Living an Extraordinary Life

I heard a story about a couple who wanted to do something extraordinary with their lives and so they decided to take a kayaking journey around the entire perimeter of Lake Superior. According to Wikipedia, Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes of North America. The lake is shared by Canada's Ontario and the United States' Minnesota to the north and west, and Wisconsin and Michigan to the south. It is generally considered the largest freshwater lake in the world.

The idea came to them after they had done some kayaking on the lake. In their excitement they decided to take a 2 month journey around the water’s edge to clear their minds and to bring their full attention to the question, “Am I doing the most I possibly can with my life?”

Lake Superior is not just large, 1,300 miles around; it is also unpredictable, capable of 20-30 foot waves, and high winds. It is one of the coldest lakes on the planet and for most of the year, the water temperature hovers around an uncomfortable 40 degrees.

When I lived on the California coast, I used to take 5 mile walks on the beach to clear my head and to ponder questions and ideas for the books and magazine articles I was working on. Some refer to it as writer’s block, but whatever it was the long walk on the sandy beach, which included carefully navigating over dozens of weather-beaten rock formations, would open the door to my imagination and the next chapter and next idea would suddenly appear. The amazing thing is that the beach walk always worked like magic.

Writer Sam Keen wrote, “Nothing shapes our lives as much as the questions we ask.” He followed this up by clarifying the value of the questions we ask. For example, it is a lot more powerful and helpful to ask a question like, “What do I want to do with my life at this point?” as opposed to, “What do people think about me?”

Kayakers Ann and Paul did not care about what people thought of them taking their long voyage around Lake Superior. They did what they needed to do to clear their minds and to allow an inner door to open to a wiser voice within. Ann said, “It wasn’t until I went around the lake that I discovered the biggest truth; that I want to have the courage to make spirit foremost in everything I do.”

Whether you are currently working at a great job, or are an executive, a physician, a teacher, a chef, an accountant, or a business owner, think about Ann’s realization of the importance of making spirit, passion, enthusiasm, and enjoyment central to everything you do. And since work takes up a big chunk of your day, make an effort to ask yourself often if the work you are doing is the work you really want to do? Am I doing the most I possibly can with my life?