To Live and Love...

Life is like an ocean, it changes direction many times over its course. The ocean is a living and breathing body and the water is it's blood and the land masses it's arteries and veins. Love is like the current of the ocean it is not life but it is what pushes and drives us to get to our destination. The currents of the ocean take the water that brings life to every area of the planet. So to love brings to us all the nourishment that we need to be sustained. Without the currents the coral and reefs would die, and so the chain of life would wither with it. Without love as the driving passion of our being we too would die just as a baby without human touch.

The wind works with and sometimes against the currents to help with the spreading of the water over the planet. So to are our actions as they spread the truth of our heart to those that watch us. Our actions just like the wind sometimes go against what we profess. In the end we are known for our actions not our words, and just like the winds that cross the oceans they too are named for the direction that they go. Just as the wind stirs up the sea, so to our actions stir up the imaginings of the hearts around us. The winds do not carry the burden of responsibility on their own, nor do our actions as the responsibility lies in our hearts and minds.

The continents of the world create the road map for the oceans to follow like a mountain guide in a state park. The land masses create the environment that the water flows to and from. Just as our mind sets the stage that will allow our love to either leave or be locked up within our body and our soul. Bays, Channels and Seas all different formations of land that give each area of the world a distinct pathway for the current to push the water to each creature bringing life and life more abundantly. Just as the circumstances and events that mold our lives and give us the uniqueness of character to impact others and bring to them what they need.

Great sailing ships that brave the open oceans alone without fear, are much like the vessel of our heart that carries our love to the ends of the Earth. Just as the sailing ships can go against the wind, currents and tide, so to can our heart take us to places that we never dreamed. Even as the ships brave the weather and elements so to our hearts the fear of rejection and betrayal. Even as pirates are a feared encounter on the water so to is the event of true love feared by all those that have traveled those waters before.

For as we travel and give of ourselves, just as pirates someone we have loved has taken from us. But in the midst of the battle, swords drawn as the sound of steel pierces the distance, we must rejoice as our soul cries for freedom. Just as our heart has 2 sides that beat as one, so too is another soul that searches even as we speak. They too are a wandering spirit seeking a destiny that may not be apparent. And if ever you dare allow your ship to carry you across the currents of life, you will encounter that one that makes you whole. The one wanderer that brings nourishment to your spirit and sustenance to your soul is just around the bend.

Therefore strike out and fear not, as your heart speaks. Allow the current of your mind to take you away. Allow the body of your ship to take to the winds and allow yourself time to search far and near. Never allow the distance to bother you. Let the power of your love take you away from the tragedies that you have endured, and allow the newness of the day to take you to new places in your soul. Hide in those new places and you sail across the ocean. For one day you will come across another that completes you.

"The seas never stop, they come and go bringing to their inhabitants the substance of life, so is the tide of our life, people come and go and with them they bring the substance of life… don't ever give up on people, as you will have given up on your yourself…" – Pirate Mike (personal quote)

2009 Texoma Lakefest Regatta

(2009 Second Star Racing team consisted of: JD Hill, Susan Hill, Ben Gray, John Kleineberg, Michael (Pirate Mike) Brooks, Angela Haar, Harald TenWolde, Scott Spurlin)

Well I haven't been home for 24 hours and I am writing the chronicles of another great adventure. Texoma Lakefest (website) a long standing tradition in North Texas has been recognized as the largest inland charity sailing regatta in the nation. 2009 was no different and a tremendous amount of effort was put in by the races sponsoring yachtclub the Texoma Sailing Club (website)! 47 boats and close to 300+ competitors came to battle it out on one of Texas' biggest lakes. Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th largest Corps of Engineers (USACE) Lake, and the largest in USACE Tulsa District. ¹

4 days of fund raising for a great charity; the Make A Wish Foundation (website). Thursday is the Chaos Cup where the corporate sponsors get to try their hand at sailboat racing! Teams are sent out to have a great time and get a chance to meet the sailors that will for the next 3 days battle it out with the famous North Texas weather and the top rated competitors that come from around the nation to try their hand at getting their name engraved on the ever sought after silver cup. Thursday had overcast but fair weather as we saw great sailing from the cast of competitors. Almost event free Thursday did bring about one casualty when 2008 3^rd place competitor Nelda Ray snapped their mast to end their campaign for the silver cup.

