Happiness is a workout

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Michael Kane

Happiness is a workout

happines, fitness

Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted. ~ Dennis Waitley

So I’ve been east in NY for the last week with my mom who has been in the hospital.  There is lots of good news on that front, she’s doing much better.  Thank you to those of you who have sent your well wishes and prayers for her.

I’ve spent most days sitting in the hospital with her watching her favorite TV shows like Ellen, the Food Network, Fox News, etc…. not my usual fare.  Over the last few days my mood has begun to flag, I’ve found myself shorter of temper.  Don’t get me wrong, I have snapped at anyone, but the potential was growing.  As always, you need to fall back on the basics, are you getting good food, good sleep, doing what you need to do to keep you stress levels down.  In short, I wasn’t so this morning I took advantage of a morning ice storm to sleep in, I went in to see my mom and then, I went to the gym.

As most of you know I’ve been training for a thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail (AT).  For weeks I’ve been doing intensive gym workouts and hard core hiking to get ready.  But now it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve done any training.  Today, going into the gym and working out, even though it was only a moderate level workout, was wonderful.  I felt great during the workout, my mood has improved and I’m hoping I’ll sleep better tonight.

There is plenty of research about the connection between fitness and happiness, so take time to get fit my friends, it will help you have happier days ~ Rev Kane

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Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: This was NOT the plan!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Michael Kane

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: This was NOT the plan!

happiness, quote

As I’ve mentioned previously I have undertaken planning to do a thru-hike next year on the Appalachian Trail (AT). My hope is that I will walk all 2,200 miles of the AT from Springer Mountain, GA to Mt. Kathadin, Maine starting in late February or early March, 2015. This is my trail journal where I hope to take you from my decision to do this, through my preparation and then notes from the trail and hopefully all the way to Maine. All of this in my journey and process to live happy days my friends ~ Rev Kane

As I’ve laid out here before I was leisurely rolling east out of my former home in California. I had done a few days in Anza-Borrego State Park and was starting to roll east across the middle of the country. In the mood for mountains, hiking and camping opportunities there wasn’t any place I was excited about exploring until I got to Arkansas. I was considering a stay in Hot Springs, but the weather was getting worse and so I mapped out a fairly direct route to Knoxville, Tennessee. My old college town was a place I expected to stay for a couple of days, catch up with some dear friends and perhaps take a hike in the Great Smoky Mountains out to the AT and walk a few white blazes. From there I would head east and drive parallel to the AT, stopping in some trail towns and doing a little bit of hiking on the trail as both a warm-up and a teaser for my journey before arriving in NY in late January.

As I got to Albuquerque, NM however my sister informed me that my mom who had gone into the hospital due to a sodium imbalance was having some severe stomach pains and the doctors were concerned. The next day she would be taken in for stomach surgery for a lacerated ulcer. My sister, who had transformed herself into superwoman, working full-time, taking care of 3 kids and my mother in the hospital deserved help. So I put the pedal to the medal and hustled across a large chunk of the US in about two and a half days.

I did have the good fortune of stopping in the Knoxville and spending three glorious hours with the woman who is likely the love of my life and equally likely someone I’ll never be with. But we have an incredible and deep connection and quickly slip into conversation and a comfort level that other couples only have after years together. She’s someone I could talk to non-stop for months, but also someone who I could sit quietly with for hours with no need for words from either of us. I needed that night, that time, the emotional cushion it provided as the reports coming from the hospital in New York were increasingly worse.

The stomach surgery went well, but my mother now also had pneumonia and was very weak. When I arrived at the hospital she was not in good shape and deteriorating. For the next two days I sat by her bed and watched my mother literally slipping away, physical and mentally. It was incredibly hard to look at her laying there, she was uncomfortable, terrified and physically didn’t even resemble herself. After two days, the conversations I was having with the doctors and nurses led to a paperwork hunt. We needed her health proxy and power of attorney documents as well as her will. My oldest sister and I had a difficult late night discussion about things that truly seemed inevitable and discussed the hard decisions we expected to have to shortly make.  For several days neither of us slept well wondering if the phone would ring at night to tell us our mother was dead. It was equally hard on my brother, not in town, having to get the information via phone. He’d been able to visit the day before I arrived and understood the nature of the situation.

