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Journey Into My Thoughts (part 2)
Journey Into My Thoughts (part 1)
Ship life for me pulls in wild thoughts sometimes. As my life changes and evolves for the better, I realize that I am filtering out the crap and making more room for a better life. I have learned to relax through meditation. When I do meditation, the thoughtless moments I create for myself are just as valuable as the visions that follow. It is all about settling down and listening to what your heart is trying to tell you. The best part is most of my visions will come true if I do everything in my power to make it happen!
I saw 2 very important visions on one of my final nights on the cruise ship:
I am laying in bed, because that it all I can do and I decided to listen to some music. At this point I was getting a little better but I still felt really bad. I was listening to some sad music to push out a few negative feelings. It always works and I was pleasantly surprised with the thoughts that followed once the negatives had left. I was envisioning my success as a motivational speaker. It was not to kids with this one but I know from the bottom of my heart that kids is where my speaking journey begins and may even stay.
I was envisioning speaking in front of thousands. This was a vision I have had many times before. My parents were there. They were there because I promised both of them, before they pass to the next life, when I make it big in my speaking career, they will be there in the front row to see it. My parents are very healthy and I do have time but when I see them in my vision with everyone else it makes me incredibly happy. My parents supported everything idea I ever had, agreeing with it or not. They started out guiding me in the right directions then letting me go to fall and fail and live my life. The best part is every time I need them they are ready to help me. The funny part is I call both of them for everything and every time I struggle with whom to call first. It is something my heart can’t decide so I just switch off each time!
I think about this one speaking moment of my future often but what came through my thoughts next was amazing and brand new. I was envisioning, unprovoked, about going home for Christmas. Standard thought for sure, as I know my mom and dad would miss me otherwise. This was very different. I was not alone! I was holding hands with a little girl. I was telling my family to take any money they had intended to spend for me and make sure they all get her something instead! It was weird that I could see this very clear. There was no attention on any woman or mother to this vision, it was just me and this girl. Shortly after that, my thoughts jumped and I was envisioning asking teachers for play dates, and then it just got more random from that point on. I never have been able to picture this again as clear as I did but I hope in time the world will tell me what this means.
There are many good things in life we can go after: Our hearts, our visions, our goals, our gratitude and much more. Listen to the positivism within yourself and you can live the most rewarding life ever. There is so much more of this world to discover outside your living room and deeper within yourself, but it is up to you to go after it!
Last Stop, Ketchikan!
My final port on my Alaskan cruise job was Ketchikan Alaska. The reason I have been able to do so many things is I work only when the boat is moving. Therefore, when we are at port I get off just as the guests do!
The very first thing I did in Ketchikan was go snorkeling. Now if you do remember I was talking about temperatures between 60F and 40F degree. Not Idea for snorkeling, however they gave us 7mm (thick) wet suits. With those wet suits, it turned that 50F ocean into bath water! I have seen so many things snorkeling before but I never actually handled anything before. The black spiny sea urchin was actually crawling around in my hand and that was really cool. Random fact I learned about those black spiny sea urchins: When I was in the Caribbean, I stepped on one by accident and my foot was numb for like 3 weeks! Down in the warm waters of the Caribbean they have the ability to sting you but up in the cold waters of Alaska that ability no longer works!
Next, I went on a tour of the Saxmen Village. Many Native American tribes still exist up North. We got to see a traditional ritual dance and actually got to participate as well. These dances are very sacred so being able to dance with them is very special. There village is also home to the largest collection of totem poles in the world. As you know, each totem pole tells a story. You will see that some do not look finished; however, they all are as traditionally they are not always full of carvings all the way up.
One of my last adventures was to go crab fishing and ending the day with an all you can eat crab fest! This was amazing and full of surprises. I got to handle the crab when they pulled up the fishing pots! While the tour guide was talking about the crabs and the crab pots, I saw a bear moving around in the background. I politely interpreted the guide and said there was a bear behind her! We all immediately glued to the side of the boat closest to the bear. They were all so grateful for my observation. Bears are one of the rarest to see out here as a tourist because they mostly come out at night times. This was actually my second sighting. It was not over yet because on our way back we got to see Bald Eagles diving to the water like 10 feet away from our boat it was so amazing. Even though I only hand my phone, I actually managed to get some great action shots!