From first time newbie's to Amercia's Cup sailors Texoma Lakefest brings them all together in the spirit of competition and love of the sport. Friday is the first day of competition and typically is full of emotion and excitement as the boats get launched and the competitors look over the scratch sheets to see whom they will be battling it out with. This year Friday brought lightning storms and while we all went out to the battle ground not one race was started. After the high winds and lightning got within masts reach the races were postponed and we were sent in to wait out the weather. By the time the weather was past us night had fallen. Over the Eastern sky one could see thermal lightning giving everyone a great fireworks display. Dinner was a great Texan tradition barbeque catered in from a great Fort Worth practitioner. (Riscky's Barbeque)
The night wouldn't have been complete without some great dancing to a live band and Captain J.D.'s Lavaritas! Saturday started off well as the dangerous weather had passed us and we were hoping to get out on the proving grounds and play hard! Rain started to fall as the winds had given way to glassy seas. With light to nonexistent winds we got off one race that became extremely tactical as we raced for what seemed like an eternity. The multi-hulls and the spinnaker boats got off the course in reasonable time but the working sail classes extended the race for about 3 hours till there was no more wind or light to race. Coming back to the marina everyone was joyous and in one piece all wanting more wind and a chance to compete. Saturday night Riscky's came up with a great meal of fajitas while the headliner band broke out with some winner tunes. Lavaritas (margaritas that come from a ten foot volcano) were flowing again as the mountain starting erupting as soon as the competitors landed. In sailor style competitors bid silently for all kinds of trinkets of all kinds and values from a nice massage to a Donzi boat. Dancing went on till everyone was satisfied. Everyone went to sleep early as they knew that the race starting times had been pushed up an hour early so we could get in enough races to satisfy the regatta.

Sunday was the day, sunny cold and windy. Wind started off easy 8-10 knots as everyone got suited up for the insanity. When we got out to the proving ground out in the exposed main body of the lake the winds quickly bumped up to 20 knots. Everyone suited up in full armor as we awaited the starting sequence. 3 races convened that opened everyone eyes to the dangers of sailboat racing. From the many near misses and close calls to gear breaks and collisions Sunday was full of "Lakefest" spirit. Lakefest is always a serious competitors concern as the weather is always a big factor; proved again Lake Texoma brought forth serious conditions for the competitors to overcome.

From Terra Nova getting hung up on the judge's boat to God Speed having a serious collision and boom breakage to fishing sailors out of the lake to the sad personal injury on Predator. It was a busy day indeed, and the weather came back to revel her serious side to us. To the family & crew of the injured sailor we send our best wishes. We await the verdict on the injured sailor but from some reports someone fell and possibly broke ribs and collapsed a lung. We pray that he heals fast and comes back to win more races. As the sailor lay on the deck in serious condition some of the last reported words from his mouth were, "Finish the race!" Predator did manage even with a DNC to finish in 2nd place for class #2. Congratulations to all the sailors that made that win possible! (Consequently Predator was in OUR fleet!)

All in all it was a typical Lakefest averaging about 15 knots from days at zero to days with gusts over 30. The official results will be posted on the Lakefest website
and on the Texoma Sailing Club's website.

I learned a lot and am grateful that we only had a few mishaps and no serious injuries. I am blessed to have met Scott and Harald two passing experienced sailors that graced us with their skill for this special journey. I look forward to our new J122 and learning how to use it as the weapon that it is. To everyone out there, fast sailing…

Pirate Mike.

"Sailing doesn't make a man but it reveals him to himself. His strengths, his weaknesses, his fears and his accomplishments. Sailing is a culmination of everything he knows, thinks, and feels. It brings all the senses together and like the rest of nature shows us how small we really are. Sailing puts things into perspective but yet allows us to be supernatural if even just for a moment." – Pirate Mike…

1 Reference pulled from Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Texoma

Something wicked this way comes!

