My Magic Piece of Paper

Over the past year, this piece of paper and what's written on it has been my only intention, guiding post, and rudder in the vast Ocean of life.

Call it an experiment.

...it has served me well.

No goals.

Nothing to strive for.

No numbers with zeros behind them.

No definitive place to arrive at by which I'd know I finally made it or was "enough."

No grandiose vision.

Just that - "Show me who I truly am, my real joy, mission, play, creativity, and true love."

I wrote that down and promised myself one thing.

That I would do whatever was asked of me by life to stay true to that intention.

I knew that I'd only share the findings from this experiment when it was time.

That time has come.

Moments before writing on that piece of paper, I found myself standing over the edge of a big black hole and looking deep into its belly.

The edge I was on was the realization that while I had ventured far in my evolution, I had come as far as my current environment and situation would allow me to.

...the world is full of people who did some great thing, or had some spiritual realization 10 years ago that changed their lives and they're still talking about it.

...but to your soul it doesn't really matter what happened 10 years ago, or yesterday, the only thing that matters is right here, right now.

And if the right here right now is telling you to get off your ass and move, you can either listen or go numb.

Ignoring your soul is very expensive in the long run, so I generally chose to listen.

...And in that then present "right here right now" as I listened to the silence through which my heart spoke to me, I found my life to be like a worn-out recording.

The same patterns of thought, the same people, and the same stories I told myself over and over again about what I may or may not do someday.

Over a series of unexpected events, I realized that I had no clue who I really was, what I was capable of, what my real joy was, my mission, play, and who I most wanted to be with this life.

I had only ideas of what these things could be.

I was only repeating patterns of what I thought these things were based on the past.

I had changed, I had grown, the things that moved me and gave me joy then didn't move me anymore.

...but I was still going on living as if I was that past character, carrying his habits, and interests and living in the same place as he always had.

I was afraid to meet the unknown and really jump into the Ocean of the unknown, again.

It was time to jump.

So I jumped.

Intention is a marvelous thing, it never fails to deliver exactly what you ask for, when you ask from the heart.

As I stayed true to this intention my whole life began to move and shift in unexpected ways.

The content doesn't really matter, a typical "man vs himself" drama involving romance, hail and lightening, adventure, dolphins, turtles, rainbows, storms and challenge... What matters is what's changed, that's the gold I'm walking away with.

Everything.

The things that I thought mattered, well, it turns out they never did.

The visions that I aspired to, they melted, giving way to a higher nobler vision.

The man I thought I was, pieces of him fell away to reveal the pure nakedness of being.

I received nothing that I expected from this piece of paper.

Only what I needed the most: Peace. ...

Powerful things they are, pieces of paper.

There's probably one near you right now with enough space on it for a transformative intention that will change everything.

Use with caution.

Kacper

Why the Man Jumped Into The Cactus

One of my first teachers told me a story that still sticks with me.

Once upon a time in the old west, a cowboy was riding on a horse passing by a large cactus bush.

All of a sudden, he leaped from the horse into the cacti.

The razor-sharp needles tore his flesh, and his screams of pain and agony filled the valley.

Later as the sun set that day, he hobbled into the bar all bloody and torn up, sat on a stool, and asked for water. Someone at the bar saw what happened earlier and asked him "why in the hell did you do that?"

His answer was "Well... it seemed like a good idea at the time."

We all make mistakes sometimes.

We take wrong turns, procrastinate on our dreams, waste years on things that don't matter, stay in relationships that don't serve us anymore, burn down bridges we shouldn't have burnt, and make decisions that we beat ourselves up for about later.

Staying in a state of regret and self-condemnation is the most toxic thing that will keep you stuck even longer.

Have your pity party for a few minutes if you have to, cry, and release the pain, but you've got to move into self-compassion as soon as possible.

Whenever I find myself in such a place, I remember that story, smile, and take a few deep breaths.

Whatever you did or didn't do, whatever happened, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and you were doing the very best you could with who you were at that time.

No matter what's going on, how intense or difficult, have compassion for yourself, it's the key to easing the whole thing out and getting things moving smoothly.

Without self-compassion, deeper understanding and healing can't take place.

Without compassion, growth can't take place.

As long as you're being hard on yourself, the whole thing will feel like a grind.

It's not easy being human, but being easy on the human makes a big difference.

You did the best you could.

Now what else is possible?

What if you didn't make yourself wrong?

What if everything that's happening is happening for you, not against you?

Kacper

Six Weeks at Sea - What I Learned from Realizing a Vision - Part 1

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.