The Hudson River

I've lived in New York State all my life but I know very little about the Hudson River and the Hudson River Valley. My wife read an article in the Martha Stewart Living magazine last week. It was a pictorial article about Boscabel, a Mansion that was built originally in the early 1800's and later rebuilt and moved in the 1950's to its current spot overlooking the mighty Hudson River.
We got in the car this morning, map in hand, and made our way to Cold Spring, NY just north of Boscabel. What a glorious fall day. The sky was blue, the air crisp and the crowds were small. On the way, we passed through Fhanestock State Park and saw groups of hikers out enjoying God's breathtaking landscapes. Wow! hiking! Talk about getting close to nature without great expense.
I think what I want to say is that there is such natural beauty and grandeur within a two hour drive that we never even contemplate experiencing. So often we put things off and stick around home, not really doing anything of much import.
Today, standing on the bank of the Hudson River right across from the US Military Academy at West Point gave me a real thrill. I was in awe of that river. It's just so wide. I just stood there imagining the first European explorers sailing up the river wondering what was around the next bend.
Oh yea, the Boscabel mansion was great too.
Get off your block and spend a day exploring.

I Feel Inspired

I feel particularly inspired this morning. I'm just about finished reading Wayne Dyer's new book Excuses Begone. He has a real ability to lay things out in a very understandable way. I feel very relaxed and confident in what I am doing. It's not about me and my success as a speaker or author. It's about my aligning with my life's purpose. My job here is to open people's minds to the possibilities of living a life of joy and fulfillment. It is to help folks see that this kind of life is available to everyone, not just a few.
This is a feeling that I would love to experience over and over again. It energizes me. It makes all my cares and worries dissapear as I venture into today. There is a lot to do and my joy lies in the doing. I don't feel any pressure as I am aligned with my Divine Source.
It's enough to be on your way.
I wonder what good will come my way today. I wonder whose life I can make a little bit better today.
To all with much love,
Jim

Old Music

I was just listening to and watching some music from my youth which still excites me. I typed in John Stewart on YouTube and found the guy I was looking for, not the tv talk show host/comedian. This John Stewart was a member of the Kingston Trio way back when folk music was getting rolling.
When I was 10 or 11 years old my older brother had some Kingston Trio records (331/3). We had no record player but every once in a while he would borrow one from a friend. When he played those songs something stirred inside me . The guitars, the harmonies, the stories just lifted me up. I was excited to the core of my being. I'll never forget that feeling, sitting on the floor of our living room in Schenectady, NY.
It was in the summer before my junior year of high school. I was working as a busboy in a snack bar at a rest stop along the NYS Thruway. I was working with all girls, mostly college kids. One night the boyfriend of one of them came along with an old guitar. We were sitting at the picnic table out back taking a break. I remember, he took a plastic spoon and broke it in half to use as a pick to play the guitar. He sang those same songs that had stirred me so right from the beginning.
It was that night that I decided that I would learn to play the guitar. I made a deal with the guy that night, trading my older brother's bongo drums for that old guitar. When I told my brother about the deal I had made he admonished me, "Ok, you can trade my bongo drums for the guitar but just promise me that you won't let the guitar sit around like I've done with my bongo drums." The rest is history. I ended up quitting my summer job because it got in the way of my learning to play that unforgettable guitar. My fingers bled from holding down those metal strings, but it was totally worth it.
That fall I made my first appearance singing in my high school's hootenany. Teaching myself to play the guitar is the best thing I've ever done in my life. (that's a slight exageration but it's right up there.)
To be continued...

Live With Passion

Be passionate about something. Be enthousiastic about something. Get excited about your life. The word enthousiasm comes from the Greek, en theos, which means with God. When you do something with enthousiasm you are getting in touch with your higher self. You are experiencing life the way it was meant to be lived. Abraham Lincoln said that it's not the years of you life that are important but the life in your years. Someone else said that it's not the number of breaths that you take that is important but the experiences that take your breath away that matter.
What makes you feel most alive? What activity that you engage in makes time fly by making you wonder where the time went? Find that activity. Make time to engage in it. Don't let weak excuses get in the way of your living the life that you were meant to live.
At the end of life people don't regret what they did, but they regret what they didn't do.
The difinition of old age is when regrets take the place of dreams. How about it? What are you waiting for?