Michael

It was a long day of open ocean cruising. We skirted the western edge of Vancouver Island, Canada heading north. The first part of the day was overcast but as the day wore on the sun peeked out more and more while we traversed the Hecate Strait between the Queen Charlotte Islands and British Columbia, Canada.

Since early in the morning, the ship has been rolling left and right while swaying up and down. Many people have had a minor upset stomach but surprisingly I haven’t. I’ve been light headed but not nauseated. I guess I’m getting my sea legs. It’s has been humorous walking around the ship as everyone looks like they are drunk.

The coast line of British Columbia opposite the Queen Charlotte Islands was incredibly rugged. The forests are almost impassable and the mountains come right down to the ocean. For many hours, no sign of human life or habitation could be seen from our vantage point five miles west of the coastline.

Watching the primal beauty of the area was strangely relaxing. I spend a lot of time watching the ocean waves and looking for signs of whales. None yet, but I’m very hopeful.

Around 11:00 a.m. tomorrow we arrive at Glacier Bay National Park where we will stay for the day. I’m quite excited by what we may see.

Have a great day!

Michael

It’s shortly after 9:00 p.m. PDT and we are in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Vancouver Island is to our right and the rugged Olympic Peninsula is to our left. Around 11:30 p.m PDT we enter the North Pacific Ocean on the way to our first “stop” in the waters off of Glacier Bay National Park on Tuesday morning.

I boarded the Holland America cruise ship around noon today. While I waited for Erica to arrive, I walked around familiarizing myself with the lay of the boat. The Westerdam is huge with a capacity of about 1900 passengers plus a large crew.

The start of the trip through Puget Sound past Seattle, WA was breathtaking. Mt. Rainer dominated the horizon to the south towering over 14,000 feet in elevation. The sky was without clouds and a deep azure blue. We were on our way.

Two massive ocean going container ships were in the port. I was fascinated by their size and the sheer number of containers that they could carry.

Dinner was semi-formal and quite good with moderate sized portions and a lot of choices. Both Erica and I were tired as neither one of us got a lot sleep the night before, so we retired to our cabin early.

By this time tomorrow night, we will be about a half day of sailing away before we arrive at Glacier Bay National Park.  Translation: about 50 or 60 miles due west of Ketchikan, Alaska.

More as the cruise unfolds.

Michael

As I write this, I’m flying to Seattle on my second leg of a cross country flight. I’m at the very beginning of my Alaska adventure.

After an hour and a half delay in leaving Chicago, we were on our way. During the first 30 minutes of the flight, we enjoyed a spectacular display of lightening in a line of east-west oriented storms to the north of us. I haven’t seen that much lightening in a very long time. I, along with the rest of the passengers, watched speechless as the bolts lit up the clouds about one every second. Nature at it’s finest.

The head flight attendant was quite a personality. She was not only funny almost every time she opened her mouth, but she was also quite a happy individual. Always jovial, she constantly spread smiles among the passengers.

I’m always thankful to run into individuals that actively pursue and demonstrate their own happiness. And by their very example, others, at least temporarily, forget about their own troubles and start smiling. It’s hard to know how many people that are touched this way and then in turn transfer that bit of happiness to even more individuals. I’d like to think it’s a lot.

Michael

Between stimulus and response, one has the freedom to choose. – Stephen Covey

Regardless of everything that happens to us and consequently our response, we always and I mean always, have the freedom to choose a different direction. Many times we convince ourselves that we can’t choose. Our circumstance seems to have the controlling edge. But that is just an illusion.

We, and I mean all humans, are truly the ones in control of our own destiny. I’m sure you are thinking of many examples of people around the world that “don’t have a choice.” But, I can think of many more examples of people that have changed their direction in the face of extreme adversity. What’s the difference between these two sets of people?

I think it’s a simple answer. One group believed they had the freedom to choose and the other group did not. How do we cultivate the new belief that we have an uncompromising freedom? It starts with contemplating this very fact. Imagining what it would be like to have this freedom is a good second step. Thirdly, start making choices based on what you want to do instead of what you feel you have to do.

Try this for 60 – 90 days. Happy freedom hunting. You want need to go far to find it.

Have a great day!

Michael

If you wish to learn the highest truth, you must begin with the alphabet. – Japanese proverb

Learning the highest truth. Sounds challenging. Sounds impractical or impossible. Is it different for each one of us? Or is there a base truth that over arches all we know?

Whatever the answer to those questions, one thing is for certain and that is the process begins with our self. The building blocks for knowing the highest truth are understanding and accepting who we truly are.

If we don’t know who we are. If we refuse to look at all aspects of ourselves; both positive and negative. If we refuse to be open to what others say about us. If we let our ego control our behaviors. If we let fear prevent us from learning more about ourselves, then learning the highest truth will be challenging.

But, thankfully, it’s not impossible. If you work on yourself regularly. If you start small and then try more difficult areas. If you ask for help when you need it. If you learn to accept all aspects of yourself. If you understand that you can’t get it wrong, then you’ll be able to build, slowly over time, a solid foundation for learning the highest truth.

