Friday Reflections

The Fourth Quarter of Life-John Helin

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Points to Ponder: I feel like my whole life was training ground for today and I am figuring out that in the fourth quarter of my life I want to finish strong. I really want to finish strong and this is what I want to do--John Helin

Credits for the video: John Helin, Kingston Media, ourmissionourveterans.org

Story Line: 2022 was a year of major changes in our lives. During this year of transition, I met many fine individuals. Through these interactions with people in various professions, cultures and countries- I heard some remarkable life stories. This end of the year reflection is dedicated to a remarkable person, John Helin. His life story is an inspiring one of transformation and selfless service. John dedicates his personal time and business resources to aid homeless veterans in locating and moving donated furniture into their new homes. I was fortunate to see first hand the effect John's work has on the homeless veterans he serves- from veterans recovering from drug addiction to a little five year old girl squealing with delight when seeing her new home for the first time and exclaiming in awe, "I love this house," John's selfless work has positively impaced hundreds of lives.

I can personally attest that John has made a big impact on our lives as well. I felt compelled to share coveage of his story from CNBC about John Helin

The following description about John is from the original central peninsula video. 

"The 4th Quarter of Life is an amazing story of transformation. At the age of 12, John Helin became addicted to drugs and alcohol. For 25 years John continued to fight these demons until one day he attended a service at Central Peninsula Church and made a commitment to straighten his life out. During this journey, John connected with their veterans ministry which helps homeless veterans throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. As an owner and operator of a moving company, John came up with a perfect solution to how he could make a huge difference in the lives of veterans.

Many of John's clients had high end furniture that they no longer needed and they would give the furniture to him which included complete bedroom, living room, and dining room sets. John in turn would deliver and setup the furniture for previously homeless veterans when they were able access stable housing through community based organizations.

When John gets a call that a veteran has accessed housing, he immediately puts a plan in place to fully furnish the apartment. Today, John has provided beautiful furniture and an amazing gift to hundreds of veterans. John says, "I'm in the 4th quarter of life and I want to finish strong." 

Reflection: What has impressed me more about John is that he not only spends his resources to pick up and deliver furniture for previously homeless veterans but he also spends time listening to their stories. He takes time to share his own story of struggle and transformation which have made a significant impact on the lives of many people. While he is determined to finish strong in the fourth quarter of his life, he is helping others- many of them young veterans- to improve the early quarter of their lives. We feel incredibly fortunate to have met John and to be able to share his work and story with you. What I've learned from John is that no matter what may have occured in the past, you have the power right now to make a positive change for the future. 

 

If you like to help here is more information  https://ourmissionourveterans.org/

Happy New Year to All  

 

Fill your life with experiences…

Point to Ponder: “Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” 

 Story Line: For this wonderful week of holidays and festivals, I like to share some memorable experiences during our travel to Costa Rica, Canadá, Peru and Ecuador this year. Some were nostalgic, some unique and from each one offered new learnings. 

Human Feelings Are Universal. 
Upper Left: Daughter trying to convince Father to stop protesting against the President in the town center Lima, with armed guards only a few feet away. ( update: three months later that  President was removed by Peru’s senate for corruption)  Lower Left: Cooking healthy vegetarian meal in Costa Rica. Center: A five years old negotiating with fruit vendors to get more fruits for his family. The lady was very kind and gave him more for his money. Right: Grandma taking care of granddaughter ( piggyback) while weaving beautiful clothes. A  little later her daughter arrives to pick up the little one.  ( Reminded me of our mother in law taking care of our daughter whenever we went out)

 

Learning from Nature

UL: Rare Golden Howler Monkey in Costa Rica. Sad to learn that New research suggests that it may be due to pesticide use. LL: Hawkish Manners: A Hawk waiting for the other to finish meal before taking his/her turn. Center: ET Already Home. Where do you think the idea of ET character originated? Galápagos, Ecuador. Right Column: Amazing experience of watching Scarlet Macaws waiting for Blue Green Parakeets to go for mineral rich meal first. They want to ensure there are no predators there. ( like in wartimes, sending Monkeys to blow up grenades before army marches in) Only after they are sure it’s safe, they came down and drive away Parakeets to enjoy the rest of the meal. 

Goose Bumps Moments

UL Pointing at the spot in left field: Memories of World Series Game 6, Toronto Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Eagles. Bottom of ninth Phillies leading 6-5 and Joe Carter of Blue Jay comes to bat against Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams ( Wild Thing). on a two strike pitch, Joe Carter hit an inside pitch just over the left field fence for a three-run walk-off home run, giving the Blue Jays a come-from-behind 8–6 victory, and the World Series crown.  Watching that spot gave me goose bumps as I still remember exact spot in the parking lot I was listening to the game in Palo Alto, California.

UR: on each side of equator line in different hemispheres (North and South). Ecuador 

 LL: Human Created Wonder: Nazca Lines, Peru. Numerous geoglyphs ranging from 400 meters to 1100 meters long created 2000 years ago. Can see the entire figures only from the planes. ( Must Visit). 16023 height on the way to Colca Canyon, Peru. Prepare well before venturing into high altitude adventures.  LR: Chinese were there 100 plus years ago: No matter where we went, small town, big town; Costa Rica, Canadá, Peru and Ecuador, Chinese immigrants significant contributions were visible. This photo is from Quensel, a small town in British Columbia, Canada. 

 

Reflection: A long time ago, I was asked a question: “How will you measure your life?” 

My simplistic answer was “By sum total of experiences”.  

People have their own views about this journey called Life and there will be many different answers. 

For me: In this journey called Life, every day we are faced with different situations and each one results in some learning experience. Sometimes we have done good and other times not so good ( as measured by our standards). In some situations we made positive contributions and in some not so. 

 

But in the end, in each experience there is some learning and an opportunity for growing to be better than what we were yesterday. 

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.*

Clock Wise 1. Sunset in Mal Pais, Costa Rica. 2.  A Rare Double Rings Rainbow around Sun over the Lake Titicaca (13000 feet) Peru. 3. Spirit Island, Jasper, Canada. 4. San Cristobal, Galápagos, Ecuador 5. Baños, Andes Mountains, Ecuador. 6. Monterey, California, USA

Points to Ponder: “It seems that the more places I see and experience, the bigger I realize the world to be. The more I become aware of, the more I realize how relatively little I know of it, how many places I have still to go, how much more there is to learn.” – Anthony Bourdain

Story Line: Many readers are happy to see that Friday Reflections have resumed after a few months of sabbatical. They have asked to share new experiences from our travels in future reflections.

So here we begin with the answer to the question that has been often asked,  “What is the greatest learning from our travels?”

Every place we visited had beautiful places, uniqueness of it’s culture and curious people wanting to know about us as much as we wanted to learn about them. Their surroundings (Nature, Monuments, Techniques, Tools) and customs have evolved over time. Each has historical, environmental, scientific and social context. And curiosity about the details of evolution made us realize how much little we knew about the world. Many times we felt “Can there be a more beautiful place than this?”, only to reach the next destination and find another marvel.  

Going forward most Friday Reflections will be focused on people, places and experiences from our now Nomadic life. Occasionally there will be other subjects.

Reflection: Many times, for motivational or nationalistic reasons, we believe or made to believe that our country, our ways of doing things, our surroundings are the best in the world.

“There has never been a Nation (Civilization) like us and there shall never be.” But while visiting other countries, experiencing other cultures with open eyes and minds, we are humbled and enriched at the same time. Every place and culture has its own uniqueness and greatness.

There is so much that world has to share that it’s time we are aware, it’s a wonderful world of opportunities after all.

 

*Quote from Aristotle