leaning into your life
Writer, Speaker, Explorer. Sharing the insights of my spiritual journey.
I want to live a life that is deliberate and purposeful. I want to lean into my life. Follow my journey as I explore learning, changing, and challenges.
About the Author: Gary Merel
Writer, Speaker, Explorer
I turned 66 this year. I am looking at the last third of my life. I want to engage in this part of my life with as much clarity and purpose as possible. I want to feel totally engaged. I want to feel that I am leaning fully into my life. It seems all too easy to get caught in the inertia of aging. It can seem that life has a certain amount of inertia built into it. Change is hard; hard to change the direction of our lives. Our relationships. Our careers. To find the fulfillment we all crave. I don’t want to fall back on “I’ve worked hard, I’m tired and just want to take it easy”. At this point I want to give as much space to allowing my life to unfold as much as I want to move towards achieving the vision I have for myself. I want to explore the intersection of allowing and achieving. It’s at that intersection where the greatest possibilities for life exist. We often hear that “life is short”. I’m feeling that. I’m feeling the uncertainty of life. Life often interjects itself without any warning. This blog is an exploration of all the I’ve done. All that I am currently exploring and all the I would like to do. I welcome your contributions. I am interested your visions. Your challenges. The insights you have had about your personal growth.
Recent Posts
- You Can’t’ Do The Same Thing Over and Over and Expect Different Results!
We say we want change, a deeper connection with our work, more joy in our relationships, a life that feels aligned with our values, yet so often we keep doing the same things, expecting a different… Read more: You Can’t’ Do The Same Thing Over and Over and Expect Different Results! - Accepting Where You Are: The Most Powerful Starting Point for Change
One of the hardest things we do as humans is stop fighting where we are. We’re conditioned to believe that growth only happens when we abandon what feels messy, imperfect, or “not enough.” But what if… Read more: Accepting Where You Are: The Most Powerful Starting Point for Change - Running In Place
Most of us don’t realize we’re stuck until years have passed and the lessons finally land. We grind, we push, we survive, hoping clarity will eventually catch up. But life doesn’t pause for reflection, and it… Read more: Running In Place - Our Mind Is Like An Attorney
Our mind is like an attorney: it will find proof and evidence for any point of view we hold and argue it convincingly, no matter how much that view works against our best interests. Left unchecked,… Read more: Our Mind Is Like An Attorney - Your Past Informs the Present
Your past informs your present more than you may realize. The strategies you learned as a child to gain love, approval, or safety often become the default patterns you carry into adulthood. These patterns shape how… Read more: Your Past Informs the Present - Finding A Clear Path
No one can figure a way out of life’s dilemmas alone—because most of them are of our own making. We get trapped in familiar patterns, beliefs, and reactions that once protected us but now quietly limit… Read more: Finding A Clear Path - Understanding Psychedelic Medicine
Psychedelic medicine is re-emerging as a powerful pathway for personal growth, with psilocybin mushrooms at the heart of this renewed interest. For thousands of years, cultures have used psilocybin to access deeper wisdom, spiritual insight, and… Read more: Understanding Psychedelic Medicine - Why You Might Need a Life CoachWhen you’re caught in your own dilemmas, it can feel impossible to see a way out. The mind tirelessly defends your current point of view, right or wrong, making it hard to recognize alternatives. A life… Read more: Why You Might Need a Life Coach
- The Day I Argued with a BMW and Met Myself
I was out on a bike ride on my way back to my car. It was a typical busy day on Main Street in Ann Arbor, just the kind of chaos that makes you feel alive… Read more: The Day I Argued with a BMW and Met Myself
Lean into your life 