Discussion

Daily writing prompt

What topics do you like to discuss?

View all responses

This will be short and sweet, seeing as I have to head out to work in an hour or so.

I enjoy talking about emotional, mental and coping issues to a great extent. Having some experience in this area, those are topics or subjects that I can add value to in a discussion.

I also like to talk baseball specifically the MLB Toronto Blue Jays. Not off to a bad start this year, but also not off to the best either. Need to create more offence. They lost last night after their game with the Kansas City Royals was called off after 5 innings. The Jays were losing 2 to 1 when the game became official.

Art and creativity get plenty of mention as well.

Currently, family is also a great discussion topic with Lynn. For too much detail to go into at this time.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Risk and Reward

Daily writing prompt

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.

View all responses

Today’s prompt is a “no brainer” so to speak from where I sit early this April morning.

Without a doubt, it was the decision to sell our house in Ontario back in 2022 and move across Canada specifically to Nova Scotia.

We decided ultimately to move based on a text message I had sent to a real estate person, whose wife I had worked with.

After a meeting or two and researching what was available to purchase for a home in Nova Scotia, we decided to leave our life and family(mostly Lynn’s) and move east to both retire and be closer to our daughter.

There was plenty of risk or potential risk in us taking this on. We had no real plan laid out and were going to quit the job that was sustaining our lifestyle. Nevertheless, we simply tackled issues as they arose. Praying that the profits from the sale would for the most part fund retirement.

Is this the way to approach something this life-changing and loaded with potential risk?

Likely not.

But, no risk in life ……… no reward.

And the rewards speak for themselves.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —-

Past Regrets

Daily writing prompt

Write about a time when you didn’t take action but wish you had. What would you do differently?

View all responses

The prompt throws out a legitimate question that I suspect many think about from time to time.

We do indeed learn from our past mistakes, but not taking action in the past on something isn’t necessarily a mistake. Sure, we may have when we reflect back, wished we had chosen a different course of action, but we didn’t.

Thinking back, I’m sure there were times and things when I should have taken action on them but didn’t. The problem is I can’t necessarily think of any.

The problem or issue, although perhaps not a major one, is dwelling so much in the past, that we miss living in the moment currently in front of us, and not seeing the opportunities that our on our plates for the future.

In my experience, I’ve come across a few and I admit not many that are somehow stuck on re-living the past. Should have done this or not done that and what about this that happened thirty years ago. They dwell on or in the past with such vigor, that the present is simply passing them by. And long with that, the excitement and thrill of living it and anticipation of what the future holds for them.

I think I would rather expand my energy through living in the present and living life to its fullest extent possible right this very moment. All the while charting a course for our future. The past is past……the present and future are full of limitless opportunities.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

The Unknown

Daily writing prompt

What makes you nervous?

View all responses

Simply put, it is “the unknown.”

Taking a step back for a brief second, “the unknown” is one of those concepts that breeds nervousness, as well as excitement, wonderment, and perhaps anticipation depending on both the situation and the individual involved. And the reality is, I would place myself in the middle of all of that.

It is often “the unknown” that causes us great levels of angst and nervousness given the fact that we simply …….. well don’t know. We don’t know what the future holds – “the unknown” and that makes or causes great and often unhealthy levels of nervousness.

A medical diagnosis with outcomes that a fairly unknown causes great worry and fear.

Being in control of things, like our lives is a pretty basic tenant that we often strive for. Controlling our destiny or our future might be a phrase that defines that.

But, are we really ever in control? Perhaps in any given real-time situation or in the present. But, five, ten, twenty years into the future is there any control of that to any significant extent? For many, not having control – “the unknown” causes great ongoing strife in their daily lives.

However, on the other hand, “the unknown” can also be a source of great excitement and thrill. Much like opening a present on Christmas morning. You never know what it might be; what you might get.

When I started this blog back in 2016, the name “justabitfurther” came into existence as a way of describing or summarizing the attitude Lynn and I had then and still have now when out on an adventure. We often would say, “I wonder what is around that next corner on the trail – let’s go just a bit further and see what might be there.” It was the anticipation and potential excitement of the unknown that would often propel us to go further along and discover whatever there was to uncover.

The reality is, that we like to “know things” and when we don’t know things we’re left with “the unknown.” The problem is we need to know what “the unknown” is or holds. And when we don’t or can’t know, that makes us nervous or anxious. Unfortunately, our mind tends to head off on its own accord at times to fill in the blank of “the unknown” all by itself. The resulting answer to the dilemma of “the unknown” is usually far worse than the result.

“The unknown” can cause us to be nervous or it can result in a level of excitement and anticipation. Maybe it is simply a decision we take – nervous or not nervous.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

How To Unwind

Daily writing prompt

How do you unwind after a demanding day?