Everyone is waiting for their ship to come in and this week it looks like my ship is arriving! I live aboard a Beneteau 331 which is a 34 foot coastal cruiser like the type of boat you would charter in the Virgin Islands or along the coast of Europe. There are many classes of sailboats that fit certain applications. For example there are truly lake boats that are very light weight and fun to sail but should never be on open water. There are coastal cruisers that are about as light but are equipped to stand up to tides/currents and are safe for open water navigation. There are blue water boats that are heavy and full of tankage for long ocean voyages and then there are race boats.

Now race boats also break down into classes from one design where everyone has the exact boat to PHRF (pronounced perf) racers. PHRF is a handicapping system used in yacht racing, so that boats that are not alike can race with each other and still have a chance to win. Yacht racing in many cases really isn't about the boat is it about the crew. The idea is to see who has the best crew so the boats are handicapped to give everyone a fair shot. Now there are several different systems and they all work in a common way of trying to take into account how a boat should perform but none of them work all the time and under all conditions.

The PHRF system is the system that most lakes and costal organzations use. Boats are given a number of seconds that they are given as an advantage based off of the baseline boat "a boat with a 0 rating" so a boat with a 150 rating gets a hundred and fifty second "head start" on the boat that rates a zero. So for example if the first boat crosses the line in 10 minutes (600 seconds) and the next boat finishes in 20 minutes (1200 seconds) but the first boat rates a zero and the second boat rates 120 and it was a 5 mile race then the second boat gets to subtract 120X5=600 seconds from their finish time so that both boats actually finish in a tie! Talk about shocking to find out you finished first eat lunch and still lost to the next boat or a boat that finished twentieth!

Well our teams race boat Second Star was a Beneteau First Series 33.7 and rated 123/126 depending on the event which is ok for cruising boats but very slow for serious race boats. Other elements come into play as well. As the boats get longer the theoretical hull speed also increases along with the sail area that they can carry. The math is pretty simple when you have a full displacement hull the boat can only go a limited speed as the boat will never get on top of the bow wake and plane. The formula is pretty simple even thought there are things it doesn't take into account it is relatively accurate; the square root of the waterline length multiplied by 1.35 is the basic equation. These aspects are all taken into account into your PHRF.

So what racers do is they lighten their boats and make them out of very strong but light weight materials like epoxy and carbon fiber! They also take great pains in engineering everything for a well oiled crew (that becomes movable ballast) to ensure that they boat can keep herself upright under the increased pressures. Everything in the boat is designed to go fast; hulls are not always built for the greatest stability race boats have semi displacement or even planing hulls. So one thing that happens is as boat get bigger (longer water lines) their PHRF typically goes down and as they rip everything including the seats and the microwave out the rating goes down even more. In the end we would not be complete without overloading these "shell" of a boat with incredibly large sails to bring the boats to life.

Now that I face my 4^th race season I will get to graduate to a new level of racing! Originally starting in the cruiser fleet or the "working class sails" group then to graduate to the "spinnaker" class group but be one of the slower "boats" in that class to now racing a brand new one design sport boat in the spinnaker class. We have been diligent and it has paid off for our team. We have seen a good amount of sailors come and go but the core team is still intact. When I started there was the skipper and his wife and whomever else he could con with food and drink to show up! Typically that meant 2 other people. Between the drinks, food and strong winds we would surely finish the race in the same day that we started, but that was not good enough. That first year we pushed very hard (at a pirates request) to raise the standards for crewmanship. Before having a way to get to the lake and a pulse was all that was required. By the end of the year we actually asked people if they had sailed before! By the end of 2006 we were ready to compete. Averaging a crew of 4-6 we started making our mark in the working sails division. By Spring of 2008 we were full time Spinnaker Class racers and as of Lakefest we will begin a new chapter in our racing careers! Now Second Star has new meaning as we will not have anyone in front of us to show us the way we will have to look for the "second star" As you may remember from your childhood:

"The second star to the right
Shines in the night for you
To tell you that the dreams you plan
Really can come true"

