| Welcome
Hey All
I'm so glad
March is here in
Northern Michigan. Just a few short weeks ago, it was so very cold the
trees were cracking loud enough to sound like gun shots. The creek was
running like Jell-O and the snow crunched loudly with every step
Now, the light has changed. It has more color. My outdoor surroundings
are coming alive. Down in the swamp by the creek, things are bubbling
to
the surface as gas and scum make their way to the top of the snow
cover.
The creek itself is flowing strong. And I'm starting to see critters
down
by the creek who have not poked their noses out of their burrows, holes
and covers in several months, enjoying the break in the weather and
getting
out to do a little eating, housekeeping and visiting with neighbors.
When
I stop to fill up the Jeep I no longer hunker at the pump as icy winds
blow across the parking lot. And there is no waiting for all the
snowmobilers
to move away from the pump. Ah, the simple things in life are so
wonderful.
My intention
for this newsletter,
if anything, is just to present the musings of a wandering woman in a
way
that will inspire you. It's not my place to tell you what you must do,
what is wrong, and why. This newsletter is just an invitation for you
to
take a look for yourself. Enjoy!
I'd love to
hear your thoughts,
insights and understandings. deb@portagecoach.com
And I'd love
to work with you
on any transition, personal or business. Just give me a call at
231-879-4178
or 877-762-4178.
Back
to
Contents
Lost
Is Found
I've been
lost twice in the
last week. Yup, one day I got in the car thinking I knew where I was
going
and I proved myself wrong. On another day, I decided to take the dogs
for
a walk in an area I'm not very familiar with and I got all turned
around.
I came out far away from where I thought I was and far away from the
car.
I have a bit
of a reputation
for this. Friends are often hesitant to ride or walk with me. I wander
and I explore and I experiment. And I allow myself to be distracted by
the new environment. And so while I'm very immersed in the present, all
that is new around me, I lose track of the past (where I came from) and
the future (where I think I'm going).
So I rather
like getting lost.
When I'm at home in Northern Michigan, getting lost means I keep
walking
or driving until I find a two-track that leads somewhere. In Northern
Ontario,
where I visit often to fish or paddle, I can easily be lost for a whole
day or more.
Getting good
and lost means
I must relinquish all attempts at being in control of my situation and
any need to know where I am, where I might be going and what it will
take
to get back to where I began. In this state, nothing matters but my
current
surroundings and I am more fully able to immerse myself in those
surroundings
and let go of what has been and what is to come. “Lost” becomes and
attitude
that breaks any psychological barriers. And my body responds to that
attitude.
There are
some cultures, mostly
island cultures, which simply don't have a word for the experience of
being
lost. But for those of use who do “know” lost, there's an attitude
shift
to work through. So here it is. The price we pay for the freedom of
being
lost is to be vulnerable. The gift we receive from the freedom of being
lost is new, unexpected and random things like unforeseen circumstance,
interesting people, and odd surroundings. It stimulates us. If we pay
the
price of vulnerability, we can let go of being threatened simply
because
we are lost. We learn to not waste our energy panicking about the
direction we should take.
Current
theory from the mathematics
of quantum physics indicates that we should be able to remember the
future
as easily as we remember the past. This theory helps me understand that
getting lost is not really lost in the traditional sense; it's lost
with
the knowing that the future will find me.
“Don't want
to get to the end
of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have
lived the width of it as well.” ~Diane Ackerman
Back
to
Contents
Books
and a Resource for You
It's probably
back-country
canoeing that has most helped me embrace being lost.

And in the world
of canoeing,
Verlen Kruger was legendary. He was 41 when he discovered the sport of
canoeing while fishing in Northern Ontario. He died recently at the age
of 82. Verlen paddled the length of the Yukon River from its headwaters
to the Bering Sea for the summer celebration of his 80th birthday.
During
his 40 years of canoeing, he paddled over 100,000 miles across two
continents
and has earned 11 Guinness World Records for long-distance canoe
travel.
A 28,043-mile excursion was his longest journey.
http://www.krugercanoes.com/world_records.htm
One
Incredible Journey
The
Untimate Canoe Challange: 28,000 Miles Through North America
Back
to
Contents
Happy
Easter

Back
to
Contents
A Note
About My Recommendations
I provide links
in this newsletter
to products and services I am offering or I have personally found
valuable.
With some of them, I have an affiliate agreement. If you are ever
disappointed
with one of these recommendations, please let them and me know. If they
don't make it right, I will.
Peace and
much love
Deb
Portage is
published 12 times
a year and distributed monthly by e-mail. Comments, submissions and
suggestions
are welcome. Please feel free to forward any or all of this newsletter
to those you know will appreciate it and encourage them to subscribe
for
themselves.
Although this
material is subject
to copyright, please feel free to reprint this publication, in whole or
in part, in your company publication, in training, presentations, or
wherever
you feel it would be of benefit. This also holds true for members of
the
media. All I ask is that you use the following credit line: Reprinted
with
permission from Deborah Martin of Portage at http://www.portagecoach.com
The names of
newsletter subscribers
will never be shared or sold.
Copyright
2005, all rights
reserved.
|