Well that was it for my Alaska tour. I hope the doctor will let me start my regular job tomorrow. I find out from the doctor today. My leg is not hurting anymore and it is healing, but it looks like I will have a scar on my leg. I am grateful I had this journey to Alaska and I am grateful I did not lose my leg. Moving forward my post will return to more positivism as I reach for my goal to be a motivational speaker for our children.
Have an amazing rest of your week and as always thank you so much for your following and support.
Next Stop Skagway
Skagway was my favorite stop. Scenically glorious, that is if you love the water and the mountains! You do not even need to get off the ship. You look forward to the boat yard and the old town of Skagway while further in the distance is a valley of mountain peaks. You look behind you and see 2 absolutely mesmerizing snow caped mountain peaks. Now I say mesmerizing because I saw these peeks 4 times in all weather conditions, but still somehow it was like a painting that never changed! To the left more mountains, and to the right we were cliff side. They only way to look left was straight up or straight down, and straight down you saw the train that took you into the Yukon Territory. I was signed up to take this train tour but then I had this incident that sent me home. Even without that, it was still the most beautiful port. It was also the hardest to just pick a handful of pictures to post.
My first visit was very exciting, I was going horseback riding. On the way to the ranch we were driving around this empty inlet where they explained that the tide came in and out 4 times a day. This was no normal occurrence for someone visiting because the water exchange was huge. They have 25 foot tides up here and that is so crazy. Random fact; I have not been a horse person but I seem to have found myself around them on many occasions, yet at the age of 34 I have never even been on one till today! It was so much fun, and the horses were so well trained, taken care of, and not over ridden. I got the lazy horse, of course I need some sort of challenge when I am doing something new! The scenery while riding the horse could not have been more amazing, and as we were heading back to the ranch I saw my first Alaskan bear as well. Maybe it was my height on the horse but that bear was adorable.
(Top right is just to show you the low tide line.)
(Then you have high tide in that same valley)
Next I just went walking through town. It was all original buildings so it was really cool to see even if they were littered with jewelry and souvenir shops! Now fast forward to the next time and I decided to go hiking on my own. This was hands down my favorite day! I grabbed my backpack, water, newly purchased hiking shoes and just went for it. As you will see in the pictures I was extremely grateful for those hiking shoes; the terrain was about as rugged as it gets. Climbing continuously over rocks and roots, there was switchbacks on the trail but the grade percentage up had to be higher than normal too. Then coming down your feet are smashed into the front of your shoes the whole time. It was all worth it! As you go up you see the ship and the town get smaller, and the natural scenery just get more spectacular. You could see mountain peaks not seen from below, mountain lakes that are always full of the clearest fresh water and stunning waterfalls the entire way up. Here is where I would like to say what everyone already knows; pictures never do there justice but I can provide you with a little sample of what I got to see today. I hiked a total of 8 miles round trip and starting at sea level I climbed an elevation of 3,100 ft.
(these are pictures of the trail)
The sunset and sunrise are a bit different up here in Alaska from what I am used to. Sunrise is at about 4:30am and sunset is after 11:00pm. Complete darkness does not come till well after 12 midnight. Below I took this picture at about 11:20pm.
Up next I will be taking you to Glacier Bay National Park. This was a park we went thru on our cruise ship. The ship I was on was designed especially for adventures like this!
First Stop, Juneau
My first adventure in Alaska, or my first port of call was in Juneau. To kick it off I hike to the top of Mount Roberts. This being my first hike I cheated and took the tram car up the first 1800 feet. I was not going to wait for people to go with me. I am here in Alaska for a limited time so I was not afraid to go alone.
It is funny I should say I went alone, you guys know I am a people person so I ended up catching up with this couple from another ship and they were on the same path I was. It was great because it was dangerous to hike alone. We were basically up in the cloud cover. It was wet and most of the time you could only see about 10 yards in front of you. However there were plenty of clear moments as well and the views from up on the mountain tops were absolutely gorgeous! There were these hoary marmots everywhere too. Picture a very large and fat ground squirrel and that’s what these cute little creatures were. Also on our hike we saw ice and snow in the mountains. At one point we found one piece that was safe enough to slide down! So much fun and the fact that we were a group now we were able to get all these amazing pictures for each other. My most favorite part aside from the view and the wild life was Mount Roberts was bursting with minerals. Quartz was just extruding from the mountain everywhere. At times this beautiful white stone was littering the trails. I also found a small piece of jade, one of the gemstones Alaska is known for. The jade mines are all closed but you can still find it on the mountain sides. As a reward for all the hiking I did I ate the biggest plate of crab nachos I have ever seen!
