Aloha Joe in Hawaii
A guided journey of self discovery
and Hawaiian adventure
PREFACE
I have been meaning to write this book for more than two decades, but I have always
had a problem starting it for one simple reason. I thought, who cares about my story?
What makes mine any more or less unique?
What do I really have to say?
Although I touch briefly on my difficult past, I resisted the urge to give you all the disturbing details of my youth. It may have been more endearing, but I believe that we all have our own demons and that is not what this book is about. It’s about healing and moving past the traumas in our lives. I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii in 2012 looking for some quiet reflection time in the tropical rainforest. I wanted to live a lifestyle of peace and happiness. I am trying to regain my health and mental well-being.
The Big Island is known for its healing energy by many around the world. Maybe along the way I can share with you some of my experiences, in an effort to help you through your journey. Even if this is as far as you read and then put the book down, I just want to wish you all the best on your journey. Love yourself for the truly unique, amazing, and beautiful soul that you are.
CHAPTER ONE
This book is a poignant, but often meandering, observation of my own awakening. Of course, it is from my own reality which I write. To understand what that entails, we must delve briefly into what shapes my current view of the world. This list includes years in sexually and mentally abusive foster homes and child labor camps. It also includes physical injuries like breaking my left elbow (three times in one year), my hands, fingers, ribs, toes, as well as cracking my skull (multiple times) and left hip. I also cut my right knee off with a circular saw and severed the main artery in my left wrist in a broken window. As a former orphan, full contact fighter, U.S. Marine Sergeant and more, I have developed PTSD as well as multiple brain injuries and muscular skeletal injuries.
I moved to Maui in 2005 because the medication I was on made me very ill and quite suicidal. I lost weight and got off the medication. I lived in Lahaina and life was great. Then I moved back to California in 2006 and was almost killed in a hit and run motorcycle accident. It took me three years to recover. And once, I had my heart stopped by electricity while working on helicopters. I made it though, so don't worry.
Then there was the time my youngest son drowned and was gone almost ten minutes. The good news is that he was resuscitated by an off-duty San Diego Police Officer. I still to this day can't speak to the man. I get choked up every time I try to say thank you. There aren't words for being given your child’s life back. That one event alone completely reshaped how I viewed my life, and gave me perspective on what the real problems were. Death has a way of getting our attention and rearranging our priorities.
In the end, I wrote this in an attempt to help some of those people that are still in the darker parts of their life story. I just want you to know at the very beginning of the book that there is hope. There is a very clear way to the life of your dreams. The most beautiful part about that little gem, is that you are the answer. The path to a better life is you. You can create a better reality for yourself with your own thoughts. I know this may sound strange, but I assure you that it works.
With this theory as my guide, I decided to use myself as a guinea pig. With nothing to lose, I set off into the unknown.
Would you like to know more?
Aloha Joe in Hawaii is available in the Kindle, epub, paperback, and audio book formats.
