Michael

There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life. - Federico Fellini

It’s easy to get so wrapped up in the details of life that we forget or miss the big picture. Our many responsibilities tie up our attention and distract us away from more enjoyment. We miss the the really important things that define our life. The passion for our life passes us by.

When things get overwhelming, it’s a good time to stop, step back and take in everything without judgment. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you doing some tasks because it’s easier than doing some other higher priority items?
• Have you taken on so much responsibility that it is practically impossible to complete them in a timely manner leaving you with a deep sense of anxiety?
• Are you doing anything for fun or is it work, work, work?
• Do you have a strong sense that you are missing something or not being true to your self?
• Do you have feelings of guilt because of things you are not doing?
• Do you feel like you don’t have a purpose in life or not know what your purpose is?
• Do you have the fundamental sense that there must be more to life?

The good news is that you can change RIGHT NOW. Think about the answers to the questions above. Write them down. Talk about them with a close friend. Be open and objective with yourself and with your answers. Practice no judgment. Consider this research into improving your life. Pick one thing to change at this very moment.

You can’t get it wrong. Seriously. Life is a continual movement. What most people call mistakes are really just points of transition or turns on your larger journey. A mistake is simply a realization you did something that you don’t want to do or did something against your desires. Now that you know, just do something different. It’s that simple. We make it a big issue when it’s not necessary or very helpful.

Have a great day!

Michael

The most exciting time of your life is right now. - Michael Thornton

The most exciting time of your life is right now. The past is over. Only memories should survive now. The future is still being decided and will only be exciting when it becomes the present.

If we look to the future as more exciting, then we miss being excited right now. This is the moment we are living. Your future’s template (hopes, dreams, desires and etc.) are formed by you from the present moment. The future will be exciting if you are excited right now.

The future is just another point on your life’s journey forward. It becomes special when it meets you in the present. The past is also another point on your life’s journey. The difference, obviously, is that it’s already happened. It’s over and done with. You can’t change it nor should you worry about it. All you can do is be what you want to be right now.

Right now is your most exciting time. Your most powerful moment. Your gateway to everything you desire. Make good use of it.

Have a great day!

Michael

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. - Sylvia Plath

I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork. - Peter De Vries

Writing. If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would be writing regularly, I would have laughed. But, here I am writing my thoughts down every day on more than one blog. I’m writing a book with my friend and business partner Nat. I have other writing projects in the planning stages. It’s all quite surreal to me.

Sometimes for me, maybe more than most people realize, writing can be difficult or challenging. I may not know what I want to write about. I may not be able to express what I’m truly feeling or I can’t quite get my point across. I am my own worst critic. There are periods when I have a lot of self-doubt. When I’m in a down mood (yes, it happens sometimes), I find it hard to write. Nat says when you can’t think of anything to write, that’s when you should sit down and write.

Just like in life, writing has its ups and downs; its moments of elation; its periods of illumination. Many times there are surprises. Other times I know exactly where I am going.

But, generally, I don’t know what I’m going to write about until I sit down to write. That’s the writing journey for me; a parallel path right beside my life. It can be frustrating at times, but mostly it’s fine as I’ve been trying to make my life more about being in the moment anyway. My writing discipline should reflect that, I believe.

Bottom line……I’m not stopping. I find it too personally rewarding to stop now. So, when it’s hard like today, I’ll sit down and find something to put down in words.

Have a great day!

Michael

We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent. - Barack Obama

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. - Barack Obama

On Tuesday, November 4th, history was made as millions of people voted for the next president. Whether you agree with the outcome or not, no one can deny that history was unfolding before our very eyes. Our first African American president, record breaking voter turnout and states that typically vote Republican voted Democrat.

I couldn’t turn the television off. I had to watch the statistics as they changed over the course of the evening. This was one of those defining moments that have the potential to change everything. Potential is one thing and action is another, but millions of people have pinned their hopes and dreams on this election.

I agree with my friend Nat, John McCain’s acceptance speech was one of the best of his career. I was inspired as much by it as I was by Barack Obama’s acceptance speech. I thought the true character of both men came through clearly.