Then, the next morning I come in and my mother is sitting up in a chair! Over the next 4 days we would ride a roller coaster of improvement and despair. As I write this she’s much stronger, she’s back on real food, her sodium levels are good. She’s still got issues, some of her numbers are low, she’s fighting pneumonia and has picked up a C-Diff infection. We’re not out of the woods but we feel much better about where we are at today than we did last week, we are much more hopeful she’ll fully recover.

This was NOT the plan. But the plan for the end of February is to start at Springer Mt. and walk to Maine, to pop off and visit some folks and finish by September 1st. Sounds pretty straight forward, but much like this plan I know, there will be equally difficult days on the trail. There will be physically difficult and emotionally fragile moments where the plan will seem horribly lost, the trip ridiculous folly. I will remember this past week, the way my mother has, and my grandmother has, several times literally stormed back from deaths door when all seemed lost. I joke that my grandmother, who grew up on the Ohio River on the KY/OH border, who qualifies as solid hillbilly stock, is damn near impossible to kill. I have come to believe that hillbilly blood is the strongest substance on earth. My mother has 50% and it seems to have served her well, I hope that the 25% I possess, particularly walking the hills of Appalachia, will see me through my own Appalachian Trials on the trail.

So, to steal from the US Marines, we improvise, adapt and overcome. Hopefully I’m back in the gym this week, walking hills for a few weeks after and off to Georgia in a mere 52 days!  Hoping for myself as I hope for you, to have many happy days my friends ~ Rev Kane

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Happiness, the minimalist mind & hiking the Appalachian Trail

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A Really Wonderful Day

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Michael Kane

A Really Wonderful Day

happiness, friends

“Old friends are the great blessings of one’s later years. Half a word conveys one’s meaning. They have a memory of the same events, have the same mode of thinking. I have young relations that may grow upon me, for my nature is affectionate, but can they grow To Be old friends?” ~ Horace Walpole

So as I’ve mentioned my mother is in the hospital and has been seriously ill, near death a few days ago she is getting stronger and stronger each day and getting back to her old self.  Something we are both amazed and thankful to see.  So of course, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the hospital in the town I grew up in, a town I have spent very little time in over the last thirty years.

Today in the midst of the serious nature of what is happening, there were a series of really great little interactions that raised a smile and made me happy and I thought I would share.

First, I was leaving the cafeteria when I spotted a familiar face coming down the hall.  It was Janet a girl who I went to school with since kindergarten but hadn’t seen since graduation.  We’d recently reconnected on Facebook but it was wonderful to actually see her in person, to catch up and wrap my arms around her for a giant bear hug.

After that little interaction one of my best friends came to visit, Bryan and I haven’t seen each other in a couple of years and we spent a wonderful 3 hour lunch chatting and catching up.  There’s a lot of energy to be gained from reconnecting with amazing friends and it was wonderful to see him.

A couple of hours later as I was leaving my mother’s room and my sister was coming in she said, “do you hear that voice?”  Yes, I said, she replied, “I think that’s Aaron.”  Aaron is another friend who I grew up with, went to school with since Kindergarten, and started walking to school with when I was but 7 years old.  I hadn’t seen him in over 20 years, his health has been bad and in fact, I had heard he had passed away.  Before going into his room, I was told he couldn’t see, but walking into his room he looked at me, smiled, and said my first name and then said man I almost didn’t recognize you with that big beard.  We had a big embrace and chatted for a little while, both of us with huge grins on our faces.  It’s amazing the power that exists in being with someone who has literally known you your whole life.

On the way out of the hospital, I traveled down the elevator with an elderly gentleman I guessed was in his 70’s.  He had on a really nice bright red ski jacket and there was a patch on it, 80+ skiing.  I finally asked him if I was interpreting his patch correctly, had he been skiing past the age of 80?  He said, “yes, but I haven’t been out this year.”  I told him how impressed I was and he smiled and said, next week is my 87th birthday.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing folks his age, that active, it gives me incredible hope for what life can be and reminds me of my own grandfather who got in a street fight at 87, but that’s a story for another day.

This is what made me happy today, what was if for you friends, drop me a note and let me know and I’ll happily share it in a post or on our Facebook Page.  Regardless, I hope this raised a smile and helped you have a happier day my friends.  ~ Rev Kane

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Happy New Year !!!

