The Cliffs of Moher & Patience

There is a town that I visited on the West Coast of Ireland 10 years ago called Doolin. About 8 km from there are the Cliffs of Moher that I visited on a typically gray Irish morning. As I looked out over the Cliffs, which are 800 feet above the ocean, there were sets of waves stretching from the shoreline to as far as the eye could see. There must have been 8 or 10 sets of waves just waiting to come in. I was overcome with the sheer beauty of the scene and I must have stood there for nearly 30 minutes almost in a meditation as I saw one wave after another break onto the shore below. In the midst of this meditation, this truly incredible thought entered my mind which took this entire experience to another level. What if these waves were like phases of my life just waiting to happen? And then I looked down at the thin sliver of a beach that was below me? Without my perspective I would only see one or maybe two sets of waves.

As I stood there on that beach, no matter what I did, I could not stop these waves from hitting the beach. Right then I saw the wisdom in this natural experience; in life sometimes the best we can do is be patient and do nothing.

As I have entered challenging periods of my life, I have applied this lesson frequently. Sometimes the best course of action is no action. It is so easy to get caught up in the ups and downs of life, but sometimes the wisest course of action is just to stand on that beach and wait for the next wave to roll in. When it does it will bring with it new energy and new opportunities.

Nature has a way of rearranging and evolving, which impacts all that is around it. My thought process is to understand that and try my best to flow with it. Wait for these waves and embrace them. There is always an opportunity that is nestled within each wave that I can leverage to make a positive change in my life. If I am always making positive changes, then overall my life is getting a little better day by day, which as someone recently said is one of the two purposes of life. The other is using your life to make a big difference in the world.

Now some would argue that in the simplest form, this is the age old argument about fate vs. free will, which is a philosophical debate that I have often pondered going back to my days at Cal. I guess the camp that supports free will would say you can just leave the beach altogether. But I would say that this type of change would on one hand break the immediate cycle of waves in front of you, but on the other hand would bring with it a new set of challenges and opportunities all their own. I strongly believe that certain choices we make or people we meet brings us to our beach, much like the train Gwyneth Paltrow's character Helen made or missed in that movie Sliding Doors. Every life has defining moments that are mostly unknown to us and that is simply fate. But how we deal with the waves we encounter is our opportunity to express our free will. Some will fight the events that life puts in front of them, but I have learned to embrace them and make the most of them.

So you can change beaches, but nature is still going to come at us in waves and most importantly if you are not happy in life, look for the next wave and embrace what comes with it.

Nature - the great teacher

Everytime I get into nature I realize that LA is probably not the place where I was meant to live because my daily consumption consists of roads, buildings, and cars. I miss the treasures of our world that include trees, streams, stars, and sunsets (probably my favorite). I cherish the moments I am surrounded by the natural world, which is why so many great teachers all say to spend time in nature. When I have had this luxury, I always think bigger and deeper. As a result I started this blog to share some of these thoughts amongst others.

I remember I was up in the forests near Santa Rosa several years ago when it first hit me looking at a tree that was over 2000 years old. Nature does not try to be, nature is just is. A tree does not try to be more or less than it is, it just is. The same goes for the soaring eagle, the squirrel or the tadpole. They are not concerned with what others think or say, they just live their lives. Humans have for the most part escaped the natural world so we do have the time to concern ourselves with other thoughts and feelings.

Never was this more true than watching my wife Beth go through pregnancy. Her body was living according to the Laws of Nature and it knew just what to do at every step of the process. Truly incredible to watch. She was just riding the wave being natural. She was not trying to do more or be more than she was - she was just being part of a process of nature that goes back millions of years.

I have returned to this thought throughout my life since my adult life is full of all types of opportunities to attempt to be more than I am. At work, in my social life, in my sporting life - there are countless opportunities to reach beyond and try to be more than I am. Take for example that big presentation at work - the natural thought is to tell yourself I really have to step up and knock 'em dead. But this is a trap - I have found the better way to approach this situation is to prepare and then just be me. No more. No less. This usually eases the pressure a bit and makes me feel more grounded. How can I possibly be more than I am?

In my sporting life this is never more apparent than in a game of golf. When I am at one with my game, I am just living shot to shot with no thought in my mind. I am just letting my natural game come out. My body, mind and soul are in totally alignment. Only when I start thinking too much do I lose this balance and my score usually reflects this.

So be who you are, no more, no less. Our best has to be good enough because we cannot be more than we are.

Footnote: images courtesy of my iphone and Sundance, UT

Solomon's Mind - Where it all starts...

I've always wanted to write a book - it has been a dream of mine going back 15 years now. Today I decided that given my lifestyle and the limited time I have now, I would start a blog instead. It is a different art form, but is a step in the right direction. Books have to be perfect and blogs can be unpolished. Some day I will write a book or three, but for now, I can at least use this to share my wisdom with others - for whatever that is worth.

My life has been influenced by many interesting writers - namely Dan Millman, Robin Sharma, and Carolyn Myss. These are people that have opened my eyes, my ears, my mind and my heart to the limitless potential of a human life. I feel I have a similar wisdom I want to express and share with the world. In my personal life, I have counseled and supported many friends over the years and they all say, "you should write a book some day." So the seed was planted.

The book concept was always simple in nature: lessons from nature. Human beings always act as if we are not part of nature because in the modern world we have for the most part tamed nature. While the past 10 years has disproven this largely due to global warming, I see so many lessons in nature. I will use this blog to elucidate these observations and share their meaning with others. My hope is that I can share these teachings with others so they can benefit from these insights in their own lives.