For six and a half years now, I have shared my experiences in unlearning, experimenting, and building. It has been quite the journey leaving a stable career as a banker in North Carolina to somehow, some way becoming a golf professional in coastal Mississippi.
Along the way, I’ve tried to share as many experiences and learnings as possible. Because I hate being told what to do or how to do it, I’ve never had any interest in telling anyone how to do anything, only in telling the accompanying stories that might provide an aha moment here and there.
It has been a complex journey to build the abk lifestyle that personifies how I want to live my most fulfilling and authentic life, but one of the main tenets of the journey remains so simple.
Discover (by doing lots of things) those things that light my heart on fire.
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It’s no secret that I have a never ending list of interests. I love variety. I love living. Of that list of interests, I have found that I like certain things, enjoy doing others, really like others, and then a select few set my heart ablaze.
I like jet skiing. I enjoy playing golf. I really like big family dinners. And then there is another category that produces a feeling, yes a feeling, that is hard to articulate. I feel it at certain times with my daughter when after causing a ruckus all evening long, she lays her head on my chest. I feel it when I get to break away from the golf course midday on a Saturday to speed over and watch my son play soccer. I feel it every year now as Labor Day approaches, knowing that the Annual Father/Son Sports Trip is about to commence.
And I really, really feel it when I see the leaves on the trees begin to turn. The bright yellows, dull oranges, and piercing reds literally take my breath away.
The feeling of being alive.
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For my first few years in coastal Mississippi, I lamented the lack of leaves changing. Maybe because I was paying attention to so many other things, I overlooked some sneaky good areas that were right in front of my face.
The golf course that I look at every single day has ten to twenty sneaky good trees. Many of the roads just fifteen miles north have sneaky good trees. Hell, even the parking lot at the local Lowe’s has sneaky good trees.
After I dropped my daughter at school this morning, I went tree hunting and leaf watching. I found a beauty, and it set my day ablaze.
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It’s T-Minus 24 days until a trip to New York City, but I’m certain the beautiful leaves there will all be gone by then. That’s the thing about this particular beauty. It’s fleeting. It comes and goes. It’s why I love October and November so much.
But luckily for me, the changing leaves linger into late November where I live. Next week, I have to travel just over an hour north along a route that used to bore me to bits. But I’ve got good news. The route has sneaky good trees, especially the reds.
So if I’m late for Thanksgiving dinner, just know that I’m okay. Better than okay. I just had a few pictures to snap to hold me over for the next ten months.
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Have a great week.-Benj
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