The beauty of my working trip to Alaska is I come back to each port several times. The normal cruiser can only come here once and pick one thing to do. I came back again this time I took a tour of a salmon hatchery, the Glacier Gardens, and Mendenhall Glacier! What an amazing day. I learn so much about Salmon and their part in our circle of life. The hatchery was a nonprofit organization trying to balance the ecosystem with the salmon. Now it was off to the gardens of the Alaskan rainforest. What a beautiful site. The couple that started these gardens years ago came up with this great Idea for hanging gardens. They had taken fallen trees and turned them upside down and made them large natural flower pots! Lastly it was off to the glacier. What a beautiful site to see and this was the first of many glaciers I saw on my trip. Right next to it was a beautiful waterfall that you could walk right up to, so naturally I did.
The shows not over yet in Juneau! It was time for some rainy day whale watching. I think the guest loved having me on the tour I was the token whale spotter. There was so many! I stopped trying to get pictures and just enjoyed the fun these whales were having fun jumping in and out of the water. What an amazing site to see and as if the whales were not enough we saw some sea lions as well. We did not stay to long because these big guys were lazy and they wanted to board our boat to relax!
When you cruise, you can count on every port you stop at to be full of shops and souvenirs. I made a quick pass thru my first time but that was it! I was here to see nature; the mountains, the water, the wild life and the glaciers. There was still more stops on our trip. My next post will be Skagway. I hope you enjoy the stories and pictures. I know these posts are off topic of my ultra positive posts but hey it’s my blog and adventures are a part of a positive life. I am grateful to be able to share my journey with you.
(I took over 400 pictures while out in Alaska; it was really hard to pick a small sample for my blog. If you we wish to see way more pictures please feel free to friend me on FACEBOOK if you have not already!)
What Everyone Else Wants!
I am a few days away from my life’s next big adventure! I am going back to work on a cruise ship again (for 2 months) but this time I will be in Alaska. A place where I have always wanted to go and I get to from an opportunity that was basically put on my lap! As I said in a previous blog I will be limited with time to write and internet to post but I assure you I will be back and I am most likely going to be shifting some of the main focuses of this blog.
It is funny how our thought process works. I am learning through the challenges of life that everything happens for a reason. The most exciting discovery is when those reasons come to light in our minds. At the time my fiancé broke it off with me 3-4 years ago I was ready to settle down and start a family but my life has changed completely, for the better I would like to add! In grained in me is a subtle shy loneliness that I successfully chip away at everyday and my new life, new adventures and new goals unfold. I could time line my whole life, the feelings are so strong but perhaps I will save that for my first book. Yes my first book…one of many goals. My biggest goal of all is to become a motivational speaker.
Fast forward to now I work at a wonderful elementary school as a teacher assistant to students with autism. What an eye opening job. I have had hard jobs before but this one moves its way toward the top of that list, however the rewards from this job sky rocket. Here I am; single, secretly fighting little loneliness spell now and again, I work around a bunch of beautiful married women (inside and out) and I work around wonderful children that just make me want my own ever day. Even though this job has been and will continue to be an amazing opportunity I ask myself through the personal torture why am I setting myself up like this: Working all around others that have everything I want.
Now wait a second, here is the crazy part. As I talk to my new friends, staff and teachers, about my adventures of travel and my life goals, they are envious of me. I realize I want what they have and they want what I have. It is crazy how life works like that. But then I take a step back and realize why life had brought me here. To meet great people of course, and try new things in my life, but the main reason I am here is to finally realize my motivational speaking career starts with these children. I want to inspire children to be all they can be and live a more positively directed life. I want to teach them that there is no benefit to bullying their fellow classmates. Make friends in school not enemies. If you know me at all you know that when I set sight on something, no matter how long it takes, I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. Maybe this school year maybe next but I was meant for this. It took me 34 years to figure this out but I have 70 more to make a difference in the lives of all our futures.
I realize that if I was married and had kids 3-4 years ago, there was no chance I would be working on a cruise ship, there was no chance I would have moved down to Florida, very little chance that I would have stepped out of my career as a Design Director to find my passion as a motivational speaker. All I had to do was drop the negative thoughts and listen to what life was telling me. There is great things out there and wonderful people to meet. I will meet the right one for me when I least expect it. I will be successful with my goals and like any roller coaster success story I expect to fall, I expect it to be hard, and I expect to learn a lot.