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Michael Kane

Happy New Year !!!

happiness, happy new year

Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities. ~ William Throsby Bridges

Happy New Year my friends, I’ve seen a lot of posts this New Year’s Eve from people saying good riddance to the year and looking forward to the next. These posts make me a bit sad. I know for a lot of people very hard and horrible things have happened this year. Some of you have suffered incredible losses, personally I know this year was hard for my family with the passing of my Uncle, a really wonderful man.

Even tonight as a I write this my mother is in the hospital and not doing well and perhaps even harder, my sister is with her watching, helpless other than providing comfort. There may be nothing harder than watching a loved one in pain.

As human beings we often focus far too much on the bad things, our pain, our losses. No matter how hard 2014 was for you, I’m sure there were good things as well, this is why I posted the other night about the jar of good things.

Don’t start 2015 lamenting and focusing on the bad things, remember the good things as well, it was a year like any other, it was full of the good and the bad. But each year was beautiful, each year made us happy and each year taught us things. So stay positive and have 365 happy days my friends or as many as you can have.

Happy New Year! ~ Rev Kane

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Some Thoughts on Happiness, a Why to my Appalachian Trail (AT) Walk

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Michael Kane

Some Thoughts on Happiness, a Why to my Appalachian Trail (AT) Walk

happiness, starsWhen you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. ~ Paulo Coehlo

Originally posted 12/14/2014

As many of you know I’ve quit my job, sold my house and am traveling across the United States towards my appointed start date of February 26th to do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Kathadin, ME (2189 miles). ~ Rev Kane

So one of the things I love about being in the desert is the impact it has on my mind, the desert makes me contemplative. Perhaps it’s the openness of the environment or perhaps the harshness. Although desert camping drives a high level of focus on everything from highly variable weather, to the need to drink a lot of water, to the dangerous critters that abound, I find it to be a calming environment for me. My mind wanders and drifts to deeper than normal thoughts when I’m out there.

This particular trip also found me decompressing from my old life and transitioning into a period of travel and long-distance walking. This also leads to a little more contemplation than normal. So of course to add to this state of mind I’ve been reading two books, Paulo Coehlo’s The Alchemist and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Two well-reviewed and excellent books that I’ve known about for a long time, have owned for some time, but have never read.

happiness, desertMy focus in reading them will surprise no one, it is to delve even deeper into the idea of what happiness is, and what really makes people happy. I had a number of thoughts while reading these books and the first revelation was a bit disconcerting.

People will more readily believe a fantasy about their life, rather than deal with its reality.

I see this all of the time, but the place I see it most often and most appropriate to me at this time, is the fantasy about people pursuing their dreams when they retire. I’ll use the example of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT), many people have this on their bucket list. However, life gets in the way, job, kids and the myriad of day to day responsibilities we have. However thru-hiking the AT is a grueling physical task, and how many of us at 60 (if we’re lucky) or 65 (more likely) when we retire are still physically able to take on a six month, 2200 mile hike? There are some, some really amazing folks, but most of us are not at our peak physical condition at that age. This is one of the reasons I’m doing it at 50 and not waiting.

This may be an extreme example but I hear people talking all of the time about how they’d like to go here, or do that but not this year, maybe next year, oh well maybe the year after that. Time goes by far too quickly my friends and soon it’s five or ten years down the road. How many times has this already happened to all of us?

The second big revelation that I gained from these two books was a confirmation of something I think we all know.

That having a purpose in life gives life meaning, makes you happy and keeps you alive.

The thing that I learned about this idea from reading Viktor E Frankl’s book was that the idea of meaning and purpose in life does not have to be grandiose. If someone can find hope, purpose, hell even beauty in the midst of a Nazi concentration camp, it can’t be that hard to find in everyday life. Frankl talks about the biggies that give us purpose, children, love, basically responsibility to others. But he demonstrates through the most brutal of circumstances of life what man is capable of being. How he can find beauty in a sunset, or the light coming through the forest. How he can laugh even if he believes he’s days from the gas chamber or doesn’t know if his family is alive or dead.

