I used to run feverishly as a child. Downhill especially, tiptoeing, heel-toeing over rocks and thorns and shrubs. I ran with such speed! I loved to hear air scooping into my ears. I would hum softly as I ran, and in an original tune—as if I were channeling the great M.J. and creating the theme song to my own life.

I felt free, guided by gravity and inertia. Carefully cared for—one pointed—in harmony. A piece of an unexplainable, balanced world. Like a stream bubbles over a brook, so I ran, and ran, and ran. Forward.

Age discontinued this love of gravity and of inertia. The forces that led me in my youth are the very forces I posture myself against as an adult. Because, God dammit, I AM IN CONTROL HERE.

But the ignorant thing is—when I try to yank in control, I lose the protection of the natural forces that are here to guide me. The truth is, I am better taken care of if I let the forces that kept me gelled, in tandem, and moving forward as a kid continue to help me move in harmony with everything else as a grown up.

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Change is in the air—and not the easy kind. The kind that digs up that skeleton you thought surely had disintegrated with lack of attention by now. Yes, that skeleton. It’s happening everywhere, to everyone. Maybe it has something to do with the Mayans. Maybe it’s my own self-selected focus. I don’t know. But change is everywhere. I’m convinced of it.

I no longer have a choice but to tackle, deal with, and move through whatever issues are inhibiting me from living my passion. So why not allow myself to be guided by gravity, and inertia, and wisdom, and the intangible, unconditional support I was blessed with as a child of the Universe. IT kept thorns from my nerves and dosed me in wonder and encouragement and confidence as a little guy. Why not relinquish control and let that be my co-captain, teammate, and spouse?