I recently had the opportunity to visit a place that I hadn't been to in 10 years. It holds a special significance because the first visit played a big part in the decision to live in the mountains.

When I first arrived here, I initially thought that I'd never want to leave, and I suppose that is still true, but I haven't lost the urge to explore. In fact, that urge has only intensified since I've been in Colorado.
 

Forgotten memories flooded back in that town. Little had changed, except ownership of a few businesses (an all-too-often occurrence in mountain towns). Most significantly, I remembered how I felt when I realized that I wanted to call the Rockies home, and I remembered the struggle to make it happen in the years that followed.
 

Life is not always easy. Everyone has their own unique set of problems. I believe it is how you manage them and maintain or even cultivate your sense of curiosity and playfulness that really matters.

Henry Thoreau once wrote "However mean your life is, meet it and live it: do not shun it and call it hard names. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Things do not change, we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts."