My husband and I are on the Big Island for a Hawaii 70.3! From the moment I breathed in the tropical air I was inspired!

Sometimes a getaway can help put things in perspective. You separate from your daily grind and routines change or get interrupted, for me, this a good thing. It helps my mind and body rest.

In the last six months I have been in a space of change and clearing the old to make space for the new. This is why I’ve been a bit M.I.A on my blog. I’ll be back more consistently soon, I promise, but right now in life I feel I’m being guided to just experience and sit with all the change that I am growing though. In “The Essence of Self-Realization” Paramhansa Yogananda says “Countless are the form in which God comes to man. In each, He seeks to teach man something of His infinite nature. The lessons are there, for anyone whose heart is open to receive them.” This is where my intention has been since the start of the year and Hawaii has awakened me to new lessons since the moment we got here. Here are some random ones that I want to share with you…

During our lay over in Maui, we walked to the beach and spent time meditating and relaxing. Here is a post that shared to Instagram: “Honor it all. Make peace with it all. Let go of it all. Open up to it all. Because WE, are apart of it ALL. Love light and inspiration from Hawaii”

Today, my hubby and I went for a swim  before race check-in and to get our bikes. The ocean, sun, sand and salt were perfect despite stepping on a sea urchin. Thankfully someone that Ken randomly met and was chatting it up did know what do to. Not only did he share with us how to treat my foot, he shared with us the story of why he and his family are moving from Seattle to Hawaii. His wife survived cancer three years ago and he told us, “We always said we should move here when the kids get older but after the cancer we realized that life is too short. Why wait, you know what I mean?” Wow! God’s lessons often come through other people if we are willing to sit compassionately and patiently. So many times we only talk to people when we need or want something form them and after we get what we want we disconnect.

When is the last time you talked to someone that you didn’t know for the sake of getting to know them? When was the last time you made an effort to truly connect if even for a brief moment?

As I reflect on my foot injury two days before the race I did not have one negative or “why me?” thought. I felt that the sea urchin also had its lesson. The sea urchin said,”You’re in my house!” It was a painful reminder that I am just a visitor in the vast ocean home. Nature spoke God’s message loud and clear, we must all respect each others role on this great green Earth. We are all powerful and surviving in our own ways, beautifully and mightily. I have always respected nature but this time I became painfully mindful in the moment. And that’s okay, I can practice radical acceptance…life goes on:)

Today I was reminded that pain brings awareness. What do you do with that awareness? Curse it or learn from it…

Lately I’ve become more deeply aware of why it is so important for us to express our individuality. Why we need to honor our personal journeys and why comparison really is “the thief of joy”. You see we have all come so (damn) far in life and when we compare or copy what someone else is doing we invalidate, minimize and devoid ourselves of all the amazingness that has been shaped within us through that journey. When you focus on others and look outside yourself you are by default not looking within at all the beauty, strength, genius and power that is within you.  Each step in the journey and each person you have connected with needs YOU. You and ONLY You, not a carbon copy of someone else or what anyone else is doing. Just YOU. When you don’t “DO YOU” you restrict and block your true gifts and talents that only you were meant to offer our world. I’m really starting to embody this on a deeper level. This passage in the Essence of Self-Realization says it better than I could ever:

“There is a saying in the Indian scriptures, ‘All of Krishna’s soldiers were like Krishna.’ You can tell which ray of the divine light a person is attuned to by the consciousness he expresses in his life. He gives up his little ego and assumes a new radiance, colored by the vibration, or ray, of life that he has accepted as his particular path to God. It isn’t that he loses touch with who he is, in himself. That, one never loses. Be he assumes responsibility for manifesting God in his life, instead of living in bondage to the ego with its limitations of likes and dislikes. Since your path is the one to which God has drawn to you, you naturally express Him in that way.” 

So there it is, YOU were specifically created to express and manifest God in your own way on your own path! Not someones else path. Not your dad, husband, BFF’s, rival, sister, mother, Facebook or social media “friend”‘s path…..YOURS!

Remember what Joseph Campbell said…“The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” So as I always say “Do You”…outrageously, silly, playfully, unapologetically…YOU!

Mucho love from the Big Island!

Dr. G