Except from "Second star to the right" song from Peter Pan

2005
Who is Second Star?
2006
Icebreaker Series Regatta 8th Place
Lakefest Regatta (I am not 100% sure on this one)
Leukemia Cup Regatta 1st Place (crewing for Sealake Yacht Sales)
Solstice Series Regatta 5th Place
Texoma Classic Regatta 5th Place Wunderlick Regatta 7th Place
Sundowner Regatta Did not compete
2007
Icebreaker Series Regatta 2nd Place
Lakefest Regatta 2nd Place
Leukemia Cup Regatta 1st Place (crewing for Sealake Yacht Sales)
Solstice Series Regatta 1st Place
Asbury Smith Memorial Cup 1st Place
Texoma Classic Regatta 9th Place
Wunderlick Regatta 1st Place
Sundowner Regatta 1st Place
2008
Icebreaker Series Regatta 1st Place
Cedar Mills Yacht Club 1st Place (Spinnaker) Beer Can Race Series
Lakefest Regatta 1st Place (Spinnaker)
Leukemia Cup Regatta 1st Place (crewing for Sealake Yacht Sales)
Solstice Series Regatta 4th Place (Spinnaker)
Asbury Smith Memorial Cup 4th Place (Spinnaker)
Texoma Classic Regatta 2nd Place (Spinnaker)
Wunderlick Regatta 2nd Place (Bob Sittle & J124) Spinnaker
Cedar Mills Regatta 2nd Place (Spinnaker)
Sundowner Regatta 6th Place (Spinnaker)
2009
Icebreaker Series Did not compete
Lakefest Regatta 5th Place (Spinnaker 1st Fleet)

Something wicked this way comes… Second Star Racing the saga continues…

From a PHRF of 123/126 to a renewed opportunity and a rebirth at 33 Second Star Racing is taking it to the next level. Almost a half a million dollars later and what do you get?

Perfection… See you on the water…

Pirate Mike

The Shimmering Darkness…

The day was finally over, the sun had settled down within the depths of the lake.

The sun had put up quite a fight and left the land bleached and dry.

The lake goers had been drained as they filled the lake with the sentiment of their desires.

As the rebels quieted down, and the crowd parted a new set of sounds took over the area.

The moon arose quickly and settled in about a third of the way into the sky.

Only a sliver its presence was quite diluted as the clouds rolled into place and the stage was being set.

It was the day after the great and terrible day and vengeance was about to take its toll.

The temperatures subsided and the winds once again found the body of water that they call home.

The emergency vehicles had gone home no saving was to be done tonight.

Damage already done the mind wanders, tensions are running high.

Mind drunk with emotion, body full of pain, the potential for quite an evening is building.

As I lay aside the cockpit I looked up and realized that my destiny had called me.

The winds calling my name I could hear them saying, "follow me to the next place."

Obedient and methodical I woke up from my emotional stupor, and took on the responsibility to prepare the vessel.

At the strike of 1:00 am I set sail. Pulling the sun drenched and warmed sails I spoke to them commanding; "take me to the place that the winds are calling from."

With that I leave the cockpit and go down below into the dungeon that I call home.

Frantically digging into the darkness, feeling for a remote audio cd that still brandished its wrapper and label I hope for my release.

As I open the unique promise, I place it into my player and emerge to survey my situation.

Black as night, both lovely and unlovely I find myself echo locating the shoreline.

The winds have taken their position on the lake and made themselves prominent across the lakescape.

Then out of the blackness I see a shimmering darkness.

Heading to weather the wind positioning itself to whisper in my left ear I hold still.

As the wind picked up, the water responded in kind with a motion that took it across the lake.

Rollers they were building from the South as I headed to find the source of the wind.

Just a glimpse of their size as the moon varnished their topsides with a glow that could be seen for miles.

As the motion of the lake took a hold of me, the sound of a distant land came to the forefront.

Sharp and pleasant sounds of a simple land on the continent of Africa filled my head as I squinted to keep track of the shore.

I transported myself as the music took my soul from this ragged body and the emotions that once filled it left.

