"My life is like a stroll on the beach... as near to the edge as I can go."
~ Henry David Thoreau

I've strolled upon almost 500 different beaches around the world and enjoyed a cold beer at more than 1,000 beach bars. Some of my favorite beaches and beach bars are located here. I am often inspired while being at the beach.

Some beach inspired thoughts:

I was born, like almost everyone else, full of potential to become, to accomplish and to attain. I am still full of the potential to self-actuate and to enact awesome things. However, I have found my true calling and after so many years of searching, I am, at long last, proud to assert that I am a Professional Beach Bum.

This journey of self-discovery has not been easy. I've had to endure sweat lodges, darshans, meditation marathons, vision quests, psychotropic plants, a couple of marriages, several love affairs, a few peak experiences, some profound failures, some exciting successes, some long and arduous journeys, a few stormy seas and 60 trips around the sun in order to discover that I am a Professional Beach Bum.

I am an amateur at so many things: amateur wealth mentor, amateur lover, amateur meme therapist, amateur author, amateur hiker, amateur scuba diver, amateur sailor, amateur storyteller, amateur entrepreneur, amateur chef and on and on. I could spend hours detailing all the things that I am an amateur at; BUT I am a Professional Beach Bum.

There is the old saying, "Do what you love and you'll never work another day in your life." Since work is never been one of my big loves, now that I have discovered my true calling, I am going to focus on doing what I love for the remainder of the days I have left to play this game called "Life on planet Earth." I'll be writing, coaching & mentoring, doing seminars and, of course, hanging out at the beach.

Perhaps I can even inspire you to join me, if you are so inclined, in fulfilling what I call the real reason for being alive... to Revere, to Relish and to Contribute. My thoughts on that are below this video I shot on the beach in Bequia.

I said above that I'd talk some more about the real reason for being alive, so here goes a little rant...

It seems to me that most people don't have a friggin' clue who they are and why they are running around on this planet. As a consequence, they run around being busy for the sake of being busy. The good thing about being busy is that you don't have the time to stop and think about difficult things like the reason and purpose of your life.

As I said above, I've decided that the real reason for being alive is to revere, relish and contribute.

By revere, I mean recognizing and honoring the sacredness of all things, including myself. I am sacred. I am a divine creature. That makes me pretty cool when you think about. Since you are also a sacred creature, you're pretty cool too. However, so is everything else. Each grain of sand on a beach is sacred. So, nothing is worthless. It is all valuable. It is all beautiful. It is all worthy of being honored, respected and even worshipped.

By relish, I mean fully enjoying all the pleasures, experiences and challenges that life has to offer. I am befuddled by those people who expect to go to heaven when they die where they think an eternity of bliss awaits them; yet are incapable of enjoying the many pleasures available while they are still alive. Get a life folks... go have fun. Indulge yourself. Play hard. It's a lot more fun than working hard. Spend some time on the beach.

By contribute, I mean that each of us is capable of being a gift to our fellows. We can make a difference by how we are, by what we do, by what we say, by what we create as we travel this journey through life. That is why I say that the purpose of my life is to empower, enlighten and enrich the lives of others. I am committed to being a contribution and to leaving a legacy.

So here's the question. Who exactly are you and why are you hanging around this planet anyway?

Come hang around on the beach with me; I'll buy you a beer and we can ponder that for a while.

Check out my Cool Stuff page for more on contribution, communication and creativity.

More beach fun here. Go here to see some of my Beach Bum Videos.

Click below to Buy Leslie a beer.  

5 good reasons to buy Leslie a beer