Notes from Mallorca Part III

I set out on day two to explore some of the possible mountain trails we might use for our program. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t really conducive to mountain navigation at least not for exploring new ground. The rain, the low cloud cover and fog would make for some challenging navigation. I don’t particularly mind hiking in rain and low visibility, but on this occasion I decided to forgo the challenge and instead drove around the various narrow mountain roads that wind their way through Mallorca’s northwest corner.

Antonio had suggested I take the mountain pass to Soller and stop a little house at the crest of the hill to buy some special manzanas grow native to the island. He said I would not be disappointed by their taste…and I wasn’t. The succulent juices that flowed from these little apples set my taste buds alight with pure joy. I continued on, as per Antonio’s recommendations, to Puig Major, which is the highest peak on the island but is not assessable to the general public. I couldn’t really appreciate the puig because it was hidden by clouds.

I visited Holy ground at the Monastery in Lluc. I bought a hiker’s map, which I was surprised to find in a monastery, from the gift shop as well as pewter crucifixion. A man can never have to many charms. My next stop was Sa Calobra.

The drive into Sa Calobra was magnificent. If you recall the scene in Jurassic Park where the helicopter is descending into the park carry Laura and crew, that was what it was like descending into Sa Calobra. You feel like you’re driving to the center of the Earth. I didn’t go into the village itself. Instead I stopped at the edge of a cliff and admired the town from above.

When I set out this particular morning I had intended to visit the places that would likely appear on our itinerary and I also wanted to find an answer to a question that had been dogging me since I got on the plane. The personal development gurus like Anthony Robbins and Richard Bandler and Co maintain that we are where we are today based on the choices we made in the past. If that is so, I wanted to know where are the choices I’m making now going to lead me?

It’s hard to tell which of the choices are significant and which are trivial. Or all our choices significant no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. Reflecting back, I can see that many of the choices I made, at the time seemed completely insignificant, and some were monumental, yet all of them had have lead me to point where I am standing right now. Here are some of the choices I faced…

Choice: Enlist or go to West Point
Choice: West Point or the University of Tampa
Choice: History or English
Choice: Get my mail straight after lunch or later (I met a girl who would come to have significant impact on my life as a result of this choice)
Choice: Speak to this girl or don’t
Choice: Pursue her or don’t
Choice: Sleep with her or not
Choice: Park the car before formation or after (had I parked it after I might never have got suspended from West Point for a year and thus not have met the girl I would eventual marry)
Choice: Infantry or Military Intelligence
Choice: Germany or Korea
Choice: Stay with Missy or go back to W.P.
Choice: Call Ruth or don’t
Choice: Ask her to marry me or don’t
Choice: LOM or not
Choice: Go to Bosnia or not
Choice: Stay at Fort Benning or go to Fort Drum
Choice: Stay in the army or get out
Choice: Stay with Merrill Lynch or jump ship to GE
Choice: Stay with GE or jump ship back to Merrill
Choice: Sneak into Deb’s email or not
Choice: Join MLHSBC or stay with Merrill
Choice: Stay with HSBC or take voluntary redundancy

And how many other choices have I made that have led me here to this place, at this time? How do I tell the mundane choice from the significant choice or are there no ordinary choices.

“A butterfly flaps its wings in New York and it rains in San Francisco?”

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