Life Options

I've been taking some time in the last couple of months to explore the future, and what I would like it to look like.

• I took a terrific trip on my motorcycle through Northern California (I kept promising people I would post photos...and here they are in flickr. Here's one sample to get you interested ).
  
• I flew to Utah and met my friends Peg and Steve for some dirt biking and hiking around Moab (yet more photos posted. Another sample).
• I took an excellent 2-day course on life options (hence the title of this entry) - it provided me with some terrific insights which I am still processing, but will share a little here (tho no photos...)

Perhaps the most important questions I have faced are what would I like to do more of, and what would I like to do less of, over the next 30-40 years. I have a few answers now, and will continue to work on more in the coming weeks/months/years:

MORE:

• Spend time with family and friends
• Do interesting things as "work" (whether paid or not) which helps people - could be co-workers, customers, management, others - just something which makes someone's life easier/better/more fun
  
• See new places, ideally with Carol, Olivia and some of our family/friends - we have never yet had a bad trip - some challenging experiences, but overall always glad we went
• Re-visit some previous places - there are few places we have been that we have used up!
• Take time to just "be" - on the 2 trips I took, I was moving too much, for some good reasons, but still...you need to sometimes just sit, without talking, music, TV, etc. and just "be". Moab was so incredibly quiet, but I didn't give that quiet time to really penetrate.
• Skiing, tennis, volleyball, bike riding, scuba, motorcycle riding - more of the same. I think I have gotten some clear indications from a supreme being that I am not meant to sky dive or heli-ski, so those are probably out. Mountain biking is probably just too tough for this tenderfoot. The jury is still out on dirt biking - lots of fun, but sooo tiring.
  

LESS:

• Time spent trying to convince people to change their minds, or priorities - that's not me. I can help you accomplish what you want done; I can't convince you that a good idea of mine is something you should consider important - you get it or you don't.
• TV - this is a tough one, as those who know me will attest, but it has to be done. Help me here, folks.
• Internet - extremely valuable and vital to lots of what I want to do, but too much time spent on information which is "interesting" but not necessary to read. This is also my excuse for limited blogging.
  
• Current events - learning about murders, or robberies, or celebrities in trouble, or even social/political issues - only when/if they are very directly related to me, or my involvement can make a difference. Perhaps another way of saying think globally, act locally, but it really means narrower focus.

That's enough for today - hopefully more enlightenment to come.