Living in the present is a tough walk. There are too many things taking place in our past to suddenly drop it off. To stay in a moment of "Now" I ask myself, "What are you feeling in the present?" Mindfully I accept as well as respect the surrounding atmosphere. This reminds me of my many walks through several forests. I find incredible pleasure in staring at the floor of collected limbs, leaves, needles, dried weeds and vines. If you've ever walked off the path then you know the dangers that await the wandering imagination. The forested floor doesn't expose where the tree roots and earth have eroded. There's a huge change that you're going to be met with a deep hole. A real ankle or leg breaker. On this podcast I talk about how each of our everyday chapters are no different than that forested floor. You are judged by outsiders by the way the leaves, limbs and needles are imperfectly stacked to look as smooth as a forested floor offers. What they don't see are your holes. You know they exist because you're experiences helped design them. Once the passerby takes note of the personal erosion the next step for them is to judge, to decide if your forested floor can become part of their forested needs. Learning to walk through a real forest requires confidence and the proper tools to sample the soil before your next step. What adds weight to the walk are the dogs we bring with us on the journey off the typical walk. Suddenly the legs are weakened by the partners expectations of walking under the broken limbs and you spend the rest of the afternoon trying to dodge thorny vines and long stemmed grasses vowing to trip you while walking. Awareness of your "Now" is a valuable tool to place in your vision. The forest floor is always going to be your past. Know that it's perfectly healing to break free of where everybody else is but spend no time seeking the depth of the unseen holes you'll meet.