Waves crashing into the bow and it planted itself firmly into its belly. Spray fills the air as the sounds of the life that is such the beginning of all.

As the tribesmen chant their stories of family and survival, I find myself on the roller coaster of life deep within my heart as it sets happily in my chest, far from the sleeve that it once found a perch.

Whispering in my ear I can hear the wind calling me deeper into an almost trance like state.

Into the shimmering darkness I see the water and land dancing before me, leaving a path that only I can feel.

Song after song, I feel my body coming alive. My senses are overwhelmed and the thoughts of the day are far from me. Now the music takes hold and my hand holds the destiny of the vessel.

Between the thumb and forefinger of the right hand I steer this 6 ton beast. Waves crashing and spraying mist into the air, my mind races ahead in anticipation of what lies next.

Sitting in the port side stern perch, head cocked gently to the side, I try to make out the dam and the source of the wind.

Never admitting but gently remembering that it has called for me before.

An elusive friend the wind befriends the water and makes a pact with my vessel.

Completely in sync with nature as the music recharges my soul.

Now the age of completeness comes as I turn the corner to see the light of my home port.

In the shimmering darkness there I find my peace again.

For in the heat of the day, emotions ran free and the damage of their energy has taken its toll.

But now in the perfectness of the moment my soul is again whole, my mind is at ease and my body is free from pain.

Just arriving to my place, I reposition my home and engage the moon to hide me from the shimmering darkness.

July 5^th – 6^th 2008, on Lewisville Lake, listening to the original Mbube music of Africa while participating in the dance of a lifetime, after an event of emotional magnitude.

"Fair weather does not a skilled sailor make. Even the brightest of skippers must navigate through the storms of life to emerge on the other side, sometimes with nothing to guide them but the shimmering darkness of their soul." – Pirate Mike…

Free Gem Tumbler, Stones Not Included...

Free Gem Tumbler, stones not included…

When others look into your life what do they see? Do they look at you and see an ugly old stone, or as a polished gem? All of us are in the tumbler of life and we provide the stones for which it will polish. We are all in different stages of completion. As we wander through we find the stones that we must carry to the next destination. As we go from stage to stage we see those stones change and begin to polish up. The ultimate goal is to become polished enough that someone would want to keep us.

The sad thing is when people are too afraid to go through the polishing process. Many people refuse to change and embrace the challenges that come our way. They are always avoiding pain. They will not allow themselves to be ground into something new. The stones of our lives are collected and are never fully complete. The grit that the tumbler uses are the sacrifices and struggles that come against us as we walk down life's path.

Between the motion of crashing into the stones and the intense friction that is created with the grit the hard outer shell soon comes away and what is left is a shiny exterior that was the inner self of the stone. We too must go through the tumbler of life and let the hard outer shell of this world come off so that we may become that which we were intended; beautifully polished and desirable.

When we look upon a person for the first time what we typically see is the outward appearance that is what attracts us to them. After the first 30 minutes it is usually apparent at what stage they are in their tumbler and what stones that they are carrying around with them. It is very unfortunate that most can't look into a mirror and see what it is that others do. Often times people project what they want you to see and work very hard to hide the stones that they are carrying with them.

They do not want you to see them and know what they are and in what stage they are in. That would expose them and sometimes painfully so. I have always believed that people will eventually see your stones; therefore it is best to leave them out in the open so that if there is one of particular interest to someone they will see it upfront and not 6 months later. This is not always possible as many times we can overwhelm people with our history and needs. This is typically a process and requires some tact so that you just don't go run people off.

But what is the saddest is when people totally refuse to grow and change, and do not allow themselves to tumble. I have been tumbling for some time now and have fought the process with everything I have. I have climbed out of the tumbler on occasion and spit on the grit. Somehow I keep getting scooped up and thrown back in. I hope that as I start to wear down that someone can appreciate me. I know that it has taken everything I have to get to here. I hope that at the end of the road there is someone that really cares about what I have gone through to be the shinny pebble that they keep in their pocket.

