Peace of mind - there is no greater wealth on earth!

I came here - looking for peace... 

Maybe I was trying to run away ... From unpleasantness .... hate .... hurt.....pain.... for just a while. 

An escape - to breathe fresh air, to clear my mind and bring some peace - however transient. 

But it worked.

As I looked up in wonder at the clear blue skies, the green foliage all around and the  tufts of sheer white clouds, as the air got cooler, as the car winded it's way to higher altitudes, something inside me started lifting too. 

For the last few days, I have walked these narrow paths through sweet smelling cedar forests, with only butterflies for company and the humming sound of the mating cicadas. 

Each trek threw open a new sight, a new flora or a new challenge that I managed to overcome - I have gasped, I have been breathless, my knees have hurt, my legs have got weary .....but each time, my soul lifted higher and higher....to soar above ... refusing to be weighed down by my woes...

I felt I was living in the clouds and I felt close to heaven ( at over 8500 feet above sea level, I definitely was ) ....

my spirits have been lifted.

For I have seen my sign.

As I walked towards the flashing sunlight so many times over the last few days through misty forests and cloudy terrain, I know that's what I must do - after I get back to the lower planes, to reality, to Life.

I have been reassured once again that I am blessed.... and that my shepherd is holding my hand.... leading me to a better place, where one no longer feels pain or sorrow, where peace and happiness reigns .. always.

And so I shall keep walking these beautiful lanes - even though I will be far away after tomorrow. 

As Abraham Lincoln said, "I walk slowly, but I never walk backward." 

Thank you, God.

Thank you, my "inner circle" - for standing by me. 

I will continue to need you both - big time - during the next stages of this journey. But I will move on, for sure.... 

For I have seen my sign....

I will find my Peace... within.