A different way to learn

I recently returned from a trip to Asia, during which time I achieved one of my little goals in life, to complete the worlds highest bungy jump.

This is in Macau from the Macau tower and while I've bungy jumped 3 times prior to this, and found that each one gave me new motivation and inspiration in achieving various things, this one was almost the opposite and was initially a big disappointment; not least because it cost so much to do.

It is a very high perch to leap from (233m or 61 stories) and the usual awe about the height didn't kick in until I had shuffled to the edge and had a heap of nothing in front of me. The usual rush kicked in as my body passed the point of no return as I fell forward, but after that it was just another experience.
There was no fear, no nervousness, no adrenalin hit (seriously !!!), and that was the thing that was most obviously missing, even while I was in freefall.

It was good, don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed it; I'd do it again and again if money was no object, but something was missing.

On the ferry back to Hong Kong it occurred to me that while I had learned a lot about myself on previous jumps, I HAD inadvertently learned something about myself again in a much different way, through the absence of a thrill.

The lesson I had learned was that I needed to focus my attention on the longer term , important things in life that really mattered to my personal growth and development rather than going for the immediate gratification that comes from something like a bungy jump.
It obviously wasn't going to be enough excitement for me any more.

It seemed to me that developing skills that will make me more useful to others, such as becoming more self aware and taking better control of my behaviour, attitudes, interaction with others and generally working on achieving purpose in life, was the way to go.
I've always wanted to work towards that end, but there was always something else, anything else that was more immediate that would take my attention.

So I take a different path now. I haven't worked out how yet and I don't know how successful I'll be, but it's more clarity about what I need to do to achieve the special things in life.

At 51 years of age, it's taken a while, but there's still a heap of time left for me to be of some use to my family, friends and anyone else that I can assist along the way.

Wish me luck!

Another one soon to be ticked off the bucket list

I leave for a holiday to Asia tomorrow.
The trip takes me to Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang and then on to Honk Kong; one of my favourite cities in the world, but this time there is a different reason to be excited about travelling again and that is because AJ Hackett is operating the worlds highest bungy jump on the Macau Tower (in Macau).
I've bungy jumped before from Nevis in New Zealand but this is about 100 metres higher and I suspect will be much scarier at 234 metres or 61 storys. Yikes!.
I don't know why I want to do it and few people that I've mentioned it to are encouraging (including my wife); in fact they all say that I'm mad. Perhaps I am.
This will take bungy jumping off the list (until there's something higher like helicopter bungy)and I can then move on to other goals.
Not that I couldn't have done other things concurrently. I just happen to be at the bungy part of my list of goals.
Can anyone tell me why I want to do this? I feel as if I'm being drawn to anything that represents adventure and danger, for no particular reason and certainly not to impress anyone, since it's clearly not having that effect on anyone I know;
perhaps I'm trying to prove something to myself; perhaps I find it difficult to achieve anything unless it's on the extreme of experience.
If anyone should read this, please let me know your thoughts.
Thanks.

What was I thinking ???

Well. It's been a long time once again.

I've returned to posting again because of another blogger that uses this site, Craig Harper and his website, craigharper.com.au.

I've re-read the last post I made here and as the title suggests, what was I thinking???.

I don't think the sole commenter to that post was very far off the mark in many ways, although I think the approach was very similar to my own, but regardless of that, the sentiments were, I suspect, generally pretty accurate.

The question was asked, "What harm does it do to me?" and while I disagree with any religion that is the basis of conflict, it's a valid question. The answer of course is none and for that reason, I will refrain from that type of post.

There is no value in it. It is negative and helps no one, including myself.

I have every intention of following the advice of Craig.

In the past, I have done the same thing and got the same results. What a surprise !
And while making lasting and meaningful change is difficult for some, not to do something different is at the very least, a pointless exercise.

To quote Albert Einstein (and contained in a recent post of Craigs)

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

While I suspect I may have a degree of insanity :-), given previous posts, I have no intention of giving in to this particular brand of insanity.

As my wife (a most wise woman) pointed out. Life is too short.

I have no way of knowing whether I will post regularly, but if I do, then I hope they will be helpful to others. They will certainly be positive.

Thanks Craig