Are you committed to your true calling?
Or are you committed to your excuses and distractions?
Every moment is a choice between those two.
I suppose commitment to the former is exactly how just a few weeks ago, my bedtime routine was replaced by a sharp knife in my mouth, a rope in my hands, and me on my knees on the deck of a sailboat in the dark as 50 mile an hour wind ripped through the mast and rigging so hard that you had to focus just to be able to breathe and not be knocked off your feet.
We were surprised by gale-force winds ripping through a gully.
One of our sails had gotten loose and would be torn to shreds unless we took swift action to undo a cacophonous mess of lines and canvas.
It was one hell of a night, and I loved every adrenaline-filled minute of it.
I haven't written or published a video in over a month.
Life has been an intense adventure.
Four years ago I had a vision: Sail the Stars.
To bring people together from all over the world in the spirit of sharing one of my greatest passions: adventure sailing and transformation.
To document the process and use the adventure to inspire people to follow their hearts and pursue their deepest visions.
Forces beyond my understanding compelled me.
I wanted to put everything I knew to the test and see if I could overcome my doubt and create something from my heart that felt expansive yet out of reach.
My first attempt ended in failure, I fell flat on my face, lost all the money I had, went into debt, and had to retreat back to my cave to lick my wounds.
It sucked.
I did everything wrong, I spent nearly 2 years pursuing a vision that went nowhere,
Even my girlfriend at the time told me I was chasing a childish dream and to let go.
I chose to let go of the girlfriend instead.
The tagline of Sail the Stars is "Be the Captain of Your Soul", it comes from an old Victorian poem called "Invictus".
"Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul." - Invictus, William Ernest Henley.
To me it means that ultimately you choose the meaning you give your circumstances, and that choice will either sink you or give rise to incredible strength, beauty, and creation.
Instead of viewing my attempt as a failure, I looked at it as a learning experience, faced my weaknesses and realized I had to grow as a leader and actually start thinking as a team.
I changed, started asking for help, took leadership courses and found new mentors with brand new perspectives, and started everything from scratch.
We did it, we went all the way.
From clear skies and stunning beautiful evenings in majestic anchorages under the stars to lightning, thunder, torn sails, gale-force winds, and gnarly seas.
We experienced every type of weather imaginable.
Greece treated us well, but held back no punches.
It was breathtakingly beautiful, magical, challenging, ups and downs, nauseating, sweat-filling, tears and a bit of blood included.
The last two weeks even blessed us with dolphins off the bow.
I've learned more from this experience than I did in the past 10 years of my life and have material to write and create for months.
For now, I'm writing this with the Ocean outside of my window as I get ready to lift anchor and go home.
I've learned two things from this epic four-year saga of my life.
1. The girlfriend was right. (more on that later.)
2. a. In life, the things that you think are going to be easy, are going to be hard.
2. b. The things that you think are going to be hard, are going to be damn near impossible.
But if you consider the fact that "what you think" is just imagination, that should give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about #2.
Your mind, like the Sea, can be a powerful ally or a treacherous monster that will beat you down t'll there's not much left of you.
The choice each and every one of us has every moment is the meaning we give our experience.
What limitation are you currently facing?
What story are you currently telling yourself about it?
Do you really believe that to be true?
Are you willing to not believe your own mind?
Are you committed to your calling?
Or to your excuses?
Those last four lines of Invictus always get me right in the heart:
"It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul."
The next expedition is to Alaska or the South Pacific, and we're going as a fleet of vessels.
Taking a break to rest and digest this one first, will be back in regular newsletter and video mode soon.
Thanks for reading.
Hope you found this helpful, and don't be a stranger and reach out if you want some mentoring in this area, my schedule opens up in a week.