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
- Lost In The DesertSince spending the last four months in Tucson, many of the blogs I have posted reference the Sonoran Desert. Tucson is a city interwoven into the fabric of the desert. The Sonoran Desert bears witness to […]
- Finding CreativityA few weeks ago, I attended The Linda McCartney Retrospective at the Center for Creative Photography on the University of Arizona campus. I found Linda’s photography moving and evocative. Many of the photographs portrayed intimate moments […]
- I Have Some Resentment!A few days ago, I hiked the Yetman trail. It is 11 miles out and back. I hike about 5 to 6 miles of the trail. The trailhead starts on the far west side of Tucson […]
- Getting My Needs Met!I was having a conversation with a really good friend. We walk and we talk. Something we do often. We talk about issues significant to our lives. We’re about the same age. So we find ourselves […]
- I Was Being Stupid and Selfish!One of our family vacations was to Granada. A sleepy, off-the-beaten-path Caribbean Island. Myself, my wife, our daughter, and our niece packed our bags for a 10-day stay. We rented an amazing bungalow in the hills […]
- I’m A Very Lucky DadOne of the most powerful enduring memories I have of my daughter is when her birth mother placed her in my arms. New Jersey adoption law requires that a birth mother directly place her child in […]
- I’m Just Looking. I’m Not Here to Buy Anything!Grant Cardone is a highly successful real estate investor. His net worth is estimated to be 600 million dollars. But, in a recent interview, he stated, “he’d be embarrassed as a husband, father, and human being […]
- I Thought I Was Being Hijacked!I get certain articles pushed to my phone—something most of us do. Recently I received an article entitled, “Branding for the collective unconscious. How to create a deeper connection with consumers through universally shared archetypes, values, […]
- Lying Face Down In The DirtMy partner and I decided to spend the winter in Tucson. The Sonoran Desert is spectacular. It is the only place in the world where the Saguaro cactus grows. We are both avid bikers and hikers. […]