Larson Institute of Self-Mastery » Nature

Life – Don’t Miss It!

Gary N. Larson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:50:34 +0000

Good morning! I’m standing in the foothills above my home. Just last night it was pouring rain. We had a big storm come through. This morning as I stand in the foothills it’s not raining on me, but as I look across the valley I see heavy rain and lightning flashes from one end of the valley to the other. What I’m witnessing is an amazing and wonderful light show. It makes me feel like God is putting a show on for me. It’s a delightful thing to watch. Wow, there went another one! It lights up the whole sky and valley. It’s a beautiful thing.

What does this have to do with self-mastery? Probably nothing except for the fact that if I wasn’t up here on my hike I wouldn’t get to see this. There are a lot of things I wouldn’t get to see if I didn’t get out every morning and go hiking. I get to see a number of amazing things that I think a lot of people don’t see. I feel blessed for it and I feel that’s one of the reasons that it makes it worth it for me to get up early and to get outside and exercise my mind and body. It allows me to be among nature and not miss the unexpected and wonderful things in life like this wonderful light show this morning.

Master Yourself, Master Your Life

Thank you.

The First Snow of the Season

Gary N. Larson — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:04:56 +0000

Good morning! As I mentioned recently, part of my quest to achieve self-mastery is to exercise every day, no matter what. As I looked outside this morning I saw that it was pouring rain – cold rain! I must admit that thoughts of climbing back into bed went through my mind. How was I supposed to go hiking up the mountain in this?

Then I thought of my amazing wife. I call her amazing because she is! She goes out running every morning with her running partner Ramona, no matter what. Rain, sleet, snow, wind, darkness or extreme cold doesn’t stop her. As I looked out the window this morning I knew that my wife was already out there in this miserable storm doing a 10-mile run.

So with that thought I forced myself to get on my hiking gear and drove up to the trailhead for my hike. I pulled on my rain poncho and headed up the trail. By this time it was beginning to get light.

Yesterday I shared some photos of the beautiful fall colors I encountered on a recent hike. Today I was met first with rain and then with SNOW! Since the leaves haven’t all fallen yet they were covered with a heavy coating of wet snow. This weighed the branches down causing them to bend across the trail. It made it a challenge for me to plow through the branches that were blocking my path.

Of course the wet snow soaked my legs and arms that weren’t covered by my rain poncho. So I was cold and wet and you would think – miserable. But I wasn’t miserable! In fact I had a great time. It was a fabulous morning. I loved the crisp air and the snow covered trees.

There is something magical about the combination of exercising your body and being out in nature. You just can’t help but feel good. I noticed as I came down the mountain that I had a huge grin on my face. It came so easily and naturally. It just couldn’t be helped.

It makes me wonder how much depression in the world could be alleviated by being on a program such as this. Instead of drugs and counseling, perhaps all that many people need is daily exercise and a daily experience among God’s creations. What a concept! Maybe you should give it a try.

Have a great day!

Step Back and See the Big Picture

Gary N. Larson — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:05:14 +0000

Good morning! Have you ever taken a digital photo and zoomed in on it until all you could see were a bunch of little squares? As you look this closely at a picture you will find that it’s difficult to tell that it’s even a picture. When you are so close you just see a bunch of simple squares of different shades and colors with no apparent order or meaning. It’s not until you zoom out from the picture that you actually see the image. Here is an example. Can you tell what this is?

Now here is the entire photo:

The close-up was of my face. I’m the baby in my father’s arms. What a difference it makes to step back and take in the whole picture.

My hike this morning reminded me of this. I live in my little house on my little street and that becomes my world. Sometimes I forget there is a whole big world out there. When I go hiking in the morning I go up the side of the mountain by my home and suddenly I have this magnificent view of my whole community. I see things I never could have seen at the street level. There are ponds in my community that I didn’t know existed. There are neighborhoods, golf courses, and churches that I didn’t know were there. It’s a whole different perspective when I get the Big Picture from on the mountain.

You’ve heard of the saying:

You can’t see the forest for the trees.

Sometimes we get that way with our own lives. We are so into our own little world that we don’t realize that there is a whole, big world out there. We are blinded by the things that are so close to us.

I find that I periodically need to get away from the nitty gritty details of my life. I need to step back and look at the Big Picture to get a true perspective of life.

One of the ways my wife Lisa and I do this is to go away to an educational conference every year or so. It is held in another city several hours from our home. It’s called Education Week and as the name implies, it is a week long conference and is held at a university. They have classes all day long each day on subjects like marriage, parenting, money management, stress management, journal writing – you name it and they have a class for it. We stay there the whole week and take all kinds of classes together, taking voracious notes in each one.

Some people think we’re strange to do this with our precious time, yet we have found it well worth it. And every time we have done it and are on our way home, I always get the feeling that I have been lifted high above the detailed cares of the world and have a grand, panoramic view of life. It helps me get my life in perspective.

I suggest that you find ways to step away from the details of your life and allow yourself to see the Big Picture. Take a break. Go on a needed vacation. Retreat to the mountains or the beach or the desert and take time to think and ponder. Let’s not miss the beautiful forest while we are staring at the roots of the trees.