Tired vs Keeping Up

I’ve made a tremendous amount of changes in my life over the last two years. These are major life changes that mainly involve moving to another land and changing careers, not to mention the lack of sleep. (When all of this is added up, I scored a 620 on this stress test.)

Eventually, the lack of sleep gets to me. I’m not a daytime sleeper or nap taker, but on rare occasions if I do nap, it means my body is shutting down. I have learned to listen to what my body tells me.

Cats have it made.

I have to keep reminding myself to be at one with nature, because in this digital age, we tend to get caught up in reading things online or otherwise finding things that take up time (i.e. Youtube videos). I’ve noticed I’ve become less interested in being creative (or blogging) or taking beach walks and more interested in doing mindless things (i.e. watching Youtube videos or playing my online garden game). Why is this? Is this a sign of being completely worn out?

Sometimes we all need a little rest.

Now I suppose I must make another change in my life that requires me to force myself into a routine of doing better things for myself. Taking beach walks is usually a pretty good start, because it’s refreshing and clears my head.

A little beach walk goes a long way.

Byodo-In Temple – Valley of the Temples

This is probably one of my favorite places of serenity to visit. Located on the side of a mountain on the island of Oahu, the grounds at Valley of the Temples is covered in lush green foliage with koi filled streams and is a place where birds will eat right out of your hands. There is a large brass sacred bell (called bon-sho, said to clear the mind of evil and temptation) that is customarily rung before entering the temple. Among entering the temple, a very intimidating gold-leaf Buddha towers more than 18 feet high.

Byodo-In, Valley of the Temples

The Way to Serenity

Bon-sho – 5′ high, 3 tons of bronze and tin

An offering

Meditation Gazebo

Spotted Dove

Yellow Koi saying “Hello!”

Path to meditation area

Carved by Japanese sculptor Masuzo Inui

Zen Garden

Gentle, friendly creatures

Sleeping Black Swan

Guarding the fish and birds

Peacocks

Grafitti carved into Bamboo

Byodo-In Temple

Peace