Today's goal is simple. Make someone smile because they have a special position in this world.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe(ty third).

May you live a life of ease.

I am remembering the silly dance moment in the kitchen. I am smiling and looking forward to the silly moments to come. It really is fun to be alive and be silly and have confidence that no matter what everything will be okay. I am loved. I have time. I can live any life I choose. I choose this life and this path.

Writing a story from the imagination... Hoping this brings a smile to all those who dream with me...

After several months on this island, he has gotten to know a few people. The trick he always used in a new country was to find a couple local places to become a regular. Once becoming a regular, after about a month, people will start to notice him and open up. He did that same thing here and that's how he met Hana. Hana is a yoga instructor who has lived on this island for about three years, maybe a little less. She has a bubbly personality and will just talk to everyone. She had the confidence of a much older soul. She knew herself, she knew what she wanted, and what she was talking about. She also knew what she didn't know and wasn't afraid to admit not knowing. She made it her business to be nice to everyone she met. This young lady, who presented like a mature woman, has a heart of gold and a rolodex of contacts that shocks the imagination.

Hana was able to help our young Nathan. Nathan showed up on this island with the goal of personal development. Finding himself is too cliche a term for what he was doing. He was creating himself. In objective measure, Nathan was still young, 39 years old. He didn't feel young anymore. His body ached like a man of thirty years more, and his mind was fractured like that of a wartime veteran. He hadn't been through war in a traditional sense, not recently at least. But he had been through a different type of war. He had been at war with himself. His mind could not seem to rest, and after trying all the apps and practices and therapists he could find, he decided he needed to live a different life. The quote that rang through Nathan's head was that to get something he'd never had, he must do something he'd never done.

Nathan had an idea that popped up once before, and it has come back a few times since. The idea was that of a simple life. He thought about how he liked cappuccinos, he liked taking care of his body, he liked meeting new people and having regular people to connect and grow with. He thought about how much he liked to be a regular somewhere. Maybe that's the name, Regulars Cafe.

Oh man, it could be awesome, he thought to himself and nearly yelled out loud. It can also be something that grows to be bigger than just him. Nathan would have ideas like this, and he would even write them down or get started on something. Then he abandons the idea when something else comes along. This cycle had been plaguing him for a while. He didn't want to keep moving from one thing to the next. Even if the timeline felt long, 2-5 year increments, the next increment is always just another thing to do. The sticking power through any one of the increments could have yielded results, but he jumped ship because he "changed his mind." Legitimately, he has changed his mind and realized that he wasn't willing to do the work necessary to get there. There is space for Nathan to move around. No one is questioning that, except Nathan. Others have said he is living the dream, but he doesn't know what dream that is. He just wants a simple life with a family. All the glitz and glamor aren't the real moments of sitting on the couch with the baby. This simple life is fun and silly. It is filled with dancing and laughter. Nathan's family is a beautiful group of individuals connecting and supporting each other through life.

Nathan had to learn what this meant through a process of trial and error. He didn't have any role models of what this was like. He was simply trying his best. He recently discovered that fiction novels contain some of the secrets to how people might treat each other, and it can give insight into how people perceive such things. This has been the outside perspective Nathan was looking for, but didn't know it was hidden in these novels.

Now that Nathan had been reading and doing daily yoga for a few months, his mind and body were clear. He remembered the past experiences, and he remembered his idea of a simple life. What if Regulars Cafe popped up in that empty space in the town center? How do I get this to where I can use it for a cafe and maybe a bit of yoga in the back?

Enter Hana. She had been around the area for a little while. She was calling this home, and she knows everyone. Nathan met Hana a couple months back at a yoga class. He sees her around town several times per week. It just so happens they speak the same language. Nathan has been studying for a few years, and Hana is from there. They recently got to speaking in that language. It became their secret language. It also became a great practice for Nathan to keep up speaking. Through these daily connections, they built a friendship.

That's why Nathan thought of her first when he thought to open Regulars. The business idea was presented to Hana one afternoon while discussing over a coffee. They were both regulars at this particular cafe, and the staff knew their names and orders. Hana got a cappuccino without dairy though, soy or oat alternative, and Nathan got the dairy version with a little sugar. Nathan drank three or four of them in each sitting. He often debated on learning how to make them at home, but he enjoyed the experience of being there so much that he'd rather spend the extra money. After sipping her coffee, Hana got that smile on her face that crept in when she was thinking about something exciting. She was excited about Regulars Cafe. She loved the name, and she loved the concept. Her mind went into overdrive thinking and listing all the people in town that could help. She knew a builder, she knew the government staff, she knew the neighbors, she knew other cafe owners who would help with supplies, she knew someone that had all the equipment to start a cafe, she knew everyone they needed.

Nathan had saved a little bit of money. Luckily money goes farther on this island. It is a stroke of luck that everything fell into place. It felt almost too easy, but it was 5am wakeups and showing up to get the deliveries and doing the work with the builder, and sweeping the floors in the evenings, it was all that work, that's what needed to be done with joy. Doing the simple tasks on a daily basis keeps the spirits up for Nathan. The dream was still a dream, but Nathan had traveled the whole path by now. He was 20yrs down the road in his mind. Hana became his wife, they have two kids, boy and girl, they run the cafe, they enjoy every moment of life, and their kids are about to leave the island and go find their place in the world.

They lived a life of joy.

Nathan snaps back to the moment, sipping coffee with Hana. Hana had no idea that he just lived a life with her in his mind. Hana has no idea about what could be. The work to get there is still to be done. Here is the journey, here is what we'll do along the way, here's how we will have fun, here's what I'm doing, do you want to do it with me? That's Nathan's general pitch to Hana, on the business idea that is, the kids and family portion can come later. He doesn't want to scare the girl off on day one. He would want to have the conversation with her about how she might see a future.

The second thread to his thought is not about the life together, but it is about the conversation they will have about their life together. He will listen to how she wants to be loved and cared for. He will listen without defenses or judgment. He will also understand that it is not that he is doing anything wrong. It is just that she prefers it another way. He will listen to what that other way is, and he will do it that way.

Nathan catches himself again, deep in thought, not present. He apologizes to Hana for not listening. His brain runs off in imagination mode sometimes, and he isn't present when that happens. These daydream moments can be fun, and they must be treated with kindness. His brain works in mysterious ways because he is now laughing about thinking about listening so well while not listening in the moment. That's a bit of irony that is not lost on Nathan.

Bringing himself back, again, to the conversation with Hana. They start the groundwork on what will become a future they create together.

The future is bright. Everything is possible.