Arriving at 50

Today I am 50. I'm celebrating by sailing in the Whitsundays, Australia's top cruising islands. I'm sharing the day with my beautiful wife Miranda, her sister Fiona and my brother-in-law Dan. We drank Champagne over lunch, moored in Palm Bay. We're now lying by a pool before we BBQ some steak, drink some red wine, watch the sun go down and then watch the night sky from our deck. I'm blessed to mark this occasion with such a perfect day.
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It's said happiness is the journey not the destination. But as I look back on a life packed with adventure, that's not what I see. The journey is where I push myself, where I explore, where the unexpected happens, where I make new friends, where I learn. Most of life is a journey and there is much happiness along the way. 

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But when I arrive and look out from the top of a mountain, or across the ocean, or from under a waterfall, or I look at what I have built with my hands, or watch my children perform something they have worked hard to deliver, when I arrive at a destination, if I listen, my soul connects with the universe in a wonderful way. A moment of peace. Stillness. Beauty. A sense of accomplishment. When I arrive, I feel more alive. Any pain along the way is forgotten. If I'm remote, I breath in the world, deeply. My soul connects with the universe and it's replenished. My strength grows. I can see more clearly. The destinations we experience are life's really magic moments.

Arriving at 50 and arriving at Palm Bay was a moment to take a deep breath and connect with the universe. And I did. And I feel replenished. And the path I can see ahead is clear, for a while. ​