Life, Motivation

12 Things I Realized/Learned While Im Jamaica

jamaicaI recently traveled to Jamaica for my honeymoon with my beautiful new wife. During the trip, I cut myself off of all communications while on that island. For 8 days, no cell phone, no internet, to computer, no email, no facebook, no twitter, NOTHING.

It was one of the best things I have ever done. We are such a connected society, getting “disconnected”, even if it is just for an afternoon, is highly recommended. You end up being able to declutter your mind while you are disconnected. I know I did. I did quite a bit of thinking and here is a list of a few things I learned while on the magical island of Jamaica.

  1. No Problem – The natives of Jamaica say “No problem” quite a bit. It seemed that the island is truly a worry free, no problem type place. No one was angry, no one was sad, no one was depressed. Maybe it is the lifestyle. Maybe it is the sun. I am not sure. But you quickly realize while being down there that worrying is worthless. What will worrying about something honestly do for you? Stress you out? Kill you faster? It won’t fix the problem you are worried about. Instead of worrying about something, just fix whatever you are worried about. If you can’t fix it, you shouldn’t worry about it.
  2. Don’t knock it till you try it. I always crack up when I hear people say they can’t do something or don’t like something, then later they tell me they never tried it. How can you honestly say that you don’t like something or can’t do something if you haven’t gone out and actually experienced it? Yes, it may sound scary to go try something new, but try it. What have you got to lose? Nothing. What have you got to gain? Experience. So don’t knock something until you go out and try it. I won’t believe you.
  3. Get disconnected. For the entire 8 days, I was computer-less, phone-less and email-less. It was one of the greatest things I have ever done. I highly recommended getting disconnected. Even if just for a weekend. Turn off the phone. Turn off the computer. Turn off the TV. Turn off the playstation 3. Get disconnected from everything that connects you and connect with people you have been disconnect with. It is highly worth it.
  4. Life your life. Life is a beautiful thing. People take it for granted. They just go through the motions of life every single day. I know I am guilty of this. You just go through life without ever expecting the unexpected. Then something happens to you or a loved one and it puts everything into perspective and you will everyday like it is your last. A few days, weeks, or months later, you are back to the same ol’ routine, begging for something else to happen so you can live hard again. Don’t wait for the unexpected to hit before you life everyday like it was your last. Do it now. The unexpected WILL happen. Don’t wait for it. Expect it, embrace it, and live every single day as if it were your last day in earth. Throw all your passion into your work. Work as hard as you can. Love as hard as you can. Relax. Tell people no. Tell other people yes. Don’t wait till you’re on your death bed to realize you should have done more. Do everything now.
  5. Love your life. You only get one life to live. There is no instant replay, no do overs, no encore performances. You get one shot to make your life count. Knowing that, you should love the life you are living. When someone asks you “how are you doing” there should not be any other answer than “I am on top of the world” or “I am alive and doing great”. Any answer such as “I’m just OK”, or “I am not doing good” tells me the person I am talking to does not love their life. If you are one of those people, change what you are doing. If you are satisfied with the life you are living, change it so you are. You don’t want to look back and be disappointed. It is NEVER to late to change. No matter where you are in life, you can change certain aspects of your life to get what you want out of it.
  6. Your life doesn’t suck. According to Americans, the people of Jamaica live in poverty. According to the people of Jamaica, they are just like everyone else. We were rolling on a little catamaran boat up the coast. I saw a group of small children. They had no shirts on, and were outside what we would consider a dump of a house. When we floated by with our music blasting, all the children, with big smiles on their faces started dancing like there was no tomorrow. They don’t know anything but their life. And according to them, their life is great. Whatever you are doing though in life, there is probably someone who is going through something worse that you. Be happy for what you have. Be gracious for what you have. Be thankful for what you have.
  7. Smile. Laugh. Joke. Laughter is the best medicine. If you are having a bad day, if you hear a joke, you feel better. Put people in your life that make you laugh. Your quality of life with go up.
  8. Be personable. Be approachable. You will meet some great people if you lose the chip that is on your shoulder and think of everyone around you ask your possible best friend. You will meet some AMAZING people.
  9. Don’t concentrate on one thing. You may miss something big. I know many people who do the same thing, over and over, or focus really hard on one thing. That is great to do, as you focus your attention and get things done, but you may miss something else that could be huge in your life.
  10. Change. Just do it. People for some reason think that they can’t change. Or if people change, they are completely different people and can no longer associate themselves together. Change is a part of life. People will change physically. They will change mentally. They will change their opinions. They will change their mind. They will change what they think about you. Change is a good thing. Don’t be afraid to change, and don’t push people away if they change.
  11. Go hard or go home. Don’t half ass anything. You are only cheating yourself. Whether you are at work, at home, at the gym, or anywhere else. If you decide to do something, do it with everything you have in you. Don’t “kind of” do it. Give your full attention in the office. Get into character when you play dress up with your daughter. Love your wife as much as you possible can. If you give everything you have in everything you do, there is no way you can look back at your life and be disappointed because you did everything you could do in every situation.
  12. Love your family. Work super hard. Play harder. Love what you are doing. When it comes down to it, these mantras will get you far in life.
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Zach

I am a sunshine addicted, health crazed, reading & writing obsessed, business driven, web building, beer lovin', outdoor active, action-taking life junkie.