I walk through the halls of my school and every smile or hi I get, every high five or hug I receive lets me know how many young lives I am impacting already. I know my main focus is with the special need students in my class but I make it a point to connect with new students’ every day. I certainly connect with the teachers as well. The students allow me to be more connected with my goals all the time and the teachers are the ones that are opening doors for me to explore. So yes I was meant to be here at this elementary school. Some teachers are excited for their well deserved summer break and here I am off to Alaska for almost two months and I miss these kids already! I know I am where I am meant to be and I know there is still more exploring to do on my way to where I want to be. The purpose for my Alaska trip is simple, I deserve a break too! It just so happens to be a working break but you can’t beat the location or opportunity.
I am so grateful for all of my family, friends, teachers, and students that have helped me get where I am now. You may not know you have helped but know now! I am grateful for all of my blog followers and new friends from the internet that are alongside supporting my journey through life. There are big things coming in my life and I am going after all of it!
Goals and Adventures.
This month I stuck to my reading goals and towards the end I was doing more than 20 pages a day! I found the beginning and end of 3 great books and I have started another one today to keep it going.
“Black Hole Focus” by Isaiah Hankel
“Everything Happens For A Reason” by Mira Kirshenbaum
“The Carpenter” by Jon Gordon
“More Notes from the Universe” by Mike Dooley (just a book of quotes but still great)
I have learned so much from reading but it seems that my education went far beyond the written words. I was inspired in many ways but most importantly to finally narrow down what I want to do as a motivational speaker. I want to speak to children and teens about a more positive lifestyle and the ever-growing subject of bullying. I have full confidence that I will get where I want to be and I am ready for the challenges that will arise on my way there.
Over the summer I hope to have time to start writing presentations and presenting them to the school district I work for right now. One small step of many.
I do have some sad news for those that do gratefully follow me regularly. June through August I have a lot of adventures going on in my life and my time to write from the heart will not be as wide open as it usually is. One of the major things I am doing is working on a cruise ship in Alaska. I have always wanted to go there and now is my chance. I will be working a lot and when I am not working naturally I will be enjoying the wonders of the Pacific Ocean, Canada and Alaska.
I will be posting when I can, Maybe sharing other people’s things on Facebook and stories here and there as well. I hope I do not lose many of you in my absence but I WILL BE BACK. Every day is an adventure I am just going to have a few months of them in a row. I will return with lots of inspiration and tons of pictures I am sure. If you wish to friend me on Facebook feel free to, to see my pictures.
Have a great weekend and remember I am not gone for good and I will post when I can. Thank you so much for all of your support on this journey.
Please feel free to connect with me HERE
And be sure to like and share my FACEBOOK blog page as well, to see more positive things in the coming months.
Meme Monday (Puzzle)
What is the next piece to your life?
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Variety Friday (Travel)
My life is all about goals; traveling and finding myself were very important ones. I am from Illinois and as of August I have found myself and now live near Orlando Florida! I wrote down most of the places on my journey from about 2 years ago to now and thought it to be quite impressive. Anything is possible and I have a past of so many good things that happened and a future just waiting for more! To all I say travel, live life, and get out there and find yourself if you have not already!
If you are interested here are most of the places that hold some great memories just in the last 2 years!
-Dallas, Texas
-Fort Worth, Texas
-Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
-Fayetteville, West Virginia
-Kalamazoo, Michigan
-Coldwater, Michigan
-Atlanta, Georgia
-Toronto Ontario, Canada
-San Juan, Puerto Rico
-Basseterre, St. Kitts
-Bridgetown, Barbados
-Castries, St. Lucia
-Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
-Fort De France, Martinique
-Oranjestad, Aruba
-Philipsburg, St. Maarten
-Roseau, Dominica
-St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
-St. John’s, Antigua
-Tortola, British Virgin Islands
-Willemstad, Curacao
-Key West, Florida
-St. Petersburg, Florida
-Fort Myers, Florida
-New Smyrna Beach, Florida
-Daytona, Florida
-Currently back in Illinois to visit everyone here for the holidays.
and many other places that I may not have mentioned!
Not a bad list for only 2 years time! Seek and you shall find adventure in your life. What places are you meant to travel to, near and far?
Meme Monday ( Time)
It is such a cute baby picture of me, I just had to use it! I am very happy where I am now and were I am going.
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UP With Marc 