Pirate Mike, caught in the tumbler again…

"The weather has come to discourage me from my choice of destination, but what she doesn't know is that without her wind and waves I surely would never get there..." - Pirate Mike

Driven… to excellence or failure

You know over the years I feel like I had less to do with myself than I used to give myself credit for. I back in my 20's used to think that I was the sole "destinator" of where I would end up ultimately. Well a few years later and a lot of emotional circumstances, both wins and losses have shown me that I was but a guest in the grand scheme of things. Just a light gust of wind on a breezy sunny day.

What I mean by that is I did have free choice, and I did exercise it on many occasions. But both good and bad decisions that I have made that still seemed to bring me to the same place where regardless, (or should I say in spite of myself) of the choices that I made I ended up ok. The opportunity presented itself and I acted; now I may have been able to act better but as you will see later I knew that if I didn't do something quick I may do nothing at all. I am a firm believer that success happens when opportunity and preparedness meet. Success is a 2 part offer. The sad thing is that many of us would have had more success if we would have had been prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves.

Have you ever said to yourself, wow just think; I thought of that years ago, or man if I could have saved my money just a few months longer, or …. Well that is where preparedness comes in. Many times we wander through our life like a leaf in the winds of time. As a sailor I am quite aware what happens when you put your sails up without checking where the wind is and at what angle the sail is to the wind. Many times we think we are ready for an opportunity and we put our sails up, but we did not prepare ourselves and like the sailor that put his sail up incorrectly and went nowhere with a full sail.

Now how sad is it to watch someone we love struggle against the tides of indecision or even worse make choices that they would later regret. One thing that I know is that the tide goes out and if you are patient the tide surely will return. Knowing timing is important; this is a component to being prepared. You do not want to get in a narrow pass during a tidal exchange, especially if you are trying to sail against a current when the tidal exchange is dramatic. Why you might ask? Well when the tide goes out or even comes in (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a low or high tide) and the exchange of water is great, currents form that head out to sea or come back at great speeds. (Tides come and go, also referred to as flood tide(high) and ebb tide (low)

Trying to sail 6 knots against a current that is 9 knots is futile. You will end up going backwards at a rate of 3 knots. But if your timing is right and you head out at the slack tide (a time in between tides when the water is neither going out to sea nor coming in) you will make headway and get to your destination.

Knowing timing in our life is very important, as we identify our desires we need to make sure that we are prepared to make the decisions that have to be made in order for those desires to come true. And many times also must know when to not act on a desire due to lack of preparedness. Surely if we take off to tackle a great desire and yet have bad timing, we are sure to fail. This can be seen in relationships when people didn't finish with themselves and yet moved forward too soon with the right person in a deep relationship that they were incapable of maintaining. How sad it is when they lose the relationship only due to lack of preparation and not due to lack of opportunity.

I have had many opportunities in my life. Many that I took on at or near the right time and several opportunities that I took on way before my time. I have also been a part to and witnessed people that had a desire and prepared themselves for it. Waiting for the tide to go slack, got in their vessel to take on the opportunities and just as they left the slip let go on the sheets that held onto their sails and sabotaged themselves due to fear of the unknown.

One of our greatest enemies many times is ourselves. Many times in our subconscious we are scared of winning/success. We are scared that what happens if I achieve this great new job, or this great new relationship. I will be required to work hard to maintain, or earn it. The fear of what will I do if I get this, or achieve this. When we sit down to identify our desires and spend the energy and time to prepare ourselves for opportunity we must also be ready to stave off the fear that will settle in as we approach our new goal or desire. We must be ready to reestablish new goals to replace the one that has been achieved so that we can like the sails set properly can maintain forward movement in a desirable direction.

Many times fear of success is as great of a detriment to our future as apathy and laziness. Nothing is ever static we are either moving forward or backward. We are born and we immediately start the dying process. In life we are in a constant state of evolution. Just like the seas, they are in constant motion and only slow down for a moment, many times the way we do only to start back up again, moving forward or backwards.

