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Paul with a couple of his heroes in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Paul with a couple of his heroes in Johannesburg, South Africa.
View Paul’s columns here:
IF YOU REMEMBER ONE THING from this column, remember this: Being out of harmony with your soul or with the demands of your spiritual nature is like having a rock in your shoe. It is going to bug you until you fix the situation.
THIS PAST SUNDAY I CRASHED MY BIKE so hard I flew over the handlebars, landed on my head and back, and broke my helmet. Thankfully, my 16-year-old son Patrick was there to make sure I did not try to move my neck or body or let anyone else move me. It felt good that his words were so solid, helpful, and calm with so many people wanting to do something before the ambulance guys took over—and then a CT scan showed nothing broken.
SEVEN YEARS AGO, I took my sons Henry and Patrick to South Africa to check out some new charitable project requests for the Utopia Foundation and to review some projects we were already supporting. Utopia’s mission is to create a world where every person goes to bed feeling safe, fed, happy, and optimistic about tomorrow.
LAST WEEK I PICKED UP STEVE KIESLING (who had been my editor at Spirituality & Health for 20 years before the publication merged with Unity Magazine) at the airport a few miles from my home in Gqeberha, South Africa. On the way to his B&B, I outlined the fun things I had choreographed for our two and a half days together: going to Addo Elephant Park, a long hike up the coast, a trip to the penguin sanctuary, and joining my family on some scouting activities at the beach.
LAST WEEK, I WAS ESPECIALLY GLAD we had our four-wheel-drive van jacked up four inches and fitted with steel plates under the chassis to protect the gas tank. Why? Because the “roads” shown on the GPS in this corner of South Africa turned out to be gravel paths with large rocks and ditches, as well as goats, sheep, and people to navigate around. The GPS signal also got so weak, I wasn’t sure we would get where we were supposed to go.
TWO BOOKS SIT ON MY BOOKSHELF: One is titled Living Without a Goal. The other champions living with a goal. Both books have meaning in my life. Obsessing over goals often messes up relationships and means not smelling the roses or not being open to new experiences (unless that is your goal). But living without a goal—following the butterflies of our muses from flower to flower—also messes up relationships and leaves us going nowhere to look back from.