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I MAY BE
WANDERING, BUT I'M NOT LOST
For twenty-eight years, I have lived, traveled, worked, and cruised
outside the USA.
My global adventures have sometimes been a source of confusion to my
family and friends. Some of them have even suggested that I have wasted
large segments of my life. After all, if I had gone mainstream
professionally, I could have been rich - maybe even famous.
They are probably right. I could have been rich and famous, but I also
would have been miserable, maybe even depressed, because I would not
have been living my dreams.
I worked as an eye surgeon for eleven years in Saudi Arabia, and then I
went sailing around the world with my family on my small yacht. When I
stopped doing ophthalmology and started living my cruising dreams, many
of my professional friends acted like I fell off a horse and hit my
head. They thought I was throwing everything away when I moved on to
different things.
They had a problem with their vision. They had a form of inner
blindness that prevented them from seeing my dreams. To them, it looked
like I was wandering, even lost.
Well, I have news for all the naysayers, disbelievers, and critics.
Even though I am wandering, I am not lost. I am on course, and I am
exactly where I want to be, because I am living my dreams.
In one of my books (unpublished) I have a term that I use to describe a
group of clueless people; I call them the Life Long Disoriented. These
folks don't know who they are, and they don't know where they are going.
They are adrift on the ocean of life.
I am not a member of the Life Long Disoriented because I know exactly
who I am. I am Captain Dave, circumnavigator of planet earth. I am
Landroverman, an expert in expeditionary travel in Land Rover
Defenders. I am Dr. Dave, a flying doctor with the Indian Health
Service flying out to Indian reservations to deliver health care in
Arizona. I am also a speaker, writer, podcaster, webmaster, and
photographer.
I also know where I am going. I am traveling in the direction of my
dreams. Wherever my dreams take me, that's where I will end up.
Although it may look like I am wandering, I definitely am not lost. I
have been living my life on purpose for the past 59 years, and I plan to
continue living the same way.
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is that if you
aren't living your dreams, you are wasting your life. So go ahead.
Live your dreams. You'll be glad that you did.
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MISSING OUT
This picture is taken from the top of the mast of Exit Only. This is
what your life looks like when you go cruising.
Now, put a blindfold on, close your eyes, and stare into the black
void. That is what your life looks like without going cruising. It's a
life without ever seeing the spectacular beauty that's yours for the
taking when you drop you dock lines and set sail on the ocean of your
dreams.
While I was working in Saudi Arabia saving up freedom chips for my
voyage around the world, I kept a picture of Bora Bora on the wall above
my computer desk. Every day that I worked in Arabia, I burned that
picture into my consciousness, because I wanted to have Bora Bora on my
mind. That picture constantly reminded me of who I was and where I was
going. Although my colleagues and patients thought I was Dr. Dave, I
knew my true identity. I was captain Dave, master and commander of Exit
Only, and I was on my way to French Polynesia. Although my body was in
Riyadh, it was just a matter of time before my anchor would be down in
Paradise. I had Bora Bora on my mind, and I knew where I was going.
For more than ten years, I kept Bora Bora on my mind, because I didn't
want to miss out. I knew that as long as I focused on my dreams, I
would be willing to do whatever it takes to make them happen. Living
dreams is mostly about focus and persistence. If you have a positive
focus, and if you're endlessly persistent, it won't be long before your
dreams come true.
You only get one life, and it would be a shame to miss out on living
your dreams. Go ahead. Live your dreams. You won't regret it.
There's no limit to how good your life can become.
THE FACTS OF LIFE
People are always asking the wrong questions about sailing around the
world. The most frequent question is how much it costs to buy a yacht
and do a circumnavigation. The second question is about how much time
it takes, and the third question is about pirates and hurricanes. I
understand why they ask those questions, but there are other more
important questions on which they need to focus.
Questions like the following:
How many lives do you get?
If you aren't living your dreams now, when are you going to start?
How many years are you guaranteed to have perfect health?
How many years are you going to be alive?
These are the questions that really matter. It's easy to forget the
facts of life.
Here are the facts of life.
1. You only get one life.
2. Life is short and death is long.
3. There is virtually no reason that you should not be living your
dreams.
On the wall above my computer, I have a large chart that shows the
timeline of human history. It goes from neolithic and paleolithic times
right up to the present. It shows the major empires that for a time
spread across and ruled planet earth. Some of those civilizations
lasted for more than a thousand years, and now they are gone. Billions
of anonymous people had their shot at life and then disappeared leaving
hardly a trace.
When I traveled in the Saudi desert, I sometimes found arrowheads lying
in the sand. The last person who touched that arrowhead lived in
neolithic times more than eight thousand years ago. That arrowhead
reminds me of the shortness of life, and that I should be living my
dreams.
Your short stay on planet earth is frighteningly brief. It's like a
puff of smoke or the flash of a meteor in the night sky. The facts of
life are very clear. Life is way too short to not be living your
dreams.
Go ahead. Live your dreams and make every day count for something good.
Even though your life is short, there is no limit to how good it can
become.
TAKE THE PLUNGE AND
ORDER
THE RED SEA
CHRONICLES. DIVE INTO A GREAT
CRUISING DVD. YOU WILL BE GLAD THAT YOU DID! |
