From a very young age I felt a resonance with the Native American people. As an adult I have been blessed and influenced by various Native American Teachers. One of those is Jamie Sams, a member of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Nation. She is a medicine teacher and healer who has studied the traditions of many nations and who has respectfully brought those teachings to those of us not born into them.

One of her teachings that brought balance to my life is found in her book titled "Sacred Path Cards." The teaching is simple, clear, and beautiful. For those of us who tend to take on too much or care too much, this teaching can bring us balance and protect us from doing harm to ourselves. Her words say it best and what follows are direct quotes from pages 255-259 of her book. My understanding is that each woman made her own burden basket so she determined its size and capacity.

Native women were never asked to bear a burden heavier than their Burden Basket could handle. When the Burden...

I love to walk and now live in a place where I can do so, for the most part, when my heart desires. I do not tolerate high temperatures very well so this is truly a gift to me. One evening last week, I went out after dinner to stroll the neighborhood. As I approached a large, beautiful tree I heard a bird call. I thought it might be a hawk so I slowed down and began to look closely. It called again so I stopped and became very quiet and still. Because I thought it was a hawk, I looked high. Thinking I would not see it, I decided to continue my walk. As my eyes lowered, something on the tree's lowest branch caught my attention. There it was. A small owl sat on that branch, almost blending in with the evening shadows. It had been watching me as I searched for the source of that call. Now it was silent, watching me, waiting to see what this two-legged was up to as the air cooled and the sky slowly darkened.

I measured my breath as our eyes met. I smiled and whispered a barely audible...