On August 2, 2018, Scott and Barb Elder, founders of Live Astonished, took a group of young people and their mentors to Zion National Park to enjoy a remarkable and unforgettable moment. One of the youths who participated in the retreats exclaimed, as he was having a great time in the water and enjoying the beautiful mountains, “I am having the best day of my life.”
The mission of Live Astonished is “to show teen aged youth from financially challenged families how to live astonished each day.” They do that by taking these youths to beautiful places like Zion National Park where they can connect with nature, connect with themselves, and connect with others. I was privileged to participate with them. I too experienced many awesome reflective moments.
While we were there I met some visitors from Europe including 3 families from France. I took few minutes to converse with them. They traveled from far to come to Southern Utah to experience these majestic mountains and all the other wonders that Utah has to offer. While many traveled from all over the world to these places that are in our “backyard”, it is not unusual to find someone who lives only few hours from these places and yet has not taken the time to enjoy them.
On the Home page of Liveastonished.org one can read this admonition from Albert Einstein, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed.”
All of us should take time to connect with nature wherever we are. We need to pause even for few seconds to appreciate the beauty of this great planet. We need to slow down a little bit, look up, look around and even look down. There is beauty all around us. Can we see it? We all need to take a moment to “Live Astonished”. As we do so we will be more grateful for having this world to live in; we will also be more compassionate to one another and even to all God’s creation.
If you want to know more about Live Astonished, visit their site https://www.liveastonished.org/. If you like this post, I invite you to take a moment to share it with people in your circle of influence. Click on the picture to share your thoughts in the comment field below.
Thank you for your time!!! Illens Dort – authour of Thinking and Acting with a Compassionate Heart. To buy a copy go to https://www.amazon.com/author/Illensdort.