You can prepare as long you need or want to before a journey, but for it to be an adventure, you have to start.

In order to harness up on the rope on a cliff face, drive out of your hometown, take a seat on the ski lift, or untie from the dock for a 25-day journey across an ocean, the common thread is of any adventure is the unshakeable belief in self. Believing in possibility and in your own capabilities makes all the difference. So many people fall prey to self-sabotage—such as when they want to do something yet allow doubts and fears to direct the outcome. A dream fails due to a self-fulfilling prophecy. The old adage about whether you think you can or think you cannot, you are right about it is immensely relevant when embarking on a new challenge.

All humanity is undoubtedly navigating unusual times and circumstances. The pandemic of 2020 forced worldwide challenges unlike most people have ever experienced. Polarizing fake news and misinformation rule the airwaves and screens. Greed and materialism have reached an unsustainable all-time high. All of it creates a temptation to taste the poisonous fruit of apathy, a common component seen throughout history at the ends of ruling civilizations. This era demands that people connect and integrate, yet it is also a time when all western science and media encourages social distancing and isolation as a means to preserve life. Emotional compartmentalizing and separation lead everyone to feel disconnected in a time when connection is absolutely vital.

Buried deep in American hypermasculinity, soft skills have frequently been dismissed as unimportant or as evidence of weakness. Yet these are the very skills that people, especially males, need to survive as a species.

This is a book about personal development told within the framework of personal essays. By the time you read to the end of this book, I believe you will gain the courage to find or continue on your own journey—a journey that never ends. Sometimes it is hard to justify that the journey is worth it…or if all the struggle means anything. That is a question you must answer for yourself after you’ve read how I’ve answered it. In the end, your mission is to know that by tasting the sweet nectar of the emotional richness of life, you’ll choose to continue forward in your personal development.