The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

It was hot that day and still in the high 80's when it approached the hour I go for my walk. I have accepted a #365challenge to go for at least a mile walk/run/bike ride every day for a year. I wasn't looking forward to walking in the heat, but like always I grabbed my cellphone to prove I did indeed walk that day. I had also committed myself to "smell the roses" every time I walk. I was almost at the end of my walk, while still frustrated because of the heat, I finally noticed the sunset and the sunflowers. I took a moment to capture the beauty, and at that moment, my whole attitude changed. Once again, I discovered the highest truth I've learned in my life. What you are looking for, you find. If you expect things to be difficult, they will be. If you expect a person to be a jerk, he/she will be. If you expect your day to be disappointing, it will be. Changing how we think is difficult. However, how we think affects how we act. How we act affects our decisions and sets the course for our spiritual and emotional wellbeing.

My favorite verse, these days is Proverbs 3: 5-6, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." In other words, what we think, what we see with our eyes; what we hear with our ears is not the truth. It is our perspective from our filters, but not necessarily the truth.

At the end of my walk, I was sweating from the exercise and the heat. However, I had found a way to lift myself out of the frustrating emotions I had felt all day. I wasn't looking forward to walking in the heat, and so I started with the idea that it was going to be a "no-good, very bad" walk. Had I taken the time to reverse my thoughts immediately the beauty and the joy that would have been mine much sooner.