We’ll see what happens over the course of the next presidential term, but regardless, we were witness to one of the defining moments in our generation.

Michael

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein. - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Where do you want to go in the next five years? What do you want to do? What do you want to become? Most of us have dreams, goals and desires for where we would like to take our lives. A common reason or excuse for not going there or doing those things you want to do is “I don’t have enough time.”

Is that really true? Would the better question to ask be, do you really want to do or be the things you state? I’m sure you’re looking at the quote and saying that some of those people were genius level intellects. Yes, I would say at least two, but the rest had the time and inclination to follow their hearts and do great things.

Arthur Blank and Bernie Marcus were fired from their home improvement jobs. Three years later their company, Home Depot, had annual sales of $1 Billion. They had the time.

Jeff Bezos was living in a 500 square foot apartment at age 30. Five years later because of his company Amazon, he was worth $10 Billion. He had the time.

Over the course of her amazing life, Mother Teresa helped thousands of people and many had their own lives changed by her. She had the time.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in less than 5 years. He had the time.

Over a period of five years, Columbus discovered the “New World”; the Bahamas, Cuba, North and South America. He had the time.

In less than two years, the mostly unknown Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States. He had the time.

You have the time. Now, go use it for what you want.

Michael

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. - Seneca

Continued from yesterday.

My trip to the Copper Canyon in Mexico was one of my top 5 trips ever. The countryside was extraordinary. The people were wonderful. The food was great. And our tour guide, David Rico Olalde, was fantastic. Most of the tour group was a group of Americans living in Miguel de Allende and the rest came from various parts of the United States.

Day 5 - We really started to explore the amazing landscape that is the Copper Canyon. We left Cerocahui to take the second half of our train ride through the Canyon to the city of Creel. Most travel journals state that this particular ride is the most spectacular in North America. I have to wholeheartedly agree. I stayed on the observation deck almost the entire time. There were just too many sights to see. I didn’t want to miss a thing.

Read my original post for Day 5.

View my photos. (21 photos)

Day 6 - A whirlwind tour, nonstop until dark; Mirador del Rio Oteros, The Balancing Rock, the Divisadero Barrancas, Elephant Rock, Turtle Rock, Arareco Lake, Cusarare Falls, Cusarare Mission, Valley of the Frogs, Valley of the Mushrooms and a Tarahumara Cave Home. Phew! Needed a good night sleep after this day.

Read my original post for Day 6.

View my photos. (26 photos)

Day 7 - The road to Batopilas was a hair raising adventure along 43.5 miles (70 km) of curvy paved road, 40.4 miles (65 km) of mostly one lane bumpy dirt road and a drop of over 6000 feet (1829 m) of elevation. Once we made it to Batopilas, a small group of us toured the ruins of Hacienda San Miguel. Very cool.

Read my original post for Day 7.

View my photos. (18 photos)

Day 8 - We started our day by making a very bumpy 3.1 miles (5 km) ride to the Lost Cathedral of Satevo. Wow! It feels like you are in the middle of nowhere but here is this cathedral. We made the long trip back up to Creel with a little stop while they re-built part of the dirt road that was being widened. It was exciting for a while there.

Read my original post for Day 8.

View my photos. (12 photos)

Day 9 - It was with a mixture of emotions as we boarded the bus that would take us to Chihuahua for our fly to Toluca and then home. This trip was well beyond my expectations and I had some very high ones. David Olalde was a wonderful host, guide, organizer, problem solver and therapist :-). I hope to travel on another of his tours in the future.

Read my original post for Day 9.

This adventure is over, but the memories will last forever.

Michael

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. - Lao Tzu

My trip to the Copper Canyon in Mexico was one of my top 5 trips ever. The countryside was extraordinary. The people were wonderful. The food was great. And our tour guide, David Rico Olalde, was fantastic. Most of the tour group was a group of Americans living in Miguel de Allende and the rest came from various parts of the United States.

Day 1 and 2 - Erica and I made the journey to Guadalajara from Houston on Oct. 20th. We met up with the rest of the group and early the next morning we boarded a plane to Culiacan. From there the remainder of the journey was on a bus with our final destination for the day being El Fuerte.