It has been proven many times that people will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Therefore in the sense of motivators, we will many times go way out of our way to avoid something we are unfamiliar with. Unfortunately many times this thing we are not familiar with is success. All too often we are more comfortable with where we are at then where we really want to go. Typically where we want to go is somewhere that we are not and have been not. This uncertainty is what creates the emotion of fear and doubt. This is where the uncertainty comes in, once the uncertainty has grasped the brain, the emotions that come from that are death. Death to the new ideas, Death to the new dreams, Death to the new job, Death to the new relationship, Death to the new move across the country, Death to the hopes and goals that you have lived a lifetime to never achieve. Fear becomes our greatest motivator, and with fear no good thing can be accomplished. Knowledge is the great dissolver of fear. Therefore the second half to being prepared other than timing is knowledge. Knowledge is power this old saying is true, and knowledge with great timing is success.

Don't allow fear to grasp you in this way. I am no different. I have fears. I have found that sometimes I must not use too much "common sense" as if it is common and shared by the general public it probably is laden with fear and insecurity. The problem with Common sense is that it is common and is easy to get a hold of. So in that, I am a bit of a gambler. I have a tendency when something I want is at risk to take chances. I am always looking for an uncommon knowledge, the same knowledge that created men like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, William Churchill, etc.

Normally if it will not kill me, won't financially ruin me, or mar me for life. I will just give in to my passions and desires. Try it and jump with both feet in. That way if the water is really cold I cannot back out of it due to doubt and insecurity. Living this way is not for everyone, you could end up with many regrets. Most people do not realize that they shouldn't regret anything, because at one point that was exactly what you wanted. Be grateful that you were able to have it, and many are not so fortunate, their fears have kept them from experiencing anything.

I would rather look back are realize that I would with 20/20 hindsight maybe have done things a bit different, but I would hate to look back and realize that I did nothing. That is my biggest fear, is that I will get to the end of my journey, and realize that when the wind came I never put my sails up. How sad, to never have used all that was given to you.

So as for me, I am taking chances every day. I am meeting new people. I am conquering and overcoming my fears. I am enjoying learning to love new activities. I am experiencing touch and being tactile in new ways. I am exploring my mind, and my senses. I am challenging my natural tendency to be scared of things I am not familiar with. I match that fear with the knowledge of self discovery. I get a hold of new ideas and facts and apply them to new problems and issues. I am a problem solver, I am a lover, I am an explorer, I am a learner and in the world of high dollar technical sales you can not afford to slow down or take a break. Learning is the foundation for future success. And knowledge without action is futile.

The reality is that many times we must face our own demons. We must prepare and we must use good timing, but without the hard work it is all in vain. And too often we look to find fault with others actions, when indeed it was our own inappropriate or lack of action that brought us to a particular junction. I was talking to one of my old sales managers that has moved on to become incredibly successful with his career. He said to me "Michael, usually when the grass appears greener on the other side of the fence is because of a lack of watering on our own side." - Zack Jones

Again, I must agree. It is funny how I agree more and more with the man that I used to yell at and almost get into fights with every Friday afternoon at approximately 5pm. Amazing how a few years along in the industry will change perspective.

Typically when things are slow and our pipeline empty, this simply means we have not been diligent with what has already been given to us to tend to. I look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. I am watering my plot of land and am planting seed. But I have drawn my sword should someone stumble onto my land, lest I find a quick meal and a handful of coin.

I am a hunter, and as a hunter I kill what comes by, but I will also tend my land; as a hunter in winter becomes a busy farmer by the late summer with the proper planting. The cycle of plenty will come back around and I do not want to miss my chance to live off the land either by plow or by the sword.

Well it is true now more than ever when we look on the other side for greener pastures it is typically becuase we have not been watering our own side. Activity begets success almost in everything. Without the sowing their can be no reaping. Without the lying in wait their can be no great surprise or great kill.


The ever evolving rambling of Pirate Mike…

"The seas never stop; they come and go bringing to their inhabitants the substance of life, so is the tide of our life's, people come and go and with them they bring us the substance of life… don't ever give up on people, as you will have given up on your yourself…" - Another original from Pirate Mike…