Birch tree in the night

Oh great tree in the night, you look like a man.
You sit there empty all day, until nightfall you stand.
I ignore you.
But you are alive.
And you salute to me as if you respect me.
Respect goes both ways and I have none for you.
I don't notice you.
You are a tree.

You must be lonely
Until the gentle cricket creaks your name.
In the glowing eyes of dusk,
You wake up.
The forest jumps with discussions of the daily events.

Oh great giant, you are free,
Chained to your roots.
But that's what you are, fore you are a tree.

You will never move from that place,
But that's what you do.
Stand and wait.
Until death.

Because you are a tree.
A great soldier of the forest.
Standing on guard to protect all other living things
Against me and the rest.

Trust your feelings

There's a feeling deep inside of me that won't go away.

It hurts. It excites. It cries to come up.

I can't explain it.
I don't know why it's there.

The feeling or urge is a desire to do something great.

I thought it was because I didn't have any biological children. Maybe it was my opportunity to leave a mark on the world.

It's like Obi Wan Kenobi is saying to me, "Rick, trust your feelings".

I've always had this feeling. When I was six years old, I expressed them to my grandma.

At 16, I said similar things to my uncle Danny.

When I was 23, I was in a dead end job, going nowhere. I thought my feelings had lied to me. In my mini depression, I told my future wife I was never going to do anything great. She corrected me and reinforced that I was destined for amazing things.

I fell in love with her that day.

Since then the feelings won't go away. They scream at me sometimes. They pet me even when I sleep.

Is it confidence dancing around and making fun of me?
Is it ego singing "Eye of the Tiger" at top of its lungs?
Is it spirits sharing their secrets with me?
Is it my soul telling me the reason for my birth?
Is it wishful thinking?

Or am I just plain crazy?

I don't think I'm alone.

I read the founder of Nike's (Phil Knight) autobiography, "Shoe Dog".  He had similar feelings. He explained them so well, that I started reading it again.

These feelings are inexplainable.
I feel the most alive when I work with them.
I am dead when I don't.

It's not about money or fame.
It's something else.

Maybe it's "The Force".

Whether it is strong in me or not, it freaks me out sometimes.

No trespassing

When I see a sign that reads, "No Trespassing", I am hesitant to continue. The sign is clear. In my head, it implies that I will be shot on sight if I pass that imaginary tree line acting like a fortress wall.

Respectful of the sign's demands, I turn and walk the other way.

Something cool happened to me recently. I was in another country. My internal clock said 6 am even though it was only 4 am locally. Not able to sleep, I went for a walk.

There was a gravel trail that led from my room towards a mountaintop. I wanted to see sunrise from the mountaintop. I had seen others enter this trail, so I knew it was fairly safe.  I strolled along for about five minutes when the path split. One path was still gravelled but much narrower. The other was only dirt. The safe choice was the gravelled path.

Searching for adventure, I took the road less travelled. The air was clean. I could smell the sunshine peaking through the horizon.

Ten minutes on my new path, I saw the back of a diamond shaped sign. Wondering what the sign said, I anxiously skipped to reveal my horror.

It read, "No Trespassing".

Was I a trespasser?
Did I miss another sign and mistakingly end up on someone else's property?
Was someone going to shoot me?
Once I passed the sign, should I be allowed to return from where I came?

The fear I had was inexplicable. I had broken one of my rules. Respect the wishes of others.

I was now a trespasser. As I retraced my steps to my room, I rehearsed several answers in case I met up with the Marlboro man and his shotgun.

"I don't want no trouble sir, I got lost"
"I must've missed the "No Trespassing sign", I'll be on my way"
"I didn't see anything. I'm just a bit lost"

I rushed back to my room. With my heart full of adrenaline, I wondered why that rogue sign existed. I asked the owner of the property about the sign. He told me not to worry about it.

The sign said, "No trespassing".  Was this sign to protect us from outsiders coming into our encampment?

Nope. Strangers walk those trails every day. We want people to enjoy the beauty of our complex.

Why is there a "No trespassing" sign?
I don't know. It must have been put there from the previous owners. Did you get to see the sunrise?

No, I was too afraid of being shot, so I scurried back to my room.

What I learned from this experience is there are rules I don't want to break. Yet in order to witness the beautiful sunrise, I had to ignore the "No Trespassing" sign.

I lost out on an amazing experience because of a stupid, inconsequential rule.

What stupid, inconsequential rules are holding you back from experiencing a better life?