View all responses

It does seem that for the vast majority of us, our day-to-day existence can be overly demanding. Maybe even the word “demanding” might not accurately describe it. But, regardless of the particular word one might choose, our days can be fraught with demands and stress.

Most professionals in the therapy, counselling or medical fields would likely endorse a phrase along the lines of “too much stress and demands are not healthy – reduce them” and as well, “take some time for yourself at the end of the day.” In addition, they may very well add in some other appropriately selected advice to effectively add you in dealing with what we might be referring to as “a demanding day(s).”

Since semi-retiring back in June of 2022, work-related stress or “demanding work days” are pretty much non-existent. However, before “retirement day” my work days tended to be demanding, and combined with the always lurking around “a very demanding day” – where things might “go explosively south” in a flash.

For the last seven or eight years of “work-life”, I had about a daily forty-five-minute commute each way to work. It was on the drive home in the early afternoon, when I utilized that time to unwind. I might listen to a podcast,; or CBC on the radio; perhaps cue up a favourite music list, or stop a pick a few things at a local farm market(which was a favourite option) for the BBQ that night.

That drive or commute home was the catalyst by which I could switch off my brain, and simply be in this zone of merely existing for forty-five minutes or so. It was the act of zoning out from work, that allowed me to unwind after what was often a day of high pressure and stress from public interaction in a downtown core urban environment.

As well, I found that varying my route home helped in the unwinding process. Instead of taking my usual route northbound on Highway 400 in Ontario to our home on the shores of Georgian Bay, I might take secondary highways and backroad concessions. Farm fields, animals, rolling countryside, sunshine and zero to slightly above zero in terms of traffic were always a good choice.

Regardless of one’s approach to “unwind after a demanding day”, it is vitally important to unwind after a day filled with stress and demands. We put in a solid effort(or at least we should) five days or more a week. There is no need to bring residual work stuff home in the evening. Whether it be “stuff that is so important that it can’t wait till tomorrow(fu@k that crap)” or bringing home stress and pressure from the previous eight or nine hours.

Work is work time and home is home time.

Unwind from work – it’s important ……you and your family deserve it.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Social Media and Me

Daily writing prompt

How do you use social media?

View all responses

Social media in many respects today has become a “weapon of choice” when it comes to influencing the masses. Having said that, I am not sure that that first sentence is entirely true in the sense of “weapon of choice.” But social media I think has in many ways stretched the word “social” to the absolute boundaries of its definition and meaning.

But this isn’t meant or supposed to be a commentary on the effect of social media in and on today’s society.

So, how do I use social media?

First of all, I’m the last one for any to ask about the inner work of posting great stuff on any social media platform. I can post enough at a level that gets my message more or less across.

The three social media platforms I have are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I tend to use all three for more or less information collection. For example, I will post or comment on Facebook from time to time. However, I use it mostly to find out what is happening in our community or follow a particular Facebook group I might be interested in along the lines of “Hiking in Nova Scotia” or “Waterfalls in Nova Scotia.”

My Instagram account was originally set up in conjunction with when I started blogging about outdoor adventures back in 2016 or thereabouts. I used it pretty extensively for that purpose, but over time I don’t post on it as much. Today, I’m more likely to use the short “Instagram story” function to post on something truly insignificant that I may be doing. Overall, I use Instagram to follow people I find interesting, or restaurants/pubs that Lynn and I enjoy frequenting.

Twitter or “X”, I use surprising as a form of entertainment, if that makes any sense. I’m fully aware of the “bots” and other “questionable accounts” that dabble in variations of truth, but “X” does at least for me provide a certain level of weird entertainment.

One thing I have done on “Twitter/X”, is use the “list function” to collate a significant number of Halifax and Nova Scotia-related accounts into one convenient folder if you will. It includes news agencies; traffic reports; emergency activities, weather, businesses, restaurants, pubs, sports teams, and government. I find it makes it a quick way to get an overview of what’s happening often in fairly real-time in the province.

That’s my social media usage in a nutshell. I don’t make political or social statements or go “all off” at some politician. If I do along those lines, it would be a sarcastic humorous, yet accurate look at the “velociraptor-like” Canada geese that inhabit “Sullivans Pond” in Dartmouth and who dare any human entity to even try to come close and take a picture of them each spring.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Family

Daily writing prompt

Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.

View all responses

If you want respect, love, and a supposed relationship with your offspring(specifically) one offspring, then man up and act like an adult.

For fuck sake – you’re 80-plus years old. Act like it. Not like a seventeen-year-old boy with an erection trying to get a date with the cute girl two rows over in math class.

