When was the last time you saw your inner child?

How many times have we made the comment, 'I'd love to visit this state or that national park'?...but never took the time. Life has a tendency to junk up our minds, so we forget about the spoken word shortly after having spoken it.

I'd love to hop on a motor bike on a beautiful summers day and ride into the mountains. Just to sit next to a water fall, take my shoes off, roll up my pant legs, and plop my feet into the cool, inviting water. Lay down on a blanket, looking up into the tree lined sky while making pictures of passing clouds. I cannot remember the last time I did this. I just know how much I miss it, and need it! I miss the peace our earth has to offer. I miss the oneness with mother nature. Leonardo De Vinci described a cloud as "bodies without surface", according to The Cloud Appreciation Society.

Our lives can make us so busy we forget about such simple things. These simple little things cannot to be lost in the shuffle, as in our life, they can make us our most happy. Isn't it time to take an adventure again? To forget for a few days that we are adults with responsibilities, and take that adventure to heart? Letting our inner child out to play, the inner child that still exist in each and everyone of us, you know the one? I feel certain that everyone is still in touch with their wholesome, young child of their youth.

I can tell you this about myself, I love amusement parks. While driving down the road seeing a Ferris Wheel off at a distance, my stomach turns up side down with excitement! As a child my mother would take my brothers and sisters and I to the county fair. We would all have fun to the point of exhaustion. Must we always have to be so busy? Busy to the point of exhaustion?...No, we do not.

Our main purpose in this time we have on earth, is to have the desires of our heart. We are intended, expected even, to enjoy our selves, to be happy. To let our hair down once in a while and just get foot loose and fancy free! Starting today I want to make a pact with all of my readers...I, Lana Benton,<<your name goes here) will on this day, March 26, 2008, promise to allow my inner child out once a month, for the rest of my stay here on this earth. I promise to be happy, joyful, carefree, and fully take in all of my surroundings, while giving thanks to my Lord for His wonderful gifts. I promise to leave my home, fill up my gas tank and drive to the nearest spot, where ever that may be, to allow my mind to rest, and allow my inner child out to play.

Will you join me? Will you make the commitment to allow your inner child out at least once a month? Will you be the person I meet at the water fall or the amusement park? Will you be at the park laying a blanket looking up into the sky and giggling at the art you see formed in the clouds? Come on, let me see you smile!

P.S. To My Dear Friend....Listening is an art of the heart!

I will not name this blog until it is finished...

I had an interesting phone call today. A wonderful man with whom I have a great deal of respect therefore, his name I will not reveal, as our conversation is meant to stay between the two of us. I will tell you this though...When someone calls you out of the blue and says they are having an off day, or just need someone to talk with, take it to heart...don't joke, to change the mood, as you feel this will make them feel better. Be solid. Be real. Be there in that moment, with them. Most times this is all that is required in "helping" anyone. Listening is an art of the heart! It requires nothing more than an ear, with a touch of sincerity, and a pinch of love. Perhaps even a tad of empathy/sympathy for the other persons present situation.

My friend and I closed our call with laughter and insight. He no doubt doesn't realize how much he helped me today, just by calling to say "hello, how are you doing?" It meant the world to me to hear those words..."hello, how are you doing?" Simple little words to say, yet the power in them is just fantabulous! < (not a typo)

He won't know that by calling to confide with me, how the trust factor from my previous blogs has truly opened up in such a way as to say to me..."Perhaps I am getting the point across as I had hoped I would". He won't know that he totally made my day! Trust...It feels so good. (smiles)

Being sincere in our writing, whether of blogs, or articles, is so very important. Maintaining that trust once it has been given, and holding dear to that trust as though it were a new born baby, is priceless. Keeping that trust close to your heart at all times is a necessity in any relationship. As dear as we hold our names, and reputations, in the course of branding ourselves, so too, must we hold dear to our friends in trust.

P.S.
To my dear friend, if you read this, just know that I so enjoyed our conversation. I look forward to hearing from you again! (smiles)

P.S.S
To my other dear friends, did I title this blog correctly?