Will Craig - 7 Sept

I t was a promising spring morning at my home in Orlando, Florida, when I woke up ready to rock the world. I had just entered my thirties and was hitting my stride. The grand plan was to retire by the time I reached the big 5-0. And when I say retire, I mean retire living well.

It seems like I woke up a few days later (or was it a few decades?) and I was 60 years old. What? All I could think was, When the heck did this happen?

Still half asleep, I stumbled into the bathroom. I flipped on the light, squinted into the mirror, and saw my father squinting back in my refectionscared the crap out of me.

I paused to check out the wrinkles and sun spots I had never seen before. I still couldn't figure out where the time had gone. I didn't feel like the man in the mirror. Inside, I was still in my thirties. Okay, maybe forties. But 60? You gotta be kidding me! There must be some mistake.

So, what happened between that spring morning of possibilities and that scary day in the mirror?

Decades had flown by like I was on autopilot. My daily routine consisted of putting out fires, scrambling to appointments, and taking out the trash. My nice, neat plan was a mess. It was hardly recognizable and much less realistic. Sure, I had reached many of my goals, but so much had changedincluding my dreams. Not only had the deadline for the grand plan come and gone, but it wasnt what I wanted anymore. My expectations for living well, and what that meant, were different. Its not that I wanted more. In fact, I wanted less, but I wanted the less to be better.

I shared my quest with a good friend who told me I was living the Heros Journey. What? Hero? No, that wasnt me. I was just a regular guy doing the best I could with what I had. The closest I came to being a hero was when I went to the movies and quietly slipped into the role of the main character.

My friend explained that the Heros Journey is a narrative structure for storytelling that pre-dates the Greeks and Romans. The mythological framework has transcended time and cultures. The myths of today are told by Hollywood screenwriters using the Heros Journey as a template for developing interesting characters, plots, and impossible situations.

It turns out, Ive been on the adventure of a lifetimeone man's quest for living well. Coming to appreciate the metaphors in mythology and the magic of the movies helps me envision my path. Im able to make better sense of the sometimes-confusing map of life while living the Heros Journey.

Why am I writing this book? Because I need to take this journey with you. I want to understand what is happening in my life. I want to acknowledge and appreciate the ongoing tests and trials I face instead of resenting them for being disruptive and inconvenient.

Am I responsible for everything that happens to me? Better yet, am I making my life unfold this way without even realizing it? What can I do to make it better? What needs to happen, right now, for me to author my personal myththe story of a life well lived?

Were on this journey together because, as author Richard Bach explains, We teach best what we most need to learn. The research and reading, the insights and investigations, are all leading me down a path that is strange and new, yet eerily familiar.

I dont have all the answers, and this is not a how to book. In other words, youre not going to receive a to-do list on how to live your life. There are no shoulds and musts here. I only hope to transform some knowledge and information into experiencean experience that enables you to bypass many of the obstacles while developing and honing your own guidance system.

For me, the process is as frustrating as it is exciting. Even as I write this book, I find myself deleting, rewriting, and replacing often. Sometimes entire sections get tossed becausein a fresh lightthey seem irrelevant or redundant to whats already been explored. Still, in the dark, I trip over new discoveries that enlighten the journey. Discoveries like: Life isnt easy so why am I expecting it to be? And, if I am the hero of my life, I better start acting like it.

I encourage you to combine the passages that resonate with you and what you already know to be true in your heart and soul. Build your knowledge base, as Im attempting to do, and gain experience that will garner you wisdom. Were in this together. I am your adventure guide and loyal ally for the entire quest.

I n an age where people look outward for direction and upward for inspiration, Living the Heros Journey provides a time-honored template for looking inward and going deep for the answers we all seek. By using ancient mythology and contemporary storytelling as the bifocals through which to envision our future, we have the opportunity to explore what we have known on a cellular level since the dawn of time: In myth there is magic.

First revealed by mythologist Joseph Campbell, the Heros Journey is a ritual of storytelling handed down from generation to generation, taking on new forms and multimedia formats. In fact, the Heros Journey is in our genesgood and evil, love and loss, life and death. In this book, we are living that journey on a quest for personal growth and development. We are hardwired for adopting and adapting to the challenges of life, and for deciphering and discovering our destiny. At our best, we are living the Heros Journey.

Stow your gear, as we are embarking on an actual Heros Journeynot an outbound voyage around the world, but an insightful exploration of the landscape of our inner being. When we charge off on our action-adventure, we will encounter supernatural forces, transform ourselves in a decisive victory, and return home to share the elixir of life.