Excuses
Complaints
Caveats

Yes, but....
I could, if only....
They won't let me

Easy to find reasons not to try
And yet what if you just do it?

Like turning on a light,
You just decide

The light is on or it is off
You are committed or you aren't

Photo by Vladimir Fedotov

Put your shoulder to the wheel
Push along

A pioneer song
About piling everything you own into a wagon
And making your way across wild country

Pitting yourself against the elements
Mustering your all your strength and courage
And then pushing some more

With faith that the destination itself
Will provide you opportunities
For a life denied you in "civilization."

My pioneer foremothers and forefathers were tough people
They buried children, wives, and husbands along the way
And yet they persisted with faith, courage, and strength

It helps me to remember them
When the going gets tough

Photo by Jon Toney

The art of teaching demands silence

It is so tempting to point out each misstep
As they make it

And yet, utterly demoralizing for the student

You must let them flounder
Flounder and find their way
Standing in your absolute conviction they can get it

It seems so simple to just give them the answer
But that would side-step the learning process

Imagine the confidence they will have in themselves when they get it right all by themselves

Making things easy for our student never helps them
And making things too hard is also destructive

When to step in and when to be silent
That's art

Photo by Gez Xavier Mansfield

He dodges left
He feints right
Swiftly adjusting to the course
Avoiding the obstacles in his path

He spins
Turns on a dime
And changes direction

He makes his way
Over the obstacle
One handhold at a time

Photo by Mark McGregor

When I want to change my behavior, I keep a daily checklist.

I love to see the row of checks beside the thing I am trying to bring into my life.

It feels like a win.

I have many such changes I track.

And when I get enough of them in one day, I give myself a gold star.

Funny how the little things are such great motivators.

What do you do?

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters

Routines lock us in
They create an auto-pilot
Freeing our mind from decision
Allowing it to focus elsewhere
As our body does what we programmed it to do

This is just what we do on this day at this time

Setting our course
Aiming at a place we want to be
Persisting until the routine gels

Where should the plane fly itself?

Photo by Lennart Heim

Thinking outside the box
Can land you in unexpected places

Unforeseen
Uncertain
Unknown

New adventures

A branching of the road you are on

Stay curious
Beware of old stories

What does it mean?
Nothing really....

Photo by Lia Trevarthen

Appreciating each change.. each challenge
Sounds great on paper
Harder to do in practice

As the obstacles start to roll in
One wave of struggle after another
A seemingly incessant surge of resistance

These are the times that bring questions
"Is it worth it?"
"How much am I willing to go through to make the change I seek?"

Tests for the depth of my determination

The ocean does not turn back the flow of each river
It accepts the influx of debris and turbid water
Accepts it as what just IS
Embracing the new water

Photo by Riaan Myburgh

Hiding what is going on
Diverting attention to other things
Keeping the truth under a hat

It's a lonely road to bear your burden alone
Is trust such a leap?

Betrayal burns
It bites

Yet you can choose a different future
One filled with trustworthy companions
A merry band of friends
Guarding each other's backs

A leap of faith

Photo by Alex Radelich

Dump trucks beep beep beep
In the desert behind my home
When will the destruction end?

Temperatures rise
Oceans rise
Storms grow wilder

Species die
Indigenous people pushed off their land
All life hangs in the balance

When will we learn?
What will it take for us to act?
Come join us at the Carbon Almanac
It's not too late

Photo by gryffyn m