I spent little time with the Internet on the weekend (in stark contrast to right now) and had lots of time to think on flights etc. These are some of the latest thoughts from my Journal… (the one and only look you will ever get inside… until I decide to transcribe something else)

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and Gandalf are talking at the Mines of Moria and Frodo, speaking of the Ring, says to Gandalf that he “wish[es] [the Ring] had never come to me.”
“So do all who live to see such times.” Gandalf replies, “But that is not for them to decide. All was have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
In my opinion, this is the clincher, the most important statement: “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” This, essentially, is how I try/want to live my life. It is not up to me to determine whether I live or die or some of the things which happen to me along the way. What I can do, however, is decided do with the time that is given to me.
People I have talked to in the last little while have expressed envy at my life. To me, it is just my life; what I do, how I live. I hear such things like “I wish I was you,” “Do it while you are young,” or “I want your life!” Australia. Cuba. China. Europe. Now Offshore… Yes, I will admit, sailing around the South Pacific in a tall ship is a pretty darn cool prospect, but what have I done other than what Gandalf told Frodo. I just made a decision to do these things when the opportunities arose. This doesn’t just apply to my job or my travel schedule or the number of stamps in my passport (not very many believe it or not). It is more about how I want to live every aspect of my life.
People say “Do it while you are young.” But I don’t think that is it; how about “Do it while you can”? One thing I learned from Mum’s cancer and eventual death is that you cannot put off things to a more “opportune moment.” When is the moment going to be? Will you be able to recognise it? What happens if you miss it? As important as it is to live our lives, as Christians, with our eyes on the future – on the prize, as Paul said, for which God is calling us heavenward – do we not have to live here and now? In this moment? It is the decisions we make now and in this moment which will influence us forever and bring us to that prize. Not making a decision is still a decision (and I am so guilty of this. I would rather put things off than make a tough decision sometimes).
That all being said, not everyone has the same life as everyone else. We each have to decide what to do with the days given to us. Carpe Diem. Seize the Day.