Essentialism

It has been almost a year since I have moved from California to New York. Since I have been here, I have moved apartments 5 times and accomplished a significant amount of progress at work. Things haven't always been easy, and every step of the way there were obstacles and hurdles to overcome. I would be lying if i said i haven't felt restless from time to time about moving to the next "big thing" because my idea of where I would have been, looking back a year from now was different from the reality of my present. 

Have you ever felt that a million different things are trying to get your attention all at the same time??  It could be motivated by things not happening as you have hoped for at work, or personal life...It could sometimes simply be your own goals, and how frustrating and discouraging it can be when the reality of life's timeline doesn't align with yours.   

This was one of those days when I felt restless, but encouraged to stay the course and and keep moving. I got up that Friday morning, decided to go on a drive and revaluate my priorities. What's important and what wasn't. What was worth my time and what I had to cease investing into.  

I chose Letchworth State Park in New York as my destination and set off.

On the journey I learned that in order to regain clarity on my purpose and focus in on the grand purpose of my journey, i had to "declutter" all the things that were fighting for my attention and remove all the things that were non-essential. 

I understood that in order to focus on a strategy to achieve my goals, I had to take a good look at all the things I was doing, cut out the non-essential things and keep only the essential.

The other BIG thing i learned is that, your purpose is not defined to anything but YOU. It is not defined by place, a job, a people group... or anything else. When you find your purpose, what you are designed to do with your life, it forever lives within you. Usually it's when you truly pause, reflect and invest into yourself that you hear and see this reality. When you steady the heart and listen, you will always hear the voice of your purpose.  

You will be able to see road you've journeyed and reset the course for where you need to be headed. 

and when you get there.... it will be glorious! and the pains of the journey will all make sense.  

Middle Falls - Letchworth State Park, New York

Chasing Craters.

Ever felt like your life had missing pieces? Gaps that keep coming in and out? Questions that needed answers. You may wonder why or what they were... why they exist? Are there good? Are they bad? What could fill them? ..

Introspection is good because it gets you to get out, wander and find answers. 

And off course during my time in California, I had to go wander...and go find my own answers. I had some questions for the big Guy upstairs.  

I heard there was a crater close to me, well...sortof. 

En route to Crater Lake, Oregon. 

Mt. Shasta, CA

It was a 4 hour drive. 

On the way i pondered what the Creator's intent was in giving us this desire to search for answers.. You know sometimes this "quest" can be mistaken for "missing" something in your life. Misjudged for being "lost", but truth is..it seldom is.  

What i do know is that it definitely gets you moving out of this stagnant place you may be in and go towards the place where you may find more of yourself. If you feel curious enough, it motivates you to get out and go on this journey to find answers to the deepest questions in your heart.

and here I was standing almost 8000 feet high on the rim of the crater, at Crater Lake National Park. This is a mountain that blew up in a volcanic eruption hundreds of thousands of years ago and the "sinkhole" created this magnificent lake, which is the deepest lake(almost 2000ft at its deepest point) in the United States of America. (Seventh deepest lake in the World).

It was amazing to experience beauty that was created from something that left a huge gaping hole in the earth. 

Never ignore your thirst to search for truth. Though it may take you on journeys, you always end up finding beauty. 

Crater Lake National Park, Oregon