Read my original post for Day 1 and 2.

View my photos. (7 photos)

Day 3 - On the morning of Oct. 22nd everyone piled onto the Chihuahua Pacific Railway. Our ultimate destination was Cerocahui but we had to stop in Bahuichivo to board two buses. During the later half of the train ride, the scenery became increasingly spectacular as the train slowly made its way through the many canyons. I stayed on the observation deck (the small space between cars) for most of the trip taking photos.

Read my original post for Day 3.

View my photos. (28 photos)

Day 4 - Today we viewed the deeply inspiring Barranca de Urique about 18 miles (30 km) south of Cerocahui. The trip was bouncy on the dirt road, but it would prove to be one of the better roads on our trip. This was our first true introduction to the Copper Canyon, a few of the indigenous people and a taste of the adventures to come. Later in the day several of us by foot and horseback went to some waterfalls outside of Cerocahui.

Read my original post for Day 4.

View my photos. (21 photos)

I will post the remaining days tomorrow.

Michael

The only way to live is to accept each minute as an unrepeatable miracle, which is exactly what it is - a miracle and unrepeatable. - Margaret Storm Jameson

Each breathing moment is unique, special and without parallel. No one is experiencing exactly what you are experiencing. No one has the singular perspective that you do. No one else carries the special gifts you have to give.

Each of us carries an unlimited potential of creativity. Each of us contributes to the whole of human experience in unfathomable ways. Each of us has the ability and potential to change the course of history.

As you run through your life, going from here to there, stop every so often to remember the miracle that you are. It just may change your perspective and hence your life.

Have a great day!

Michael

The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness. - Percival

We really live in an amazing world. As I travel, I continually see the magic that is life and the connections we all share. After all the time we have been observing, studying and learning from the world around us, we still don’t know everything. Just a few days ago I was in a region of Mexico that actually had canyons that have never been explored by modern man. Indigenous flora and fauna have been unaffected by mankind or domesticated plants and animals.

What treasures of knowledge exist here? Or do we really need to explore this remote place? Would it be better to leave it alone as one of the last untouched pristine areas on the planet? For me, I like knowing that such places exist. There is something about that knowledge that is fulfilling, almost rewarding for me.

The diversity of our planet and the richness of its people is what drives me to travel. I love experiencing new things, meeting new people and getting a flavor of the area.

But the crucial gift I get from travel is a new perspective, a new window of viewing the world. When we stay at home and don’t get out, we have a tendency to become narrow in thinking, view the world as limiting in possibilities and miss how we truly are all connected even though we are so diverse.

Get out of the house. Drive down the road. See something new. Meet people. Experience different things. You’ll find your life richer, happier and more enjoyable.

Michael

My eleven week experiment ends today. Since August 15th, after leaving my job, I’ve been practicing a different way of living. Each day I woke up, I only did what I wanted to do, nothing more and nothing less. I made very little plans. I followed whatever urges seemed to be coming from my “soul” or internal frame of reference.

The consequences have been nothing but extraordinary. I’m more relaxed and stress free than I’ve been in a very long time. In fact, I don’t remember ever being this stress free. Friends have commented on how they can see the relaxation in my face.

I listened to that inner voice. You know it; the one that speaks softly but gives you excellent advice. Initially I had made huge plans that partitioned out my day so that I could get everything done that I thought I needed to do. I dropped that plan before I even got started. It was based on too many rules and restrictions. I let my inner urges direct every hour of every day.

So, I ended up doing lots of things; travel, hiking, photography, learning new things on the computer, watching movies, reading, spending time with friends and significant others, meditation, yoga, playing guitar, working on business plans and etc.

Funny thing is that I was also able to keep my apartment clean, wash clothes, keep my car up to date and the plethora of other daily and weekly “maintenance” type activities that are required to live decently. The difference is that I did them when I wanted or when the urge struck. Maybe it felt better to do the dishes in the morning instead of at night. I washed clothes at night instead of Saturday morning.

My next experiment is to now incorporate my 11 Week experiment into a long term way of living. I will probably be starting some consulting work next week or very soon after. It will be interesting to see how my life goes.

I’ll be keeping you posted.

Michael