News "Blackout" By Choice - The Ultimate Vacation

I've just returned from a Spring trip to Baja, Mexico.  Myself and 5 friends rode our motorcycles to San Jose del Cabo in November of 2016 and it was time to bring them out, along with getting some much needed sun and time away from the office.

The Baja is a great place for a vacation if you like desert, cactus, sand, beautiful beaches with water to match, warm, friendly people and want to get away from the news of the world.  You see, outside of the more populated areas, there is limited connectivity to the outside world.

On this trip I made the decision to stay away from TV and chose not to look at the news from home or anywhere else for that matter when I could get online.  It was actually easier than I thought to "shut off" the news.

The 10 days in Mexico were relaxing, visiting with my friends, making new ones, eating way too much excellent food and seeing sights that were new.  I found that I wasn't missing anything by not knowing what was happening in North America politics or other news outside of what the locals were telling us about their part of the world.

Good friends!

I've been back for 3 days and I tried to watch the news my first day back and found my stress level going up so I turned it off.  I'm not burring my head in the proverbial sand, however I'm realizing more and more that much of what we're being fed is out of my control.  So, for the next few months I'm going to continue on my news blackout and focus on what's happening in my local world.

I challenge you to take your own News Blackout holiday and see what happens.  I'd be interested to hear how it goes.

Gerald Trees
Musings And Observations Of An Adventurous Life Seeker

Happy New Year - A Little Late

The first full week of 2017 is in the history books and week number 2 is in full swing.

For some, the new year is a time to start over, resolutions have been made and likely already broken.

For others, January 1st is simply another day, other than a welcomed day off.  Nothing new planned and no resolutions made.

There is a group of people, however,  who view the new year as another phase in their life.  Their 2016 was mapped out with specific goal.s  Personal goals and professional / economic goals.  The beginning of the new year is spent reflecting on the prior year.  Where they fell short of their goals and what needs to be done to get back on track.  Their successes, celebrating them, learning from them and most importantly, gaining energy from them.  These individuals live their lives with a purpose, seldom complaining about politics or outside influences.  Instead they change what they can and adapt to what they cannot change.  Constantly moving forward with purpose and with a specific goal.

Often times people in this group are viewed as "Lucky", "Smart", "Advantaged", "Privileged", in other words, they have something that the rest of society doesn't have.  In reality, members of this group have made the decision to control the direction their life will take and have set, purposeful goals they wish to achieve.  In short, they live with purpose, their purpose.

Living with purpose will be a challenge.  You'll have to be dedicated to controlling your own life and outcomes.  There will be events out of your control that will cause you to alter your course and may even block the path your on.  It will seem "unfair" when this happens and many will use a lot of energy worrying and complaining.  Someone living with purpose will choose to use their energy to take a different path.  A path that may at first look like it's moving away from their goal to those on the "outside".  The key here is CHOICE.

The hardest part of living with a purpose is deciding on what you want.  The more focused, the better.  The second hardest part is making a plan to achieve what you want and then taking action daily until your goal is achieved.  Yes, you'll likely have to make changes in your daily routine, saying NO to things you really don't want to do and realizing that a few of those people around you will be "unsettled" by the changes you'll be going through.  (See Expect Resistance From Those Around You).

To gain confidence, start with something small that you've always wanted to do.  It could be reading a book that you've wanted to read for sometime or participating in a 10k run.  Pick your goal and plan what you must do every day to reach that goal.  The final step is scheduling the time each day to work toward your goal and being very "stingy" with that time.

What destination have you chosen for 2017?

All my best in 2017 and I trust you'll reach the goals you've set for yourself.

Gerald Trees
Musings And Observations Of An Adventurous Life Seeker