Introduction Change comes to all of us.  Interruptions in our worldly plans, obstacles to our ambitions.  And failures come.       Failures in our relationships and in our expectations of outer-world success.  All of these are the phenomena of change, self-conflict and self doubt. Six or seven years ago, I encountered all of these challenges.  These difficult conditions quickly tested my notion of who I really was. This time required, no, demanded that I examine how I defined myself, what I believed about God, about me, and about life and death.  And this time required that i decide how I would choose to live and die. I looked for help in all the places our culture expects to find it in times like this- psychiatry, astrology, meditation, religious teachings, yoga and books, lots of books.  Books of all the current thinking in holistic self-concepts, self-analysis and awareness. For years I dutifully explored the dark side of my person, which was that part of me most often present.  Gratefully, I found no analytical contradictions, regardless the approach to self.  It increasingly seemed to me that truth rested at the center of all life, and all paths to enlightenment led, like spokes in a cosmic wheel, to that truth. Then, on a trip to see yet another of God's way-showers, I revisited the mountains of western North Carolina, the towns of Murphy, Hayesville, Franklin, Bryson City, Fontana, Robbinsville and Andrews.  And I visited the wonderful reaches of the Nantahala National Forest with its hundreds of miles of gravel roads that wind deep into the heart of that mountain range. As I rode for days on end in my truck, I began to feel in the natural surroundings a sense of assurance, a oneness with the natural world that became to me an affirmation of the worthiness of life, all life, my life.  It was then, in 1994, that I began to write down for the very first time what I was hearing and feeling and to take pictures of the scenes that inspired these thoughts.  I hiked, I camped, sat on remote mountain tops, explored whole mountain ranges off any beaten trail.  I couldn't get close enough to all this natural abundance.  The result was a continuous confirmation of the simple beauty of life without everyday struggle and without annual agendas. I have written down these thoughts for me.  As soon as I would decide that my reflections pertained to a past difficulty, I would encounter a life passage to which the piece was even more appropriate.  A lifetime friend observed that I was getting the answers before God gave me the test.  And I am so grateful for that. I share this book with you in the faith that these reflections will connect you with that part of you that holds your strength and unconditional compassion for yourself, the seat of your self-love and irrevocable self-approval.  And I know that person you so want to be will surely meet you somewhere along this wonderful path. For years I carried the writings and pictures in my briefcase as I went around the country working.  I often used them because often I would need to reconnect with the personal power that came to me through these inspired metaphors.  After years of using these pieces as a source of strength and personal courage, I began to share them with others.  It was only when I learned they had important meaning for others, that I began to consider the use of them in a book. I trust these writings will have meaning for you.  Take the time to be still. . . read the book. . . and listen carefully for the answers that are uniquely yours. Leigh Sanders