As I wrote about yesterday, life is about not only contribution but also allowing ourselves to have the things we want. One of the things I am interested in doing more is “laughing”. My life growing up was about duty, work ethic, and angry people, so easy laughter did not ring out in our family home too often. I used alcohol to “lighten up” and it seemed to work at the time. I was funny (or so I thought) I found it easier to talk to others, striking up easy conversation, and the whole social process just seemed smoother if I was in an altered state. But what happens when you remove the “special sauce” and you have to actually “talk to people” relate to people? Not much actually, conversations become sparse, you look like a piece of awkward driftwood in the corner. In my business, or in arenas where I could lead the conversation, presenting etc, I was gold, but put me into a house with a bunch of people I don’t know, and I got nothing to say. So how does one who has had such a serious l...

Your vision becomes clear when you look inside your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.'

I love this quote by Carl Jung as it has such meaning to me. Quite often we will silence the call of our heart in fear of the rejection and pain that may be experienced when opening our heart to the possibilities that the universe may bestow on us. Over the years I have sought the key in unlocking the possibilities that I knew lay inside of me, however the song in my heart was only an echo I seemed to chase, taunting me endlessly. After thousands of books, courses and deep introspection I came up with “nothing”. All the words and all the meanings given to those words, phrases and lovely sentiments fell short of their promise to deliver me from my imprisonment, it was as if I was peering through a window at all the possibilities that life had to offer but was not allowed to touch. What I have come to realize that, though I am sure I had heard it before, was that life has no...

I had the pleasure of being connected to an amazing group of people for eight days in Kelowna, BC, and it during this time I got to peek under the covers of the real meaning of connection. In this world where catch phrases are common place, such as integrity, connection, authenticity, leadership, and the like, I find that the meaning of these words can be lost on us. Simon Sinek in his book, “Start with Why” reminded us if we were not truly connected to the meaning of our message, or our words, despite being able to artfully craft a positive message, the real impact will be lost on the world. I really got the meaning of his message as in certain circumstances if I am invited to share something deep and meaningful, the environment I am in will determine if I will or not.

What I am referring to is the energy or underlying emotion that is connected to the request is warm and welcoming then I would feel compelled to share openly and honestly, but with the same request in an energy that wa...

I had just finished re-reading a book called “The Noticer” that was given to me by a friend a few years ago. It was a heart-warming story about a man named “Jones”, who seemed to show up in people’s lives when they needed some “perspective” on how to get past a current personal obstacle they were struggling with. One thing that stood out for me was the concept of getting a new perspective had a lot to do with asking better questions regarding their current circumstances. Quite often, unfortunately, the questions we ask ourselves about our current struggles do more to mire us deeper and deeper rather than offer solutions.

I recall one of the most powerful changes in “perspective” came to me from reading the seminal book titled “Power versus Force” written by Dr. David Hawkins. In the opening chapters, he stated two things which will forever change the way I think about the way I think. The first point that he made was that “man’s dilemma has been and always will be, is that he believes...

How long has it been since I have lost my way
An eternity it seems, stumbling my way in the dark
No sense of self or purpose, no sense of self

Is this what death feels like when you’re still alive?
Cut off from all that is warm and inviting
Only a shade of a human being, not really existing at all

How long can I survive here I ask myself
And I fear far longer than I can bear to imagine
How cruel must god be to allow this to continue

But I remain on the path, getting up every time I fall
Scrape knees, bloodied hands and a dirt stained brow
Being pulled by some unseen force, beckoning me forward
The unspoken promise of better days

To my surprise the light peaks over the horizon
How quiet the tempest in my soul has become
Now that the light of day has shone in

I see her now in the distance, a balm to my soul
How beautifully sweet the flowers now smell
Now that the dark veil has been lifted

Oh how warm and inviting is her soul
How bright is the light her presence brings
Now that I have made space t...

It has been my privilege and honor to have spent the last 21 years of my life in the service of others. During that time I have worked with thousands of men and women looking for a new lease on life, a healthier and strong body that will allow them to enjoy life in full measure. One thing we quickly realized that though many of the objectives were the same, the path we sent many on and the time it would take to reach the end goal were very different. One of the challenges I had was that though I had come from a poor lifestyle in many ways, I was still active nevertheless, so the transition to a better lifestyle was not as challenging perhaps as many today may find. So I begin to explore in-depth how my clients defined success and the results we interesting. To begin with, I love language, in that I am intrigued at the words and sentences we use to describe ourselves, our potential, and our present state of being. More often than not, the language we use is often vague, limiting and bas...

Over the past 21 years of more I have spent time exploring this incredible world around me through literature of all type, books on religion, books on philosophy, books on microbiology and health sciences and books on neuroscience and quantum physics. Don’t get the idea that I am an expert by means in these areas, but I have been able to gain an appreciation for the amazing complexity of this world we live in. There were two fields of interest that I focused in on above all others, and if you know me you then you know that it is neurology as it relates to fitness and mind set. In the beginning of my career in the fitness field I was taught to stick tags on the body in my early PT courses, labeling this muscle as a pec, that muscle as a bicep etc. Once we knew the names of the various muscles we then we instructed to create “balanced” exercise programs making sure we used the right exercises, the right intensity that matched the client’s needs. And that’s what we did, not exactly rocket...

I remember growing up as a child and hearing in church the quote “ and the truth shall set you free”, what truth is that anyway? After spending a great deal of time in religious study as a child, and for the past twenty years in my adult years I have read books written by religious leaders, scientist and new thought leaders, I realize that there is no “truths”, rather there are more moral compass headings, in which we can navigate through this grand adventure called our life. What was interesting about many of the similarities about these authors is that they all spoke of the “subjective” view of the world we all hold, and that at times it may be impossible to be able to “see the truth” due to the place we may find ourselves at in our life. The words they express to the reader were only true if the reader was either on the cusp of a personal evolution and receptive to new learning or was already in sync with the authors teaching, and still, though it resonates with us, is it the truth?...

After three thirteen hours’ days and then a ninety-minute drive home to my family, I had to share this before I went to bed as the sentiment was so profound, though I think it has been expressed in many ways before, it bears sharing nevertheless. We spend a life time loving what we love, hating what we hate, and in the very action create division and polarity in our lives where our mind, our hearts, our world, and our intimate relationships must take sides. What was so eloquently shared today was simply this "we can love what we are, and love what we are not, and we can love others for who they are and who they are not, because we have no right to try and change others and we cannot truly change ourselves, and the reality of it all is that we cannot if even we tried. What we look to accomplish is to 'transform' relationships, transform our lives, the lives of our children, the lives of our spouses, the lives of the world around us. When we transform others we are helping them realize t...

How sad it is and has become
This world we have created
Where our worth is measured
By shallow acts ill fated

The image of who we claim to be
Is the focus of our generation
No room for error or flaws of any kind
Vanity and desperation

But can’t we see the world around
Is perfect in its imperfection
The self-expression of a grand design
Beauty and grace in its reflection

The less we try and the more we allow
The natural beauty to abide
The more we will experience that true joy
Will in our hearts and minds reside

C. David Gilks Your Fellow Traveler