Everest Media - Summary of John Streleckys The Cafe on the Edge of the World

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When I was stuck in traffic, I thought about how this was the kind of thing that always seemed to happen when I was trying to get away for a while. I decided to try a different route.

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I was eventually lost for miles on a road that only went one way. I turned right, hoping that would take me back north. But the road I was on was named Old and signified I was in trouble.

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I was on a trip to avoid frustration. I had plenty of that back home with my job, bills, and life in general. I didnt need any of that here. This was supposed to be my chance to relax and recharge my batteries.

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I had taken a left turn at an intersection a few miles back. I was closer to the light, and saw a streetlight. I pulled off the road and into a dirt and gravel parking lot. In front of me was a small, white, rectangular building with the name The Cafe of Questions spelled out in light-blue neon on the roof.

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The Cafe of Questions was a small cafe that felt like an old diner. It was the kind of place where you could sit and talk for a long time with friends. I wasnt sure if it was the light or my fatigue from driving for so long, but I could have sworn the letters on the menu dissolved and reappeared as I looked at them.

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I was about to re-read the three questions when Casey came back with my water. Finding everything all right. she asked. I motioned to the three questions and then to the name of the cafe.

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The wait staff at the cafe would ask customers why they were there, and if they were ready, they would bring them food that was closer to breakfast than lunch.

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If you ask yourself a question and modify it just a few letters, it changes things. It sounds simple, but if you change the question from something you ask someone else and instead make it something you ask yourself, youll no longer be the same person.

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The question Why am I here. on the menu is not a joke. It is a serious question that can change your life if you ask it of yourself.

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The Why are you here. question on the menu is not just asking why someone is in a cafe, but why they exist at all. Its a gateway, and its hard to close once its been opened.

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When someone asks themselves why theyre here, a powerful force emerges that makes it harder to ignore the answer. Once someone finds the answer, it becomes emotionally and even physically difficult to not fulfill the reason.

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I was curious about the text on the front of the menu. It said, Why are you here. I wondered what would happen if I asked that question. Mike explained that it was a tough question, and that people face it at different times in their lives.

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I had a hunch that having insight into the question would make it even harder to not ask it. I was not sure if I wanted to ask the question or not. I was not sure if I wanted to find the answer or not.

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If you figure out the reason youre here, you can do whatever you want that fulfills that reason. For example, if your reason for being here is to help people, then you should do whatever you want that fits your definition of helping people.

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When a person knows the reason theyre here, theyve identified their Purpose For Existing. We call it PFE for short. During someones lifetime, they may find ten, twenty, or hundreds of things they want to do to fulfill their PFE.

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The story of how I learned about the importance of choosing what you do each day from a green sea turtle is a great example. When the turtle was swimming, it linked its movements to the movements of the water. When a wave was coming at it, it would float and paddle just enough to hold its position. When the pull of the wave was from behind it, it would paddle faster to use the movement of the water to its advantage.

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The more I struggled against the waves, the more tired I became. This meant that when the wave was going out, I didnt have enough energy to take advantage of it. As wave after wave came in and went out, I became more and more fatigued and less effective.

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The more time and energy I waste on the incoming waves, the less I have for the outgoing ones. I began to be selective about how much paddling I did and for what reasons.

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I realized that if I spent just 20 minutes per day opening and looking at mail and email that I didnt care about, I would spend over a year of my life doing it.

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The story goes that a businessman went on vacation to get away from it all. He flew to a faraway location and wandered into a small village. He watched the people in the community and noticed there was one fisherman who seemed the happiest and most content of everyone. The businessman was curious about this.

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The author met a man named Mike who had a similar issue. He was always thinking about when he could do what he wanted, instead of doing what he wanted now. He realized that retirement was when he would have enough money to do what he wanted.

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The author met with Anne, a friend of his, who explained to him why we spend so much time preparing for when we can do what we want instead of just living that life now. She said that advertisers use peoples fears and desires to motivate them to buy specific goods and use specific services.

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The life we want to live is not just about the things we buy, but also the things we do. We can become exposed to marketing messages that lead us to believe that the answer to happiness and fulfillment lies in a product or service.

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The problem is that the job isnt fulfilling, and we spend so much time at it that we start to feel unfulfilled. We hope in some small way the advertising messages are true, and that those items will bring the fulfillment our daily life doesnt.

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Annes story illustrates the difference between a mind-set of happiness and one of unhappiness. She had a very rational mind-set of happiness, which was why she was so unhappy. She realized life was passing her by, and she decided to change it.

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The challenge is to realize that something is fulfilling because you determine it is fulfilling. Not because someone else tells you it is. The more you ask yourself Why am I here. the more things change for you.

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The second question on the menu is Do you fear death. Most people do. As a matter of fact, it's one of the most common fears people have. People intuitively know they're another day closer to not having a chance to do what they want in life. They fear the day they'll die.

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I reflected on the conversation I had had with Mike. I realized that I had been living my life according to other peoples definitions of success and happiness. I decided that from now on, I would try to be more aware of the messages behind what people were saying.

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I thought about my job. I was good at it, I got paid for it, but I was also bored with it. I thought about what life would be like if I was always doing things I wanted to do. I was positive and upbeat, so I didnt need to get away from it all to get recharge.