The things we overcome in life really become our strengths.

Getting through high school and college was one of my greatest achievements.

A life lesson for me is, how do you muster the courage to take on a new risk? Whether it's starting up a business or taking on a new project or expedition. I think the risks that we take are all relative to the risk-taker.

Slowing down reminds you that the journey is supposed to be fun.

The challenge, whenever you create anything, is to persevere and push away the negative voices. And the more you accomplish, the louder they get. The key is to shut them off and trust in your heart where you're going.

For me, exploration is about that journey to the interior, into your own heart. I'm always wondering, how will I act at my moment of truth? Will I rise up and do what's right, even if every fiber of my being is telling me otherwise?

Haiku is a particularly Zen form of poetry; for Zen detests egoism in the form of calculated effects or self-glorification of any sort. The author of haiku should be absent, and only the haiku present.