Gratefulness

Here is an inspirational video clip that I like to re-visit from time to time.  It is a beautiful reminder that all we need in life are the simple things, and that we have so much to be grateful for everyday.  Please watch it if you have the time.  Today, this clip was just what I needed.  I hope you enjoy it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zl9puhwiyw

Cheerleading

Below is a quote from an email I received a few days ago from author and life coach Cheryl Richardson:  

"Choose Your Audience Wisely. Surround yourself with people who see you and appreciate who you really are.  Make it a practice to keep the company of those who only want the very best for you.  Stop wasting your time trying to convince those who don't "get" you or understand your choices in life. You need cheerleaders, not projects."

This quote has really stuck with me.  I currently have it on my desktop as a reminder of what is important to me while I take this time to make some difficult desicions on what I want out of life and what my next move will be. 

Although, I think this idea is good to keep in mind at any point in our lives.  Why surround yourself with nay-sayers, and people who bring you down?  I vow to surround myself with positive, like-minded people, who understand who I am, and who will cheer me on in all my endeavors.  And I vow to be a cheerleader for others as well.

Check out Cheryl's website here: http://www.cherylrichardson.com/

Abandon Ship

It’s amazing the difference a week can make.  Since my last entry, my life has taken a twist, a turn, and then jumped through a hoop.  Or at least it feels that way.

In yachting, your entire life can change in a moment.  As one of my crewmates once said, in comparing yachting to living and working a “normal” life & job, in yachting, one person (normally your Captain) can make a decision, for any reason at all, and tell you, “Um, yes, I know you haven’t been given any warning, but as of tomorrow, you will have no job, no home, and you may even have to hop on a flight to somewhere half-way across the world.  Tomorrow.  Ok?  Yeah.  Buh-bye.”  Because in yachting there are no rules or regulations, just the end-all, be-all of the man (sometimes woman) in charge.  And this is pretty much what has happened on my boat.  The new Captain started this past week and brought on his crew from his old boat, eliminating my entire crew.  I was “lucky” enough to be given the opportunity to stay, but upon meeting the new crew, I opted to bow out.  One of my crewmates literally was given an 8-hour notice to pack & leave the boat.  Pretty harsh, but he too, is now happy about it, as staying would have been miserable.

I have only been off the boat for 32 hours, but in that time, I have never felt so wonderfully taken care of before.  Before I hardly even had a chance to tell anyone, I was receiving phone calls and emails of friends telling me they knew of a job, or were going to help me look.  A friend offered her place for me to stay in for the weekend, which is where I sit now, with a crewmate, and an adorable kitty companion named Maya.  I have also received a few actual job offers from old Captains and old crew I have worked with prior.  I am going to be all right, this is clear. 

As I see it, there are two ways of looking at this situation.  One is that I am now jobless, homeless, and have an endless abyss in front of me, in which I am not entirely clear on where I am headed to next.  Or two, I am completely free to create and attract the next wonderful opportunity and chapter in my life.  And it can be anything I want.  Both one and two are true, but I am going to focus on two, and create something amazing.  To be honest, I was feeling ready for a change, and in this case, change came to me.  It came to all of us involved with my boat, whether we wanted it or not.  So I am lucky that I wanted it, even if I wasn’t necessarily ready for it at that moment.  Since we cannot control the timing of the Universe, we can simply choose to either fight it, or flow with it.  So here I flow.

My gratitude today goes out to Debbie for hosting the chef and myself in her lovely oasis of a home.  I am grateful to have a cute cuddly kitty around for a few days.  I am grateful for friends and colleagues who have my best interest in mind.  And I am grateful for having had a wonderful experience on my boat for the past year plus, working and living with an amazing group of people that I will never forget.  For this and so much more, Thank You. 

Gratitude: Seafood & Chefs

Just a quickie today: Seafood.  Well, and having our own private chef, as yachts do.  Tonight for dinner, our chef made an AMAZING salmon with potatoes, and shrimp with a white bean dish.  Wow, yum.  And for yesterday's dinner he made seafood pasta- one of our favorites, with mussels, shrimp, scallops and flounder.   How can you not love some amazing seafood lovingly prepared for you by a professional chef?  Thanks to our chef for whipping up some masterpieces for us to enjoy and thanks Whole Foods for the yummy seafood!

Option Three

Dun-dun-dunnnnn…. Option Three.  Option three is what I would do with my life if I were to leave yachting.  Option three is made up of several different ideas, all connected to one another in some shape or fashion.  Well at least they connect in my brain.  Option three is made up of my passion, my desire, my life’s ambition.  I know, I am not kidding around here, this is heavy stuff.

As I said, this is a multi-part answer, explanation, and I’m not sure how well I can translate it all to paper, or keypad in this instance, but I’ll give it a go.  Perhaps I’ll make a list, that may be the easiest:

·      Work at an ashram/meditation retreat:  I want to fully immerse myself in a positive, healthy atmosphere filled with like-minded people.  I want to take the time to make my body and mind and spirit as healthy as it can be through daily yoga, vegetarian food, meditation, and being in a tranquil nature setting, free of any distractions other than my own mind.  I am especially attracted to retreats that offer creative outlet classes as well.  I have taught a creative course in the past, myself, and hope to again in the future.  Perhaps, after I am done with all my traveling, and I am old and gray, I would like to possibly run a retreat of my own, so that travelers can come to me, and I can offer a place for people to relax, rejuvenate, and reinvigorate.

      Walk the Camino de Santiago:  The Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage that spans over 500 miles across northern Spain, from France to Spain’s west coast.  Granted, this is not a job, but this is an experience I have wanted to do for a very long time, and I feel it may become a reality for me soon.  I hope it does.

      Travel to all the sacred places of the world:  It would be my greatest dream to personally experience as many of the ancient sacred places on this earth that I can.  The Egyptian Pyramids, the Mayan ruins, Machu Picchu, Cathedral Chartres.  Along with the sights, I want to learn the culture of the area, the history, their rituals and ceremonies.  Their healing practices, how they lived with and treated the earth.  I am fascinated by such topics, and believe they are important for humanity to re-learn and re-embrace in modern day. 

·      Write Oprah with a show idea for OWN:  I know, reading this blog, you would probably think I am obsessed with Oprah, but really I am not.  She just happens to be popping up in my brain as of late.  Just to set the record straight, and to assure you of my sanity, no, I haven’t ever written a celebrity before, I have never voted on American Idol, in fact I don’t even watch it, and no I do not wish to become a reality T.V. star.  I just happen to have an idea that I think Oprah would love.  Doesn’t hurt to try, right?

One thing I know for sure is this, I know that when I love something so much, I get so excited about it and I can’t help but let the enthusiasm for it overflow and bubble out of me.  My entire life, one of my greatest joys has been to turn people onto things that I have found that have brought me happiness, contentment, and/or adventure.  And because of this, I hope to be able to do all the things included in my Option Three, and more.  And once I do them, or as I do them, I hope to be able to share as much of my experiences with those interested as possible.  In whatever form it may be.

Wowzaz, so what do you think of that?!  Whomp, there it is, to the n-th degree.