Today: Today I watched a few eye-opening documentaries. The first one I watched is called, "Bigger, Faster, Stronger". Bigger, Faster, Stronger is about how American society has become so obsessed with being just like the title says. It talks about steroid use and gives a unique perspective into the lives of the many different people who use them or who have used them.

I liked it because I could relate it to what I have been reading about from Eckhart Tolle.

The second film I watched is called, "After Innocence". After Innocence is about our flawed legal system and it takes an in depth look at some inmates who were falsely accused of crimes. These people, some who spent decades in prison, came to be released after DNA testing proved their innocence. Needless to say these movies had a profound impact on me today; especially given that I have been going through some interesting life experiences lately.

So after resting a little bit I decided that I wanted to go down to the beach. It was about 8 o'clock or so and the shore was very dark and windy. The waves were crashing and rumbling hard. It was a cold 55 degrees to most native floridians, but to a native Missourian it was a perfect night to go for a run in the sand.

I was a little perturbed because I tested my blood sugar before my jog and my sugar was 257. I had watched my sugar closely all day, I was able to do so fairly "easily" since I was just hanging around my room all day.

So anyway I walked out onto the beach in my warm-up pants and a long sleeve shirt and I gazed up at the sky again. I had a stocking cap on my head and a towel around my neck and underneath my shirt to help keep some of the warmth in. It was at this moment, the moment in which I found myself to be out by the ocean completely by myself, that I instantly came to be at peace again. And as I was sitting their stretching out and warming up I could feel the intensity of the present moment of peace building more and more.

I began to run down the endless shore against the breeze and I found myself just continuing to be so joyful. I was smiling from ear to ear and I was truly just so present in the moment. And after I had ran for a little while I stopped and I thought about this blog that I am writing at this very moment and I thought about how when I was writing it how I would say things like, "stop" or try different things to get you guys to really slow down and try to absorb the moment that I was having. I thought about ways in which I could convey to you in writing, and in these words, the peace that I felt in that moment. That I would try to get you to count down from 5 or something to just slow yourself down enough to be present in this moment with me too. No matter where you are when you read this, at home, work, or in a library somewhere. So anyway, do what you have to at this moment to truly try and grasp what it is I am saying and experience that feeling that I had tonight by the ocean.

So take a deep breath or two and just slow down your mind and your thoughts.

Ready? Breath slowly once more...Ok. :)

So I was standing their...looking at the dark sky....looking at all of the stars....looking around at the lights from the countless hotels and residences behind me.....and I just found myself so intensely present and at peace with being right there with the waves...and the water....and the sky...and the breeze...and in the space in which I was standing in and a part of. It was so unbelievably beautiful. I think that this is the "presence" that Eckhart Tolle talks about. He talks about being in the moment and living in the "Now" and it was at this moment on the beach tonight when I found myself their again. I thought to myself that I am going to do all I can to try and continue to live my life in that state of presence. I no longer want to be a victim of my mind and the endless thoughts that come about from the ego. I am going to work incessantly on staying "conscious" and in the now.

That's it for me tonight. I wanted to share this moment with you all out their. I know that everyone reading this has had a moment similar to the one I described. A moment where you find yourself immensely present in the moment and overwhelmed at the peace and beauty of just living. For me being under the stars by the beach and hearing the crash of the waves on the shore takes me their the quickest. I am reminded of the beauty of life and all of it's heavenliness.

Peace. -Andy