Adulting is tough – it is supposed to be. You’re destroying your daughter. You were married for 60-plus years. Your wife was hardly two months “cold in the ground” when you “connected” with someone twenty years younger than you.

You’re phrase “Oh, I have to be in a relationship – I need this” – I call bullshit.

Man up and call your daughter. Don’t have others do the tough and unpleasant work that you created – all by yourself.

Sixty-three years of marriage has to mean something. Apparently, it meant nothing to you. It does mean something to your daughter(my wife) and son though. Think about that.

Fuck – I’ve lost a lot of respect for you.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Positive Encounters

Daily writing prompt

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

View all responses

I’m not sure what this says about me and maybe it says nothing at all, but remembering a “random encounter with a stranger that stuck out as a positive experience” is challenging, to say the least.

It may be very well, that those so-called “random experiences” that the prompt is inquiring about are simply that, random occurrences. Not everyone loses their wallet or purse while out shopping and then have some random stranger return it to them. I’ve never had anyone pay for my order while sitting in my car at a drive-thru window at a fast-food restaurant.

But, do those things happen? Sure they do.

I think what we have are lots of daily positive encounters with strangers, but they’re not “those big experiences” for lack of a better phrase. We have a lovely but brief chat with the teller at the bank – positive. The cashier at the supermarket was so nice – it made my day…positive. When crossing the road, a car stopped to let me cross and the driver smiled and waved giving me a “thumbs up” – pretty positive.

Moving on, the only thing that pops to mind is actually something I did and the interaction with the person and family after.

Back when we lived in Ontario, I would often take a walk along the waterfront trail near our house. One day while out, I found a wallet. When I opened it up there was a bit of cash in it, and of course ID. The address surprisingly, wasn’t far from our house. So, when I got home I figured I would just drive it over to the house.

Short story, it belonged to a fella in his late twenties to early thirties, living at home with his parents. He didn’t even know that he had lost it.

The point of it all was, that they were shocked essentially out of their socks that someone would return the wallet intact. No money was missing; nothing was taken.

It obviously was a very positive experience and interaction with a random stranger for them, but it was also a very positive experience with a random family for me as well.

It also made me feel good about myself that I did the right thing. Not that “feeling good” was the motivation for getting the wallet back to the guy. Doing the right thing is always the right thing to do. Having said that, there was joy and satisfaction in seeing them believe that there were still good people out there, that would do the right thing.

Not sure the post fits the prompt….but nevertheless it was a positive encounter with a stranger.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —

Better Is Often Just Around The Bend

Lynn and I love a good road trip. Even a mediocre road trip works in our books.

In fact, who doesn’t like a road trip?

And doesn’t the phrase “road trip” conjure up summertime fun and adventure? The top rolled down on the convertible; your hair madly blowing around like some crazed “hair lunatic” as the wind rushes through it.

Alright, so you don’t have a convertible and even with all the windows cranked down on your six-year-old “slightly used” cherished set of wheels, your hair isn’t long enough to blow crazily around

Nevertheless, a road trip is still a road trip.

Just you and your “bestie” cruising along the highway with tunes blasting from the radio and a cooler full of fattening snacks and cold drinks teetering precariously in the backseat.

Ironically, life is often like a road trip. Sometimes you know the destination before heading out. Other times it’s a wild ride, with no specific destination in mind and then one day you wonder, “How did we arrive here?”

Whether life is a metaphorical road trip doesn’t really matter. Although, I think it is a great metaphor or analogy. What does matter though is where you stop or quit along the journey.

Imagine, you’re someplace where you’ve never been before, do you know what’s around the next corner? Likely not.

In order, to know what is around the next corner we need to do what? We need to go around the next corner, right? That seems simple enough.

But, how often in life do we quit just before entering the corner?

Your life seems to be cruising along comfortably, much like a long stretch of flat highway on a road trip. The destination in mind is getting closer, but this part of the trip is excruciatingly boring. Nothing to see; nothing out of the ordinary to look at. The same flat and boring fields, kilometre after kilometre. Nevertheless, you’ve settled in; feeling comfortable and feeling pretty good about things.

Unfortunately, life can reflect that reality as well.

When things are comfortable, we often don’t want to or even if we want to, do anything to upset the apple cart by introducing some new experience into the mix of our living. Trying something new; having different experiences or “seeing what is around the next bend”  are those messy things that can upset “the apple cart of life.”

We create barriers within our lives that define what our level of comfort is within it. Some people have a very wide comfort level, which they created after years of pushing the edges of those boundaries, just a bit each time. But, nevertheless pushing them on a fairly frequent basis.

Others have a very narrow defined comfort level in which to exist. They are more comfortable and safe with the same routine and doing the same few things day in and day out. For these people, the concept of “the unknown” seems overly foreign to them. It makes them afraid. They’re afraid to try because they are afraid to fail.

