Looking Up From The Rut......

How often when you are outside do you actually take the time to look UP? When you are walking to the mail box or to your car or when you are out running errands or getting gas, do you actually look up and see the sky? If you are like most of us, probably not very often.

Have you ever realized sometime on your life's journey that your life seems kinda dull and you realized you were in a rut? You know what a rut is...Webster defines a rut as a fixed, routine course of action or thought, one regarded as dull and unrewarding. We have all been in a rut sometime on our journey.

Well,just yesterday I realized I have been in a rut. Sometime over this past year I slowly stopped doing things that I really enjoy doing and slowly my routine changed to the point that I spent more time at home doing nothing or glued to my computer..doing nothing. A couple of weeks ago on my drive to work I drove by
a park that I really love to walk in. For the past couple of years I stopped by
there most every day (except when we do not have daylight saving time and it is dark by the time I get here) and walked a mile, sometimes 2. But I realized it had
been months since I stopped by, not sure why, guess I was headed toward my rut.

I really enjoy going to the Annenberg Space for Photography, it is a beautiful Space
for different Artists to show their work. It is truly an amazing place. As I was driving to work last week I saw an advertisement of their latest showing and realized I had missed their last 2 showings, and I did not really know why I had
not gone....guess I was headed to my rut.

I have always been a big believer in living your life to the fullest, make the most of everyday you have because our days really are numbered and one day we will
run out of those numbers. I have friends who think I am a little crazy (and they could could really be right) because driving any distance to do something I really want to do has never been a problem for me. When I lived Palm Springs, there were
times when I would be at work and thing how nice it would be to go to Laguna Beach for dinner. I would get off at like 4 pm, run home and change and head to Laguna.
Now from Palm Springs that is like an hour and a half one way. Crazy, probably.
Fun...o you betcha. I could get there, spend some time on the beach, watch the sun set on the ocean, have dinner and be back home by midnight. I did that several times through the years and each time is a wonderful memory I will always have. (Even met a really nice guy on one of my quick trips and we ended up dating for a while....nice!) But I have realized that for whatever reason, I have not been on one
of my little adventures in a really long time....guess I entered my rut.

One of my greatest enjoyments over the last couple of years has been this blog.
I am always on the lookout for something share with you guys on here, but as I looked back over the last half of 2010, I realized all the things I did not share
with you...it was like I had just lost interest in blogging, which in reality, is not true, I really love it....it is just hard to do when you are in a rut.

They say the most important step in getting over a problem is realizing you have one!
(Heard that in a Co-dependency Group I use to go to years ago). So day before yesterday, I went to my park that I enjoy so much, and I walked a mile....and it was great. And as I walked I looked up and say what was around me. I noticed that
as I walked I kept looking down at the ground ahead of me. So I started looking up and when I did I could see the beautiful snow cover San Gabriel Mountains that
seem so close I could touch them. I noticed all the new trees they had planted in the park earlier in the year, and when I looked straight up from where I was when I stopped to catch my breath....I saw 2 beautiful Hawks circling right above me!! ( when I first saw them I checked to make sure they were not vultures circling me, I can not tell you how out of shape I have gotten in my rut!!) I had such a good
time! And yesterday,in the afternoon when it warmed up, I was back at the park doing another mile... it was great.

So look at where you are in your life right now.... 2010 was not a really good year.....we all got hit with so much negativity......are you in your own little rut?
If you are.....I hope you will join me in being "rutless" this year. I am not really big on New Year's resolutions...ok I have a couple... but my main goal this year
is to get out there and enjoy what life has to hold....hope you will join me .
Lets make this year the most fun and adventurous year we have ever had.

And yes, I am back to blogging so check back....you just might find something that will bring a smile to your face!!!

later...