Never buy a coffee from a coffee shop called Insomnia. I mean, really, how much more obvious could it be that it was going to lead to a poor night’s sleep? Sometimes the obvious is so obvious that it gets hidden by its own obviousness.

But insomnia has its compensations. As I lay awake in the wee small hours, I was buzzing with insights as well as caffeine. Some of them even still made sense when I played back my voicenotes this morning. Here is one. Some people, especially around this early part of the New Year, are asking themselves if they are heading in the right direction, if they are on track for the life that they want. Are they living out their life purpose? And how would they know if they are?

Far be it from me to offer advice. I just do what feels right to me. If head and heart agree, then chances are I’m doing the “right” thing. I think that these three are fairly reliable indicators.

1. Does your “purpose” absolutely chime with your personal values, the things that you hold dear?

2. Does it feel like everything that has happened in your life so far has been leading you up to this point? Every skill, experience, and/or attribute that you have acquired – has it all helped to equip you for this project?

3. Does it make you bounce out of bed in the mornings, eager to do what you can to pursue your purpose and move a bit closer to your goal?

If you answer “yes” to all of these, you probably already know that you’ve found your purpose, and you don’t need me to tell you that. If you answer “no” to any of these, would you like to be able to say “yes” instead? If so, then maybe you want to think about asking a few more questions, trying out a few more options.

But no need to stress about it too much – in fact, stressing or striving too hard can complicate matters unnecessarily. Sometimes you just need to get yourself out of the way and allow the answer to come. Relax – there really isn’t any such thing as a “wrong” thing – it’s all a learning experience, even if only to eliminate some options. Thomas Edison once said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” So what if you try one “purpose” on for size, only to find it doesn’t fit? No worries. 9,999 more chances to succeed await you!

I’d been thinking about this quite a bit recently, in connection with planetary rights lawyer Polly Higgins’s Emergency Application in the case of People of the Planet vs The Politicians. I have been privileged enough to see some of Polly’s early drafts in connection with the application, which have exercised long-dormant parts of my intellect. Many, many years ago, I allegedly studied for an undergraduate law degree – although as I recall, most of my hours in the law library were spent researching the surprising ability of law books to serve as very adequate pillows after early morning crew outings on the river. But somewhere in between the snoozes a few smidgeons of law must have permeated my skull – possibly by some kind of osmosis as my head lay on the pages of dense legal text. Anyway, I find that I am just about able to follow Polly’s lines of legal argument.

There is a kind of satisfying closure in this discovery – “A-ha. So THAT is why I needed to study law all those years ago. I always wondered, and now it makes sense.” Still trying to figure out the point of my O-level French, but maybe in time all will become clear….!

[Photos: another random life skill picked up along the way - taking pretty pictures. These from the Big Island of Hawaii a couple of days ago.]

Today I have been listening to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I’ve read it before, in March 2004 – it was one of the many books on philosophy and religion that I gorged on during a self-imposed one-month retreat in a cottage on the windswept west coast of Ireland – and which lay the groundwork for my decision in August that year to row the Atlantic.

It’s been good to read it again, and to be reminded of certain lessons. One of those lessons was about “stuckness” – something I’ve certainly been able to relate to recently. According to the book, a certain amount of stuckness is to be expected in any challenging undertaking (be it mending a motorcycle or rowing an ocean) but if you persevere through the stuckness you can always resolve the problem. Eventually.

I got pretty stuck under the Golden Gate Bridge when I first set out from San Francisco. I thought the tide would never let me through. I battled it for about half an hour – then, just as the camera crew was packing up to go home, the tide changed and/or I moved over closer to the north pylon and passed out into the open ocean.

Then I got stuck again at 124 degrees West. For a very long time.

And I may well get stuck again. Weather will do that to you.

But I’ve accepted that progress is rarely linear. In all kinds of contexts, on dry land as well as on the water, I’ve often slogged away at something and wondered if I will ever break through. And, 9 times out of 10, I have – although often the breakthrough has come about in a surprising way. Like I’ll have been working away on one potential sponsor for ages – and then a generous donation comes from an entirely different quarter.

Or when I was looking for a life purpose – I knew what my values were and knew that they would guide me towards it, but I couldn’t find the actual Thing that would meet those criteria – until one day, when I wasn’t even thinking about it, the answer hit me like a thunderbolt from the blue.

I sometimes feel like the universe is testing me. I have to put in the donkey work, and eventually I get my reward – just not always from the direction I expected. Einstein once said that problems are rarely solved on the level at which they were created. He also reckoned that he wasn’t any smarter than the next person (hmm, debatable), he just stuck at problems for longer.

All of which leads me to the conclusion that often the difference between failure and success is perseverance.

Other stuff:

Position at 2145 15th July Pacific Time, 0445 16th July UTC: 25 47.506′N, 131 14.001′W.

Been going great guns today. The wind has been coming out of the NE, and has been strong enough to create a swell also from that direction, both of which have helped me along. Strange weather though – lots of sunshine but also the occasional big black raincloud. I’ve had my buckets out a couple of times today, but the actual rainfall has been minimal. So no hair-washing just yet!

Any rumours (MarineTrack) that I have been doing 5 knots are probably much exaggerated. 3 knots possibly, but 5 would be the stuff of dreams!

Thanks to all the regulars for the lovely messages.

Click here to see Day 52 of the Atlantic Crossing 21st January 2005, Blue Skies and Cable Ties – more problems with broken oars.

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