But, in reality, life and living is ultimately a sort of multi-decades-long “road trip.” It is by the very nature and definition of a “road trip”, that new and unknown experiences will always be around the next bend. That’s why many, if not most, people head out on a “road trip.” To experience life and to live it as fully as they can.

The answer to seeing around “the next corner” or to figure out what is “around the next bend in life”, is as simple as going around “the next corner” or driving “around the next bend.” We just need to do it.

Will the unknown always be part of the equation? Sure it will. It is impossible to go throughout our lives and have every question answered before tackling anything new.

How boring would that be?

We are the sum of all of our experiences in life. Not just those experiences we feel comfortable and safe with that are found within the confines of our rather narrowly defined comfort zone. We are also meant to experience those on the other side of the boundary as well.

It doesn’t mean you have to sign up and go jumping out of a plane, attached to the jump instructor. You can’t experience anything and slightly widen your comfort zone, by someone explaining or describing the feeling to you. There is no way for me to describe the taste of a fantastic and exciting dish on a menu for you to try. I could give it a go, but for you, it really isn’t an experience at all.

For you to know and experience the taste, texture and flavours of the food, you need to take a bite or two.

Don’t be afraid to see “what is around the corner” in life. Yes, there is a chance it could be not so good. However, more often than not though, “what is around the next corner” is great.

Every new experience, whether they are big or small and no matter if it is poor, good or great, they all add one precious element to the already perfect you.

The crazy thing about all of this is, that by expanding our comfort zone, we truly end up becoming more comfortable.

And isn’t that what you’ve always wanted all along? To be comfortable?

–as always with love–

—  get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself  —

Decide ……And Grow

Daily writing prompt

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

View all responses

Growth is one of those necessary things in life that happen. In fact, at times growing and growth happens whether you like it or not. I’m no Doctor, but I suspect growing taller just happens and that there isn’t much you can do about it. The whole genetics thing.

Nevertheless, as people we grow. We tend to grow through the experiences we encounter as we move along the path called life. Many of us, unfortunately, learn at a young age that touching the hot element on the stove hurts. We end up growing and learning through that rather negative and often painful experiment.

But, on the other side of the coin, we can make decisions that are good and positive and still grow and learn from them. All learning and hence growth doesn’t necessarily have to occur from a negative perspective or from having something fail.

We haven’t lived on the east coast of Canada, specifically Nova Scotia our entire life. In fact, we landed here in July 2022.

Had we always intended to move here? Well, sort of; kind of; maybe. It was always one of those nebulous concepts, ideas or desires that when I eventually retired, we might move to the East Coast. Kind of like the thought of travelling to exotic places, but never putting any action or a plan together to travel there.

But, it all changed with a simple decision to contact a friend in real estate, back in February of 2022.

This simple, albeit longish text, changed our lives for the better.

It is exceedingly important to point out here, that we had no plan in place to move. No plan or idea on finances or what the future might look like.

We had no plan at all. In fact, throughout the entire process from this point of February 2022, till we opened the door of our current home on the shores of the Bay of Fundy – we had no specific plan.

We simply dealt with the issue(s) and what needed to be done that day, as it occurred.

In other words, we simply took a step out in faith and then took another step and kept taking steps until we ended up here.

And that’s the lesson that all of us need to learn.

Often we try to figure out and plan events, literally to “within an inch of their life.” And you know what happens when we do?

We talk ourselves out of it. The planning is too hard; too many obstacles; what will people think; it is outside my comfort zone … and the list goes on. So what may have altered our lives in ways we could never imagine(all of which would have been positive), we simply bail on.

In theory, Lynn and I should never have made this move.

We had no plan to speak of other than solving issues as they arose. And believe me, we had some significant challenges to deal with.

But, we knew in our hearts this was the right decision and that we would deal with only the issue that was directly in front of us at any given point. Literally, our planning was at times no more than sitting in the morning of any given day to plan what needed to get accomplished or to deal with in the afternoon.

And the next day would be the same all over again.

The lesson learned is you don’t have to have every detail mapped out or “have your ducks lined up in a row.” Simply taking a step out of your comfort zone and then taking another step, even if you have no fu@king idea of how you’ll get to the finish line is often the catalyst to create wonderful positive change in your life.

Waiting until the perfect time or getting your ducks in order means it never happens. You just keep waiting and waiting – no time is ever perfect.

I wrote this post back in June of 2022 before we moved – Nova Scotia Bound – Time Is Ticking Away. Most of the pertinent stuff is near the end of the post. But, the first bit gives you a small idea of our “planning” and thoughts back in 2022.

–as always with love–

— get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself —