Hope all is going well and you’ve been seeing swans since my last post.

Our trip’s been going very smoothly. We were in Bangkok for 5 days but I wanted a break from the big city, think New York on the hottest of summers, only hotter, more crowded, and more street food everywhere. Jan loves it, me, it’s a little too hot, crowded and smelly.  

I did have a couple of business meetings with the hopes of doing a “Build Your Inner Team” workshop though.  We’re heading back to Bangkok today, I have another one scheduled, and then flying up to Chang Mai for the next 6 weeks.

I’m writing you from a bar infested beach town called Cha Am. We’re staying at a cheap guesthouse, right off the main drag, across from the beach. Every other store is a bar (amazing how much drinking going on), a T-shirt shop, or someone hawking trinkets. Yesterday we were on the beach and every 60 seconds I was offered something I couldn’t imagine buying.

And there’s stray dogs everywhere. They all remind me of Monte so I keep buying hot dogs at 7-11 and feeding them.

It’s not really Janet’s cup of tea, me, I’m like a fish in water. It’s like I’m back 40 years ago working at my brother’s bookstore on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, only much schlockier. Not as much spirituality going on here, but I’m talking with everyone who stops to sell me their wares. Only they don’t speak a word of English and I can only say hello (Sawadee Kap) and thank you (Kap Coon Kap) in Thai. Makes for a lot of laughing.

My discipline has been fantastic though, and I’m doing more wingman exercises than ever. Since arriving in Bangkok, I’ve gotten into a routine of waking around 4:30 am, meditating, writing, and practicing positivity. When the sun comes up around 6:30-7:00, Jan gets up and we go outside and exercise. It’s been wonderful.

Except my routine was broken this morning. Rita emailed me to set up a practice Talk-n-Angels radio show (Talk-n-Angels.com) to make sure I can connect before our live broadcast Wednesday night at 7pm.
Btw… I’m 12 hours ahead so for me it will be 7am Thursday.

Because of that, Jan slept in. So after making sure all was working, I went to the beach for my morning workout. There’s never much going on at that hour, so you can imagine my surprise when I heard some Monks chanting. It seemed so out of place here so I decided to walk over and check it out.

As I was standing on the street, a woman brought me a chair and I joined the 6 or 7 people praying along to the Monk’s intonations. It was a wonderful moment and I was happy to be there.

After about 20 minutes, they stopped and the same woman started serving the Monks food. I felt a bit out of place and left, excited to tell Jan of my morning adventure. Only I didn’t get very far. The woman came after me and asked me to join them. I had no money on me, but she insisted it was free. It was like manna from heaven.

I’m not sure what it is about someone offering me free food that warms my heart so. Jan thinks I must have starved to death in a past life.  Me, I can’t really explain it, but every time it happens it feels like falling in love.
And in this setting… well I was in wingman heaven.

After eating, the Monks chanted again for a few minutes. The celebration seemed to be breaking up so I thanked my hostess and hurried back to my room. I couldn’t wait to show Janet this little mecca, sandwiched between two bars.

That’s when it got a bit crazy, or maybe I did. When we got back down, maybe 10 minutes later, it had disappeared, and in its place was a T-shirt shop. I thought I had lost my mind, but thankfully my hostess was still there. She noted my surprise and informed me that this was only a one-day celebration for good luck. It won’t happen again until next year.

The Monks, the chanting, the food… it was as if my inner wingman wanted to reward me for my self-discipline, and remind me the more I practice, the more I can find anything I’m looking for, anywhere I am.

I felt certain it was a message for you as well.

Be it Swans or Monks, better health or wealth, or even a more loving relationship, it’s yours for the taking. All you have to do is practice.

Give it a try, Take 60 seconds and imagine it’s already yours.
Who knows, you might even find it hidden in a t-shirt store.

To Finding What We’re Looking For,
Michael