One of the courses I took for about a year was Tai Chi. The major benefit of the course was to learn about balance. The instructor demonstrated to us how most of us walk. We take a step, then fall forward and catch ourselves with the other foot before the rest of the body hits the ground. In other words we stumble forward. When we are in balance we can move forward with deliberate steps, and we should be able to stop anytime in the middle our stride without falling forward.



Stumbling is what most people do in their lives. We try to gain some momentum in our lives and hope we don't fall flat on our faces. We rely on our past experiences to guide us to the next step.

As infants we were cautious about each step and we thought about it before we took the next one. After a period of time we learned that if we shifted our weight forward it would cause the body to move in the same direction we wanted to go-sometimes a little faster than we want and we would fall. As we moved away from managing our steps, we found walking easier if we didn't think about the steps and focused on were we wanted to go. We looked up at Mom or Dad and fell towards them or the sofa-running to keep up with the rest of our body.

The knowledge we have gained as infants we use over and over again as we struggle to be both independent and socially accepted. The stumbling sometimes works and sometimes does not.

Because most of us were not taught to be critical thinkers and have little access to the experience of other as children, we mimic them and most times fall flat on our faces. The steps of independence we were taught was usually in the footprints of someone else. We trusted those who had power over us to lead us in the right direction.

Humanity, individually and together has never really got together and decided what it wants to experience collectively in the future. We have been tripping through life hoping the forward motion will take us some place better-living for today, lunging forward one step at a time. Humanity for all its technology is no better off now than it was when it crawled from the sea. Many would argue against that statement-they would point out our advancements in science, health, art and general well being. However, it is observable many have not come very far in their quest for happiness, abundance, and equality. There is no game plan and no enlightened direction. The world simply does not know what it wants consciously.

Religion, faith and leadership have not brought us to where we want to be, and it never will. Maintaining balance in one's life is a personal experience. Moving in a personal meaningful direction is choice. The world is perfect the way it is, it is the way we made it. We are the creators of what it is we now experience.

I believe we know where it is we want to go subconsciously and what we want to experience, but we have been listening to and guided by sources who do not want us to get there. People and organizations with their own agenda.

Following the leader takes us to where the leader wants us, and we don't have to take responsibility for our actions-we just keep stumbling forward.

We have the power to take ourselves to where we want to be. No one can ever do that for us. We have become lazy and apathetic about our own lives. We struggle to just get through the day and hope everything works out, and we are still not at the place we desire. We have been doing the same thing for centuries-same actions-same response, same results, and it's not what we want. This must be the definitive description of insanity.

We have traded our natural curiosity and adventurous nature for obligation and fear. We have given our power away for a meager measure of security. It's not that we are powerless to change our circumstances; it's that we believe we are. Groping through piles of misinformation about whom and what we are has left us numb as to our true identity. Our source of inspiration and guidance has let us down. While we have fallen face down into piles of the stuff, our sources of spiritual guidance are still ringing out the same rhetoric.

I have the power-you have it, as does everyone else-it's all in the head, in your imagination. You are creating all the steps in your life. There are no promises that can help you-no faith can turn it around until you decide that you are going to walk for change. Neither faith nor God moves mountains-you do!

Take a new trip, one you create from a sincere desire to live in a different world. The steps may not be easy, but the results are as simple as knowing you can make them.

Move your life forward, not by stumbling, but by balance in your steps, intention, and a strong desire to get there.