But you may ask yourself, where did this motivation come from. Was it a random recollection of a past experience? Was it the longing for technological connection? Nay. Although both of those have tugged at the old strings one time or another. But no. It was a decision to read some blogs, to find out what other people had been saying, and sharing, and blogging. And I was impressed, intrigued, and inspired. And thus, came a motivation. I feel bad however that so many motivations are so easily lost. We get out of the moment and forget what it was that brought us to that point, and we get so caught up in the helter-skelter lives that so beset us along the road, that we become UN-motivated. And it seems to happen at this time of the year because it is a change of season, a change of pace, a back to school, and a fading of color in the leaves. However, that color in the leaves is replaced by an even brighter color, that shines and shimmers and brings joy when the air gets crisp. And it is so, with the reminder of the ease of motivation loss that I seek to persuade others to remember, to rekindle. What motivates you to action? Is it by seeing others accomplishing that strives you to do the same? Or is it the goal that you know will result from your efforts. Maybe it is the promise of change, and a better way that strikes a note inside of you. No matter what spells motivation for you, I pray that you will find it, no matter how deep it may hide itself from sight, know that it is there, and all we must do is re awaken it to a new dawn, that leads to a better morning of change.

My motivation came by way of others. Seeing their accomplishments, and art forms of sharing their view on life. Every piece so unique, so real, a look into their lives. A good example is my youth pastor’s wife, who writes of Creating Home Journal, which covers a broad but beautiful spectrum. I share the same passion for sharing. Although I have many experiences that I have been blessed with, I am still a man, who needs some motivation every now and again. Something that draws one to make something different than it currently is. Because if we allow ourselves to take the easy road all of the time, and just complain about how it should be different, or how we wish some thing would change, and not do anything about it, we are hypocrites and we stay stagnant in our lives. Any day that we are not working at being better at what we do, than we were the day before, we are not moving forward, we are back sliding. Which is not a good thing to do. And as a christian, I am growing in my relationship with God, but I can see where I have lost motivation, and begun to point at others and try to see their faults instead of mine, I am in need of some change emphasis inside. We cannot expect a different result when we keep doing the same thing.

So I guess now I have said my piece, done some writing for a change, (literally), and inspired to now take it to other areas. And I hope that you have been able to gain something from this random post. But I hope you got some motivation as well. To pick up something that may have been sitting for too long, untouched, but was nagging on you for your time and energy. So go out, and get motivated. And I look forward to seeing you back here again soon, as I walk out this motivation in written form.

Thanks for your time.

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There is a job out there that has been deemed the most dangerous for anyone to attempt. It is King Crab Fishing in the Bering Sea of Alaska. It has been Hollywood-ized a bit by the famous TV show, The Deadliest Catch, and many people have lived the life of a sailor through that series. However, until you have actually been out there, on the high seas, you really cannot know, or experience what it is really like to brave the elements, and put your self out on a limb. Well, all that to say this, I have not, and probably will never end up on a Crab Fishing Boat. However, I have experienced a job that I would put very close in the rankings of dangerous jobs, and it does take place on the high seas. I am talking about Commercial Fishing for Salmon off of Kodiak Island.

Now just because it is not taking place in the Bering Sea, Does not mean that it isn’t adventurous or dangerous, so let me paint the picture for you. You are on a big boat, 58 feet long, which is longer than most houses. It sways constantly with the roll of the swells coming in from the Stormy Pacific. You are living off of four hours of sleep, and no showers for weeks. You have not stepped on land for 16 days, and its starts to show. The meals are hearty, but nothing fancy. The morning starts with the raise of the anchor, and as you roll out of your bunk, your feet hit the floor, and you are off into another day. You shove down some cereal and coffee to get you going, and as you slip on your extra tuff boots, the salty air, and the salt stains in your clothes hit your nostrils. Not just salt, but seaweed, and fish, lots and lots of fish. However, by this point, after being out on the water for so long, you really don’t smell anything irregular, despite the wreak of your own stench, due to the lack of cleanliness. You pull on your rain gear, which is cold and damp from the previous days work. Orange gloves and ball cap complete the uniform. Now it begins.

The guy in the skiff takes off, attached to the net, which is neatly stacked upon the deck, and begins to unravel the corks and leads that string out for nearly a quarter of a mile. Meanwhile, the skipper maneuvers the boat into position, along the shore line, or off of a rock fixture, and this allows for a 30 minute window to catch up with the day, which is how long the net sits there, gathering fish, until you are headed out to man the ropes and stations. This style of commercial fishing is called Purse Seining, which is where you bring together the two ends of the net, and pull the rope on the bottom portion of the net, which forms a purse. Your job then is to take all the extra net that is floating around, and stack it carefully on the deck of the boat. Now this may seem like an easy job, but now lets throw in the variables that make it interesting.

First off, the position you are in is the Leads, which is the heavy portion of the net that weights the net on the bottom. Each side of the net must be stacked, separately, corks on one side, leads on the other. This means that you are holding your hands up in the air, to stack the line on the deck. Not only that, you are in a hurry, to get done and get the fish on board as quickly as possible. And also you are in 10 foot swells, with water sloshing over the sides of the boat that are only a foot tall, so they would do nothing to aid you in the event of a fall. The net always passes over your head, which is filled with not only salt water, but also jelly fish! They get caught in the net, and as it is swinging around in the wind and roll of the boat, it tends to slap you right in the face, and causes a very painful sting, but there is no rest for the weary. So then add the fact that there are fish that get stuck in the net that must be retrieved ASAP, and your skipper is yelling at the top of his lings at you, and you are messing up, since you are quite knew to the position, and on top of that, you have up to 30,000 lbs of Salmon, that are waiting to be rolled onto deck once the net is all done being hauled in.

Finally, the net is stacked, the fish are stored, and the skiff takes off once more for another round. All of this takes place in the matter of about 20 minutes. Sounds like fun huh. Well I didn’t really think so at first, and there were many days during that month aboard the Millennium, that I wanted to quit and be done with it, and actually sleep. But that was not an option, and the longer it went on, the tougher and more knowledgeable you become. And also after it is all over you look at the paycheck, and all of that hard backbreaking work seems to fade into history. But the experience is still there, and the memories never go away. It was one of the best and worst experiences of my life, and I was so privileged to be on a boat with such a great crew, and one of the best skippers in Alaska. We worked very hard, and stayed busy even way past the ending date for the other boats. So it was an amazing experience that was multifaceted. We saw bears on the Island of Kodiak, met some very interesting people, went dear hunting, worked on boats, washed dishes for a month straight. That would not be the last time I would be on a boat on the high seas, and the skills gained on that trip helped me to enjoy the trip on a catamaran in the BVI in  2006. However it wasn’t all just a good time. I actually learned a great deal from this adventure.

There was a saying that my Skipper, Jerry, always said. “There are two things that make boys into men, Commercial Fishing and the Marines.” I believe it, at least the fishing part of it. The skills gained, physically and mentally were huge. Some of the things I gleaned from that trip were as follows. In those tough situations you must man up, and get past the physical affliction, and take control and make something happen. You cannot let your emotions get the best of you, when that person is dishing out some discipline for the mistakes you made. You still need to accept it, move on, and learn from it. Also it is amazing how quickly you learn something when you jump in and do it, even though you don’t have everything figured out. That’s how it worked on the boat, you take a task, and learn it by doing it, and yes you may mess up, but its the learning curve. Also, I learned about team work, and knowing that we must keep the team together. There is definitely no room for fear, when the going gets rough, and it is up to us to make the best out of it. These principles can be applied in many areas of our life, and when those times get tough that is when our true colors are shown.

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