Your purpose in life doesn’t need to be creating world peace, becoming wealthy or famous, becoming the President of the United States. Your purpose can be being a good parent, a kind person, someone who appreciates life. It comes back to something we hear time and time again, it is not our circumstances that determine our happiness, it is the decision we make, our responses to these circumstances. Frankl said it much more poetically.

happiness, quote
My final thought tonight, if you are struggling, find some meaning, think less about the how of life and more about the why. Right now, my focus, my why is to achieve my goal, to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) for as long as I can, for as far as I get. The big goal, the grand achievement is to complete all 2200 miles, but the oil on the spoon is to enjoy each day I’m out there and appreciate the freedom I’ve created for myself right now. So define your why and you’ll have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon ~ Paulo Coehlo

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Happiness in the Dunes

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness in the Dunes

fix dunes best

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.     ~ Martin Buber

As many of you know I’ve quit my job, sold my house and am traveling across the United States towards my appointed start date of February 26th to do a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) from Springer Mountain, GA to Mount Katahdin, ME (2189 miles).  This is another post from the road.

I’ll be posting later today and tomorrow about my experiences over the last five days at Anza-Borrego State Park in California, but this morning I wanted to write about a surprise I got yesterday as I drove from CA to AZ.

Anza-Borrego is located in the Colorado Desert and is typical shrub land, sandy and rocky desert with creosote and lavender bushes, ocotillo and a number of different cacti.  Here are a few photos I shot there over the last five days.

happiness, desert happiness, desert happiness, desert
While camping in Anza-Borrego, a friend who happened to be camping in the same campground, mentioned to me that after Christmas the area became full of off-road vehicle enthusiast. It was a piece of information I didn’t pay much attention to at the time. However, while driving down Highway 78 I started to get a full understanding of the scope of what my friend was talking about.

First I hit the Ocotillo Wells off-road vehicle recreation area as my friend had mentioned there were already little RV encampments and lots of off-roaders tooling around on motorcycles, sand rails and off-road trucks.

happiness, desert
The sights at Ocotillo were impressive but was nothing compared to what I would find another half-hour down the road at Imperial Sand Dunes area run by the Bureau of Land Management and the Glamis Sand Dunes   I pulled off on an overlook and damn near got my vehicle stuck in the sand, but took the following photos of the dunes and the riders.

happiness, desert happiness, desert happiness, desert happiness, desert happiness, desert happiness, desert

It’s amazing all of the little sub-cultures and areas of the United States that exist, one of the reasons I love traveling so much are these little surprises. So go out and find something new today and have a happy day my friends! ~ Rev Kane

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Happiness on the Road

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Michael Kane

Happiness on the Road

Happiness

Scary gnome in my aunt’s yard

After leaving the coast I’ve headed south to San Diego to visit family and the scariest garden gnome in America.  I got to meet my youngest cousin yesterday, he’s an adorable little guy with a great smile and big belly laugh.

Tonight I am with my aunt, my granny and the smoochy monster in the hills outside of San Diego.   Wonderful food and time spent with all of them.   Tomorrow I head for the desert and a week of camping, hiking and bright starry nights.

It’s great to be on the road, enjoying good food, family and freedom.  I hope you had a happy day my friends – Rev Kane

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Thank you for 15,000 views!!!

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Michael Kane

Thank you for 15,000 views!!!

happiness

Four years ago I started the Ministry of Happiness, things started a bit slow, in the first four months we got about 800 views.  Over the next three years things got steadily better, increasing to 8000 views for 2013.  In 2014 we kicked up our game a bit and for this year the goal has been to post every day, so far we’ve made it and there have been some great results.  When we began this year we had about 350 likes on Facebook and around 700 Twitter followers.  So our goals for 2014 were to make 500 likes on Facebook, 1000 Twitter followers and 10,000 views on the blog.

Thanks to you my friends we’ve exceeded all of our goals, we are at 2280 likes on Facebook, almost 1400 followers on Twitter and yesterday we hit 15,000 views on the blog!

Thank you, thank you my friends, I hope we’ve made a difference and helped you have happier days my friends and we look forward to a wonderful new year  ~ Rev Kane

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On the Road Again – Metamorphosis

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Michael Kane

On the Road Again – Metamorphosis

happiness, changeSo it is truly impossible for me to start a journey without Willie Nelson ringing in my ears, thanks Willie! But today I left my old life, I wrote yesterday about the trip details, but today I wanted to talk about the internal trip.

