1) swimming with a dolphin named Calypso...amazing. What beautiful animals.
2) Climbed up Dunn River Falls....not the side of it..right up the middle rock climbing. Fun adventure
3) beautiful weather even though storms had been in the forecast
4) interacting with the Jamaican people...delightful
5) fantastic ice show on the ship. I still cannot wrap my mind around an ice rink
on a boat.
6) spending time with my daughter
Jamaica was so much fun. So much beauty and yet you were very aware of the problems that exist there. We saw men with machine guns and everything was hidden behind electrified fences. You could not forget that day to day life in Jamaica was not the vacation we were experiencing. It is a hard life filled with poverty and often danger. But in the midst of that reality the thing I noticed about the Jamaican people that I met was their laughter and smiles. They are a very friendly engaging people who love to play. They seem to take life at a slower pace. They enjoy it moment by moment. This is proof to me of something my soul has always known...that happiness does not come from having more money. It does not come from advanced degrees, or brand name clothing. It does not even come from having enough to eat or running water. Many things in life can certainly make us more physically comfortable and I am grateful in my life to have many creature comforts available to me. But in Jamaica I saw that comfort does not equal happiness. Happiness must therefore come from another place? But where? I believe it is centered in our hearts and spirits. Joy comes from interacting with people and learning to love. Joy comes from faith in a higher power and a sense of our place in the universe and a purpose for our existence. Joy comes from viewing the world around us and feeling grateful for it's gifts be they large or small. Joy comes from seeing things through the filter of happiness and thankfulness and refusing to allow the darkness in. When we do this we can have joy in a mansion in Palm Springs or in the poorest hut in the tropics. I am grateful this day for the bright countenances of the beautiful Jamaican people and for the reminder .."Don't worry...be happy man"
Jamaica was so much fun. So much beauty and yet you were very aware of the problems that exist there. We saw men with machine guns and everything was hidden behind electrified fences. You could not forget that day to day life in Jamaica was not the vacation we were experiencing. It is a hard life filled with poverty and often danger. But in the midst of that reality the thing I noticed about the Jamaican people that I met was their laughter and smiles. They are a very friendly engaging people who love to play. They seem to take life at a slower pace. They enjoy it moment by moment. This is proof to me of something my soul has always known...that happiness does not come from having more money. It does not come from advanced degrees, or brand name clothing. It does not even come from having enough to eat or running water. Many things in life can certainly make us more physically comfortable and I am grateful in my life to have many creature comforts available to me. But in Jamaica I saw that comfort does not equal happiness. Happiness must therefore come from another place? But where? I believe it is centered in our hearts and spirits. Joy comes from interacting with people and learning to love. Joy comes from faith in a higher power and a sense of our place in the universe and a purpose for our existence. Joy comes from viewing the world around us and feeling grateful for it's gifts be they large or small. Joy comes from seeing things through the filter of happiness and thankfulness and refusing to allow the darkness in. When we do this we can have joy in a mansion in Palm Springs or in the poorest hut in the tropics. I am grateful this day for the bright countenances of the beautiful Jamaican people and for the reminder .."Don't worry...be happy man"
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