My ah-ha moment was almost too simple to see

What started as one of our regular visits to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park - see some wildlife, take some pictures, and get my rhino fix - turned into something so much more than I had planned. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised because every time we visit the park I leave feeling a little different, a little better, a little more at peace with the world than I did when we arrived.

We didn't follow the normal route this day. Instead, we decided to take the back way up to Condor Ridge before the sun got too hot. The smell of the trees as you walk up to Condor Ridge is so refreshing. Add to this the sounds of babbling brooks and small woodland creatures rustling in the bushes. Before you know it, you are transported to a land of pure beauty where nothing bad can happen.

Surrounded by majestic trees and rolling hillsides ... the view literally takes my breath away.

I could sit up here for hours just soaking in the beauty. I realize that I am in the midst of what some call an ah-ha moment - I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Just then my son sits down next to me on the bench and says, "Mom, isn't it nice to just sit and watch nature?" My heart fluttered a bit and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. How could he know what I was thinking?

Yes, it was a wonderful moment. One that I believe we both needed. In our own ways, we both came to a place of peace. Surrounded by the beauty of Mother Nature, watching rhinos and giraffes roam the hills in the distance with my son, everything seemed to become clear to me.

My ah-ha moment was almost too simple for me to see.

When I stopped running in circles and took the time to breathe, I realized that the important things in life are not on Facebook, or Google Plus, or Twitter.

The important things in life are right in front of me ...