My Amazon

First written on July 14, 2025

I think of Dwayne Johnson's quote often when I'm looking for my own path. Some people would claim that I have reached a general level of comfort that would subvert disappointment. My wife and three sons are healthy and growing, I have a career in the Navy that has allowed me to do some real fascinating things, and I hit many personal benchmarks that leave people wondering how I did it. Perhaps they are being polite, but it's flattering to hear.

My path has countless tributaries which I allow into my main stream that makes me, me. I am not threatened by these added influences of power, danger, or cautionary tales. I know where my sea leads me and I accept these additions to use as leverage to propel me farther down the river. Whether I like it or not, that added pressure is coming, but how I choose to intermingle with it is really up to me. Some patches and junctions are rougher than others, but that is no mind. I know I'm headed to my sea where it will all accumulate into a fertile delta of payoff.

These tributaries are the influences of my parents, coaches, community leaders, my friends, entertainers, politicians, and books. Some have a stronger current than others, but they all feed me. Once it gets into my main flow, it is up to me to find that balance and seek tranquility of the water to continue my push towards where I know I'm going.

Sometimes there are setbacks, heavy rapids, or dead-ends. Pay no mind to these natural parts of life. What you may want to do is seek a lesson to be learned from. Perhaps you need a new map, new guides, revise your team, or to simply take a moment to regain your composure. During these hardships, maybe you want to take a page from Jocko Willink: reload, recalibrate, and reengage.

Theodore Roosevelt was never a fellow to remain settled, he always thirst to be the man in the arena, understood the strenuous life, and no goal was too far. He discovered an Amazon tributary and it was possibly his hardest task. In 2005, Candice Millard wrote about Roosevelt's harrowing adventure in The River of Doubt. He completed this expedition after he became Theodore Roosevelt, after he charged San Juan Hill, left the presidency, and was shot in Milwaukee to still make his 50-minute speech.

So what does Dwayne Johnson and river metaphors have to do with me and being inspired? It call comes down to where you get your influences from in order for you to continue your path.

I am inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger who dominated three diverse arenas. Brick by brick, plate by plate, he became a singular name. We know what we mean when we say "Arnold."

I am inspired by the terrible literature I get to read and know if they can get published, then I have what it takes to get published too.

I am inspired by politicians who never made it through law school. Life circumstances brought me to business school instead.

I am inspired by authors like Mark Twain who never went to college yet considered one of America's greatest literary figures.

Inspiration is all around us, but we have to not only be open to accepting their lessons, but figuring out how they can be applied to our own lives. This takes time, practice, and critical thinking. It's exhausting, but it to me it's far better than working eight hours for a company to go home and do nothing more.

Fall Seven Rise Eight

(Originally written and posted July 5th, 2024)

There is a proverb in Japan that if you fall seven times, you need to rise eight. This would aptly describe my life in the fewest number of words. There are so many barriers, so many hills to climb, and so many times I want to quit. We’re talking about my professional life, my personal life, and my own pursuits. There is one thing for certain, and to quote Churchill if, “if you’re going through Hell, keep going.”

Where to begin? Let’s talk about consistency. One day I’m certain that I’ll have the following I’d dream of, and they will note the time between these blog posts. My lack of consistency can be found at the gym, reading to my kids, or books read. It’s everywhere, and I’m aware of it. There is no such thing as a normal day in my life. Unless you want to factor in the thought that I’ll be going into work before the Sun rises and leave after it sets, there leaves little room to devote to other metrics what we may call a successful life. Still each day I rise again with the undying belief that it is a day of opportunity, but still skeptical on how much of what I want to finish (or even start) will take place.

We could share some thoughts on dedication. I am surrounded by the feelings of doubt in my head. Am I a good leader? Am I the best father? Should I do something differently for my wife? I blame that Philip Seymour Hoffman / Meryl Streep movie Doubt (2008) that had the best line, “I have so much doubt.” If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then I have my golden ticket punched. Still, I must rise each morning and do the work of a man.

I’m often conflicted with the thought that I really don’t need to be doing most of what I’m doing. I could ride out my time with the Navy with doing the bare minimum. I don’t have to seek all these roles and positions, and I certainly don’t need to do what I’m doing now. There was a taste of that though a few years ago. It was a time I wrote about at the beginning of The Whiskey Journal when I thought with all my heart that I was living in my last duty station before I was unceremoniously shown the door. The irony is that I was miserable. God gave me two working hands and a brain, and it’d be a shame if I did not apply them to make the people around me and my world better off. Calling it in and just getting by isn’t an option for me, but in contrast I fill my cup so full, my plate so high, that I’m left with a plethora of choices on what gets to be dropped, compromised, or tabled. Some may call this a good problem, but I carry shame with me for not being able to live up to the expectations I set up for myself. So often my ambition writes checks my ass can’t cash.

So, I do a lot of praying. There isn’t a lot of pomp and circumstance with it. Usually just me in my chair having a silent conversation. Some may accuse me of daydreaming, and although there are times they are not wrong, I’m probably speaking with God. Not for a lighter load, but for broader shoulders. This world is real, and I must keep going, I feel like my work isn’t done. Not that I could compare myself to Oskar Schindler, but there’s always at least one more person to help, one more project to accomplish, one more horizon to chase, one more mountain to climb. Just must do it one at a time.