#hickeyquotes

[denishickey]

Balance is a bellwether of #health in this #fast-paced world. My blog points you in the right direction!

[denishickey]

I wouldn't want freedom all the time but it's nice to know  it's attainable

Denis Hickey, Breaking Free

[denishickey]

Whatever happens, happens

... for the best as long as you’re positive.

You are walking down this road. Something good or bad can happen. If something bad happens, something good or bad can happen as a result. Whatever happens, happens for the best if you are positive.

Being positive often leads to the road less traveled. In this picture, that road led to the atoll Gili Meno. Paradise!  I contemplated positive energy on its soft sandy shores when I met Cary and Kim. A Texas couple living in Bali, they decided to vacation on this nearby island. The day before New Years, Kim said: “Pick a page at random in my New-Age book.” I flipped to page 63, reading: “Today joy will come into your life.”

That night,  New Year’s Eve, the three of us dined in a small outdoor Palm-tree adorned restaurant not more that twenty yards from the shores of the turquoise-colored Indian Ocean. We feasted on roasted fish, rice, prawns, veggies, chicken in hot sauce, and gadu gado. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a stunning woman in a white body-length beach dress climbed elegantly up three wooden stairs and walked directly to our table. In her quaint Australian accent, she said: “Hi, I’m Joy!”

We talked and laughed for hours, a warm breeze tickling our faces. When the clock struck twelve we left the restaurant arm-in-arm, singing: “To love somebody…”

New Year’s day we met for mushroom omelets and a walk around the Atoll. Psychedelic omelets!  One each for Cary and I and one for the ladies to split.

The Scene. Everywhere crystallized molecules of soft beach, sunshine, air, water. The distant peak of Bali’s volcano shrouded in a molecular mist, “Wow!” Turning in slow motion into shimmering molecules of sand, palm trees and people’s movements. Another “Wow!” A trek sharing deep intimacy with people recently met. 4 of us, then pairs, then switched pairs, then 4 of us again.

Joy reached an epiphany: “…That’s where relationships falter; they can’t get beyond the hurtful. Someone usually shuts down about a real issue, and the other doesn’t want to bring it up again for fear of bloody confrontation. Issues linger. I need to trust!”

Cary and Kim decided to cast aside fear of the modern world and have children. “I guess when you get right down to it, families are about supporting each other and raising well-adjusted kids.”

4 people trekked around an atoll under the influence, opening a door to dazzling dimensions of nature’s smells, sounds, and tastes.

Achieving intimacy, seeing their auras, making decisions, being honest.

The women taught me to tie a sarong (picture).

One of the best day of our lives…

Whatever happens happens for the best if you are positive.

[denishickey]

Atoll in South Pacific - good place to explore the ‪power‬ of ‪positive‬ ‪energy‬.

[denishickey]

NATURE

This picture appeals to my sense of calm. In long hair and deep in the Amazon, I am staring at a world-class waterfall that just happened to be nearby. We threw baited hooks on strings into the river below, and within minutes caught a couple of 10 pounders. 30 meters away lies an unspoiled golden-sand beach. No footprints, bird prints or animal prints of any kind.

I like looking at this picture. It says: content and relaxed. And let’s not forget buffed, the best shape of my life. A man needs a picture of himself in rough nature.

I retired from a hectic, arduous business life at an early age.Traded my Mercedes for a backpack and traveled the world for several years. It’s not like I was frivolous; I probably put in enough work for two lifetimes. I left a little flabby with a hidden exhaustion and a mind ready to be revitalized. Starting in Africa I could feel my body getting stronger and lighter, felt fat melting off my bones. My spirit soaked up sleep that twenty-five years of hard work had denied. Old hurts vanished. The pain in my neck, back spasms, cracking knees—all gone.

Before traveling I was subject to walls, plumbing, comfortable couches, cars, manicured lawns, hot tubs, and air conditioned buildings designed for work, play and family. Not that I minded. I loved work and family. Sometimes I felt like a package…. wrapped on the outside as Denis Hickey, husband and father. Inside I had submerged personalities, like the one staring at this waterfall.

Nature doesn’t get all wrapped up in right or wrong, good or bad. It doesn’t care about all that. It moves on and on like this waterfall. There is cruelty along with beauty in nature to be sure, that’s what makes it so interesting and exciting.  As time went by I experienced energy in nature. Such that in Thailand I felt like a bubble that had power to float close to danger and bounce off at will.

When I arrived home and moved back into my big house, surrounded by trees and a mini forest, I could hear sounds: birds, squirrels, crickets, the comfort of wind… I talked to horses. Three months later that sense was gone. Too bad!! I live again inside my unit satisfied with a balance between money, time and freedom. Content in the knowledge that once in a while I need to escape into nature to recapture that sense of calm in the man staring at a waterfall in the Amazon.

If you want more on nature and travel  visit my page http://www.breakingfree-thebooks.com

[denishickey]

My ‪travelbooks‬ portray the essence of ‪freedom‬ ! http://www.breakingfree-thebooks.com ‪

What does ‪#‎freedom‬ mean to you?

[denishickey]

Freedom

FREEDOM: Because of my extensive travels, I am often asked what freedom means.

To some it’s fighting for rights or to avoid loss of rights.

To others it’s loss of a dear one fighting combined with loss of security

To some it’s Stalin having the freedom to do anything he wants

To others it’s Stalin with little freedom because he had to build big systems to protect himself and his beliefs.

To some it Bill Gates, and to others Jesus Christ

To some it’s a few moments before the kids come home.

To me Freedom is a state of mind in which you have enough time to live in the moment with no responsibility for anyone or anything. It’s a selfish concept. It’s traveling outside the herd. Freedom felt passionate, trusting and healthy. I had minimal aches and pains and tension while free to travel.  With freedom, qualities I liked about myself blossomed.  I wouldn’t like a steady diet of freedom because I would miss other parts of life, like a good family and interesting job. I needed freedom to complete a childhood vision to balance my life. It provided me with the time and new personality to change habits.

I came to realize that freedom is a complex concept.

What does ‪#‎freedom‬ mean to you?