldn't stop and we couldn't get out of the car. We were on an
incline going up the mountain pass with a large line of cars behind us
including several semi trucks. The traffic jam had built up as my
father did his best to watch the road between episodes of illness. If he
were to just stop the pile up behind us would most likely lead to a
dangerous, if not fatal, accident.

We swerved back and forth on the road with my mother occaisionally
grabbing the wheel to keep us in our own lane. This went on for a very
long time. This pass was 30 miles long with no exits, and with us
driving recklessly and at only about 20 miles per hour, you can imagine
the extended terror for the family of five including two younger
brothers.

I imagined myself leaping from the car as it
crashed off the cliff and grabbing the edge as the car, and the rest of
my family, dropped to the rocky ground thousands of feet below.
I also imagined myself realizing that no one KNEW I had jumped out.
I had saved myself from death but only for a moment.
If someone knew I was hanging over the edge they could reach down and
pull me up. But my shouts were absorbed into the endless echoes of the
canyon and my grip was loosening from the crumbling edge.
Finally, I imagine myself falling endlessly into the clouds.

I am startled out of the daydream by the noise of my father vomiting
again onto the dashboard of the car, and my mother jerking the wheel
back into our lane. For the longest time this went on. Finally, we
reached a turn-out and came to a stop. But our journey was not
finished. Though my mother took the wheel, we were still miles from a
place to stop for the day, and the stench of the car that we were
unable to clean up very much, was a reminder of the peril we had just
experienced. Our trip that summer continued several more days until we
reached our planned destination. The smell remained with the car for
weeks. The memory of the event has remained with me for 27 years.

Despite this event, my entire life I have always taken a summer driving
vacation. Even if it is for only a few days, I never fail to find a
way to do it. Usually the trip is one to two weeks long. Currently, my
family and I have the luxury to take a full month off
and travel wherever our heart desires.

When I was young, I learned the RULES about summer driving vacations.

1. Have a ROUGH IDEA where you want to GO.

2. Provide enough time and resources.

3. FOLLOW YOUR HEART until you arrive wherever you are SUPPOSED to end
up.

4. Have a clear plan to get back.

And so every summer, I have done this. Many of my friends and family
(outside the HENRY group that understands) think I am crazy.

But I have had some of the greatest times of my life. I really look
forward to the journey. I've been to 47 of the US states, 7 provinces
in Canada, and ventured into Mexico in my life. On one trip, we
travelled 10,000 miles in about 4 weeks.  It was an amazing, once in a
lifetime experience.

Vacations in recent summers have bee particularly easy and relaxing and
trouble free.

But it is not always the case. The times that have not gone well, are
the ones in which we did not follow the rules.

from LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/18/03 & 08/29/05

(c)2007 T.Thomas Henry

LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/21/07 - THE ROAD TO SOMEWHERE

PART II

I'm always fine with rule #1. I plan several possible destinations,
over a wide area. One trip for example, we had destinations in
Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Illinois, North Dakota and
Colorado. This is not unusual. We have places to go, if we get there
we do, if we don't we don't. No expectation. The journey is more
important than the destination. I got that part.

Rule #2 is always fine. There always seems to be enough time, and even
if we are turning in pop cans and sleeping at rest stops, there is
always enough resources. WHAT WE NEED is always PROVIDED. We don't
overplan (or even actually plan) anything, so if we do more or less,
or spend more or less, it works out fine.

Rule #3 is the killer. When we turn right...when all the signs are
pointing left....we get very very lost.

FLASH FORWARD 1994 -

We were travelling and decided while in Wyoming to visit Yellowstone.
We wandering through the park and saw Old Faithful and some other sites.
When we had seen all we desired, we asked a few people the best way out
of the park. The only thing we wanted to avoid was tall narrow
cliffside mountain passes. (been there, done that!) We were recommended
several routes, but most concluded the best way to avoid heights was to
return the way we came, backtracking about 50 miles and get back on the
free way.
The only route to avoid for sure, we were told was the southern route.

Well, instead of going with SPIRIT WITHOUT HESITATION, we spent several
more hours considering our options, finally concluding that we would
save nearly 200 miles by taking a short twenty mile stretch of road
going into Nebraska. Twenty short miles due SOUTH.

Six Hours later we were atop an 8000 foot narrow two lane highway going
twenty miles an hour with no guardrails, bad tires, and it was
SNOWING. It was snowing on the 4th of July in Yellowstone!

All signs pointed toward going SOUTH being the wrong choice. Going
south FELT like a BAD idea. What had we done? Why hadn't we followed
our hearts?

I spent several hours sitting in the back seat of the car, with pillows
over my head imagining that I could jump free from the car and
cling on to the edge. I spent several more hours in panic mode,
feeling like I did when I was twelve years old.

My father revealed to me sometime later that he had also been advised,
and my mother had had a feeling that THEY shouldn't have taken the
SHORTCUT that lead to the illness filled mountain pass journey of my
childhood. And
decided to go against the GUT feeling, and save a few miles and a lot
of time.

So when travelling on vacation or just in life, I almost always KNOW
roughly where I am trying to go without any real concrete plan, I have
the means and ability to do it, but the clear and present PATH evades
me. The path without the cliffside, and the swerving cars, and the
vomiting.

When successful with rule #3 I look VERY VERY closely...not at the FACTS
of the matter.....but the intuitive FEELING or HITS I get from the
situation at hand. I go with them one HIT at a time, and go with them
quickly and without a second thought.

So sometimes FACTS seem to tell me I SHOULD go one direction.....my
feelings and conditions tell me I've taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque!

I've always done best when I've gone with the gut feeling, rather than
the logical conclusion.

When I use my brain instead of my heart I always end up on winding
mountain passes.

Are you heading toward a dangerous mountain pass your logical
destination... or are you going toward the right destination on the
wrong road?

And what road is that?

It might be right before your eyes!
But it took one road to get to another!

I have never planned the roads I was going to take on a vacation,
but I could always spot a bad one.

I have never planned the roads I take in life, but I can always spot a
good one.

Sometimes I took that bad road anyway, and really regretted it it.

Are you heading the right way, on the wrong road?

Fortunately for me, RULE #4 has always worked out as well,
once I get back on the right road.....

I always find my way home.

A big part of this journey we call life is following the map and
following the road signs.....the biggest part is FOLLOWING YOUR
HEART...even if it leads you someplace you don't expect or think you
desire......and even if it leads you the long way from where you are
right now.....

to where you are really SUPPOSED TO BE.

You can choose to follow your heart, to follow spirit, to be in "the
flow of the universe" today.

LOVE is a great big place to travel, endless in it's possibilities.

Happy journey! Rememeber the 4 rules of travel! and BE WELL!

 

Love In Thought! Love In Word! Love In Action!

Love To You Today!

 

"May we endeavor today to increase our understanding and appreciation of
what others have given and contributed to us. And develop constant,
mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will BENIFICIALLY
CONTRIBUTE to others"

The best to you today in discovering the answers to life's difficult
questions!

 

A Final Thought:

Love is always the right thing to do. Even if it isn't the easiest
thing to do.

May we have compassion for the struggles of others, wisdom to
acknowledge our own, and courage to address them both every day.

Respectfully,
Tim

This is a daily newsletter of LOVE WORKS DAILY:
A collective of individuals of different beliefs and
backgrounds, dedicated to a better world by living LOVE in thought,
word and action. Compassion. Wisdom. Courage.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Peace be with you.

from LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/18/03 & 08/29/05

(c)2007 T.Thomas Henry