Day 17

 I was able to wake up at 4AM and get my run and bike in before the taxi took me to the SCUBA trip at 8AM. Those hours were very important. I am still chewing my way thru "Think like a monk". I spent a good bit of time on this beach I found 

 I'm having to re-listen to parts of it because my mind wanders and the subject matter is very different than how I think. In the first chapter, the author talks about identifying your personal values. I completed an online exercise here are mine: 

• Adventure (Challenge, Daring, Freedom, Risk Taking)
• Boldness (Innovation, Inquisitive, Questioning)
• Family/Spirit (connection, comfort, grounded)
• Influence (Achievement, Ambition, Recognition, Influence)
• Pleasure (food, physical, visual)
• Security (Stability, reliability, punctuality, Dependability)

The author then asked us to identify where these values originated in our life and if they were something we think are "true to me" (meaning something that I think I actually value vs. something I have learned to value).

So it looks like "Influence" is not one I am keeping. It is clearly something I value (I have a lot of desire for recognition, ambition, etc) but I think that is me looking for validation not because it is something I need. For the purposes of the exercise in this book, my personal core values are Aventure, Boldness, Family/Spirit, Pleasure, and Security. 

I got to the SCUBA boat and we drove for an hour to the far side of the island. The first dive was on a cliff that went down 7000 feet (I only went 92' down). I saw a bunch of reef sharks, lots of fish, and a sea turtle. The less dive was less dramatic, but there were way more fish. I really like to just chill with the fist.

I was sitting on the SCUBA boat listening to the chapter on negatively and forgiveness. It dawned on me how lucky I am right now. I’m literally living an ideal life (I’m on an adventure in a pleasurable place). I could not be doing this if I was still singularly focused on my career. In that moment I became profoundly greatful to all those that helped me get here. Even and especially those I had been angry at before this realization. 

I was profoundly at peace. I had planned to go home and complete the “forgiveness exercise”. But life presented an option for an adventure instead so I grabbed it with both hands and held on until around midnight. 

On the drive home the taxi stopped at a liquor store for one of the guests. One thing leads to another... and well... we hit 2 different restaurants (apparently they are open if you are a guest), a bonfire on the beach, a stop at a Haitian grocery store well after hours so somebody could purchase some plants (I stayed in the taxi with most of the group), a second Haitian off-hours store for some cigarettes (this one looked a lot more legit and I was hungry so I went in... but didn't buy anything because the only "food" that I recognized was buffalo wing sauce flavored pringles). The second store was right under "Williams Drafting"... which I am pretty sure is Anchovie Pizza Will's drafting studio.  We ended up at Daryl's apartment.  It turns out the cab driver is dating Daryl's sister. I didn't know who Daryl was until he took his mask off. He is the guy in the unit next door to me from NJ that I met last week.  This really is a small island.