First some thanks are in order, to all the folks that threw me going away shindigs, bought me a beer, lunch and especially the particularly relevant gifted REI cards, thank you.

My wonderful friend and massage therapist KC, not only has she kept my body in great shape, but became an awesome friend and even bought my house, how’s that for friendship!

My friend Steve, dude is the best, gave me a place to stay for my last few weeks in town and over the last few years has been a great friend and colleague.

happiness, changeOver the last few years my job has sucked, basically the institution I was working for was totally in neutral, the executives saw questioning as dissent and basically ran down anything I put forward. There was absolutely no surprise when they denied my leave of absence request, basically their way of saying we don’t really want you here. It was time to go and the silver lining, no leave, means no return date which in return grants me massive freedom for this journey and no safety net. I once heard Eddie Murphy talk about why he was successful, his point quite simply, he had no safety net, failure was not an option. It’s kind of how I feel right now.

I’m happy to be closing a chapter and opening, hopefully fully authoring the next one. Scared senseless, of course, but the fear pales in comparison to the possibilities and the excitement. I’m a gypsy, this is what I was born and destined to be, to do. It’s not a typical or an easy life, but it’s an amazing one that has led me everywhere, through all kinds of amazing adventures. I’m never bored.

happiness, changeSo what does this next chapter hold? We’ll see, the goal is to hike the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine, but there are thousands of miles and 70 plus days before that starts.
As a gypsy my friends are seldom near, I cherish the times I do get to be near them, face to face, but that is not my path. So I work hard to keep in touch, to bring them with me in so many ways on my journeys, this blog serves to do that as well. I’ll see some I haven’t seen in a while as I travel. Those will be special days.

happiness, change

So tonight, a sense of melancholy as I transition, a tingle of excitement as I daydream and think about what is to come, whatever it is, they will be happy days. And as always, I hope for nothing more than happy days for you my friends ~ Rev Kane

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And so it begins, Appalachian Trail (AT) or bust

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Happiness Quotes!

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And so it begins, Appalachian Trail (AT) or bust!

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Michael Kane

And so it begins, Appalachian Trail (AT) or bust!

 

happiness, appalachian trailWherever you go, go with all your heart ~ Confucius

Hello friends, if you’ve been regularly reading the Ministry of Happiness blog you know that I’ve been talking a lot lately about embarking on a big adventure. Well, it officially started, as of today I have no actual address, no job, the house has been sold and I’m sitting in a cabin in the redwoods in Northern California. I’m up here for a few days of hiking, I haven’t done much the last few weeks and given I start hiking the Appalachian Trail in about 70 days, it’s time to really start focusing on being ready.

So for those of you following along here’s my itinerary from now until that start date.
3 days in the redwoods
2 days in Monterrey
2 days in the San Diego area

Starting next Sunday I start rolling east, my first stop will be Borrego Springs for a night, then:
5 days in Anza Borrego State Park
1 night in Indio
1 night in the Painted Desert area
3 in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge

Then, well then things are kind of up in the air, I may head up to the Prescott National forest and then Taos or I may make a more direct line for the Dallas area to see some friends. Past that my plans take me through Arkansas and hopefully a night or two in Hot Springs, AK. Then through TN with a stop in Knoxville and possibly further east into North Carolina. I’ll turn northeastward and parallel the Appalachian Trail up through to NY, stopping in some trail towns and doing some day hikes on the AT. After that a few weeks with family NY, some snow and ice hiking and dialing in on how to sleep warm enough in my hammock.

Finally, a bus or train to Atlanta, a couple last days sleeping in a bed then up to Springer Mountain via Amicalola State Park. The AT is not for the faint of heart, the very first mile has 800 feet of elevation gain, the first 7 miles, which really only gets you to the official start of the trail, 1600 feet of gain.

So that’s where I’m going, the plan, the beginning of the goal, tomorrow night a bit about how I’m feeling, here’s a hint, this is the Ministry of Happiness! I hope you are doing well on your own personal journeys my friends, drop me a comment and let me know and most importantly, have a happy day my friends ~ Rev Kane

Check these out, I think you’ll like them…

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: 3 Important Questions

Appalachian Trail (AT) Happiness: A Start

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