Good morning friends.

Thank you for stopping by for my birthday. Yup, 47 big ones. Or said another way, I’ve been alive for 17,265 days.

I don’t really like making a big deal for my birthday other than to use it as an excuse for all of us to get together.  I apologize we did not put a video together, i have been slightly under the weather. I am on the mend now though. In a couple of days we will put a video out when I’m 100 percent.

OK, so day 500 here in Puerto Rico. And because of my birthday and this 500 day milestone,  I am going to share 3 very quick stories.

1. This one is for all the kids out there. As the summer approaches many of you will head off to sleep away camp for 7 to 8 weeks. This was a big thing in the Northeast.  As it turns out, it was actually more of parents wanting a break from their kids really. Now its true, many kids ended up really loving sleep away camp. And some of us did Not. I absolutely despised it.  If you are one of those kids who gets homesick and did not like camp, I have a no lose strategy to share with you.  

The morning you leave, or the day after, immediately put a letter in the mail saying you hate camp and you want to come home. Your parents will receive this on day 4 or 5 when you’re at camp. Make sure you continue to send letters about how bad you want to come home. This way, on day 30 when visiting day takes place, your parents already know that you’re coming home. They won’t even bother trying to convince to stay another 30 days until camp ends.

If asked why you hate camp so much, its a very simple answer; here it is; “I don’t like sleeping in a wooden bunk with 12 other males, I don’t like being woken up at 7 in the morning to swim around a freezing lake, I don’t like bugs, and I miss my dog.  Kids this is a bulletproof strategy.

OK, Story 2. In 1999 / 2000, I was seeing a shrink on Thursday or Friday during the summer months. At the end of each session, I used to say to him; “What are you doing this weekend?”  — He would say to me; “I’m going to the beach and will be reading and relaxing”  — I would then say to him, “You say that every weekend. I don’t get it. You just go to the beach and sit there?”  — He said, “I’ve been doing that for years, I like the beach. I like to read and relax”

Friends, we had this same dialogue every single week.  Scott where are you going with this?  Here’s where; It might not have made sense to me back then, the same is to say, not much made sense to me back then. But looking back, its easy to hone in on the key words my psychologist said. He likes the beach. He likes to read and relax. You see, there doesn’t have to be anything more climatic than that. There is no bigger picture. He likes to read and relax. And being he knows that, he just keeps repeating what works.  Doesn’t light bulb kind of go off where you hear that ?

And now, story 3. I am incredibly grateful to have made it to the age of 47. My father died when he was 46 in 1984. I never thought I would get to this age. Its amazing the pre conceived notions we sell ourselves. So much fear and Irrational thinking. Only by the grace of God did I have those blinders removed from my eyes. At 47 years old, I have never felt younger and stronger. The fountain of youth can be found with happiness.  I speak from experience. In my teens, twenties and thirties, I could not have felt older. If you don’t know what makes you happy, that’s OK. Start by cutting out things that make you unhappy. The fist step for things to get better is for them to stop getting worse.

I will end with this. Its never to late start and its always too early to quit. Have a great day friends.