Have a great day!

Michael

A good colleague and friend of mine is also leaving the company I work for. They will be exiting in two days after an 18 year career. It’s really amazing to me to watch someone step completely out of their comfort zone into the unknown.

It takes a lot of courage and faith to do that. I know my friend is dealing with a myriad of emotions; fear, sadness, excitement, anticipation, wonder, anxiety and etc. But through all of these emotions, when asked, they know this is the right thing to do even though all the answers are not readily apparent at this time.

When someone follows their heart, the mind typically rebels. It defies logic and reason, but following the heart is, in my opinion, always the right thing to do. It took me about 40 years to figure that out, but what a ride it has been since.

I will support my friend in any way that I can to make this transition work. In my heart, I know they will be fine.

Michael

It’s not our disadvantages or shortcomings that are ridiculous, but rather the studious way we try to hide them, and our desire to act as if they did not exist. – Giacomo Leopardi

I don’t know about you, but I’ve historically not really enjoyed looking at my shortcomings or disadvantages. So, for years and years, I pushed them down or to the side so that I wouldn’t have to look at them. I pretended that they didn’t exist or weren’t a problem.

I found out the hard way that that this technique doesn’t really work in the long run. It has the potential to create anxiety due to the repression of your true feelings. It tends to stunt emotional growth because you are not facing your fears or things that make you uncomfortable. It eats away at your self-confidence because deep down you don’t feel adequate.

Thankfully there is a simple and effective way to overcome this. You have to look at your stuff openly and with a discerning eye as if you were an outsider. Many people find this very difficult to do. If you want to work on this level with yourself but are finding it too hard, my suggestion is to find a great counselor to help you. A good one can lead you down a path of discovery in a safe environment. Look for a professional that is going to work with you to deal with your issues and is in not interested in keeping you long term.

The techniques you learn from this work can be used by yourself again and again once you complete your counseling sessions.

Spend the time exploring yourself. You’ll find that it will go a long way towards getting you to happiness.

Michael

Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne. – Barry Cornwall

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  – James Dent

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. – Sam Keen

A life without love is like a year without summer. – Swedish Proverb

One of my favorite things about the summer is the length of day. I especially enjoy that it is light until the late evening here in the Northeast U.S. The sky becomes that midnight blue after the sun sets. I get a real sense of contentment from this.

As a child, summer of course was a special time since I had almost three months off from school. I remember riding my bicycle for hours with my friends. It was carefree. Usually we rode until the sun set and then we all went home. When I ride a bike now, I almost always remember those times.

My other favorite thing about the summer is being able to get into the water. As a kid, I could easily spend the entire day in the water at a beach, lake, river or stream. At my grandfather’s river camp, I would stay in the water so long that the skin on my fingers and toes became wrinkled. We would laugh about that. A huge treat for us was to eat a watermelon after a long day of swimming and water skiing. We would eat it in our swim suits so that we could get as sloppy with the watermelon as we could. And of course, we always did.

The summer brings back great memories and pushes me to make some more.

Have a great day!

Michael

“The Arctic has a call that is compelling. The distant mountains [of the Brooks Range in Alaska] make one want to go on and on over the next ridge and over the one beyond. The call is that of a wilderness known only to a few…This last American wilderness must remain sacrosanct.”
- William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1960. Quoted by Jimmy Carter in a speech, 29 February 1980.

In about a week, Erica and I travel by boat from Seattle to Alaska. We have had this trip planned for many months. Now, we are very close to departure. My anticipation and level of excitement exponentially increases each day that we are closer to leaving.

Alaska is one of the seven states I have left to visit. After visiting there I will only have Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Montana, Wyoming and Hawaii remaining. I can also potentially knock off four items on my “100 Things to Do Before I Die” list; go on a cruise (confirmed), visit the state of Alaska (confirmed),  walk on a glacier (planned) and see a whale up close (planned).

This trip feels like a spiritual journey for me, though, at this time, I can’t really say why. There is definitely a heavy sense of upcoming adventure. We have many things scheduled to do, but I can’t predict what we will see or experience. That is a very exciting feeling.

I’ve had the travel bug for about eight years now. I don’t see it letting up anytime soon.

Michael

Happiness is never stopping to think if you are. – Palmer Sondreal

Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad. – Norm Papernick

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost. – H. Jackson Browne

Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. – Margaret Young

Nat and I feel that this question is so important. It was the reason we made it part of our logo.

Asking yourself this simple question generates two very different answers and consequently the actions taken differ.

If you answer this question with a yes then congratulations! That is a fantastic place to be. You can either continue with what you are doing since your behaviors and actions appear to be working for you. Or you can see if you can extract even more happiness out of your life. You can’t be too greedy when it comes to happiness.

If you answer this question with a no, then you can immediately stop what you are doing, evaluate where you are and what you are thinking. Next, start making some changes to your thoughts. See if you can make things ever so slightly better. Once you get there, your newer and broader perspective will help you climb up the ladder towards happiness even more. Of course you have the choice to not be as happy as you want, but ask yourself why you choose that road.

So, I ask…….Are you happy enough?

Michael