Several situations and experiences have to exist in order for a human condition to be classified as an addiction. A very great human desire for an item, a product, a service, a substance, or an activity is required to be in place, position, or in habitual use by an individual or group of people who simply cannot exist without participating or pursuing the on-going use of whatever it is that comprises the addiction.

I must confess that I and many others of my specie have either acquired or contracted such an addiction. I have tried to fight it for nearly seven decades, without any recognizable or measurable success. I blame it all on my parents who first introduced me to this activity that quickly turned into a lifetime addiction.

At first people very close to me thought that I caught this addiction from some external source outside my immediate family. After great scrutiny and medical analysis, it was discovered that this particular addiction is passed through the DNA chain and is totally inherited from family ties and lines. This is precisely how I happened to contract it.

As an assist to the neophyte reader or listener, permit me to share just enough of my familial history as to give you a foundation on which to build and base your own analysis of my disease…..You see, friends,…I am a sick individual. I have been that way since age 5 when I won a derby in which I was a “too-young-to-compete” participant, but won the grand prize anyway.

My earthly father, Al Severn, was indeed an bona-fide outdoorsman. He was left-handed. He was very intelligent and wise. He was very strong and was highly knowledgeable in the ways one could survive in the wilderness. He could have easily been an early 1800s mountain-man fur trapper, no question about it. He could have easily lived off the land, and been very happy and content. He was most willing to teach me (and I was most willing to learn), all that he knew about the skills he possessed. Interestingly enough, my earthly mother, Kitty Severn, was also an avid outdoors-woman. She was just as knowledgeable as was my father, and I learned a great many things about outdoor survival from Mom as I did from Dad.

Hunting and fishing were the biggest family recreational activities we all enjoyed together. All five family members went together on outings into the wilderness. Everyone fished and hunted and enjoyed it. No-one enjoyed it more than me.

Mom and Dad both were crack-shot experts with shotgun and rifle. I never saw my Dad miss a shot. He also had the “midas touch” while holding a fishing rod of any type. Al Severn could catch fish in a toilet. Though he taught me well, because I was right-handed and did not possess the full head of hair that he did, I never reached his level of expertise and was only able to catch fish in the bathtub.

And so…the addictive disease began. As a young child 5 years of age, I could never be left alone in or around a fishing hole of any type. I was always wandering off in the direction of the water. If I was ever left unattended, even for a moment, I might well wander off to the stream side just to throw rocks or sticks into the rushing water. A worst case scenario would put me on the bank of the body of water and in a physical dangerous location where I might easily stumble and fall into the river. If I was wearing any type boots, they could quickly fill with water and wallah, their oldest son might well become a permanent part of the river channel.

I started fishing with Mom and Dad. I was so small that I was not allowed to have my own hip boots. Mom had decided it was too dangerous for me to have my own wading boots as she, better than anyone else, knew I had the full dosage of Severn independence, and always was off exploring the country-side and in search of new things found only by such wanderings around. So whenever we had to cross the river, creek or stream, I always rode “piggy-back” with my dad. I held the fishing rods in my right hand and clung tightly to dad’s neck with my left every time we “forded” the stream. Pappy would always says to me,…”Buckshot if I go down, you are going with me.” each time we waded the stream. We were definitely a team!

All things of great magnitude start small. My fishing activities began to grow from an occasional fishing trip to almost every week-end fishing trips and anything and everything in between. The fish I caught in the early stages of this addiction were very small and not much to eat. However as it is with all addictions, things quickly began to get out of hand. The disease began to rapidly spread and grow as did the results of my fishing efforts as regards the species and size. Of course, world history is replete with “fish stories” of all types and sizes. The proverbial “big one” almost always gets away and the big one you did catch last year at the very same spot, gets bigger each time you tell and then re-tell the same story. And so the legacy of the Severn Family fishing exploits continues for over seventy years.

I started fishing in small farm ponds, and drain ditches in the Treasure Valley of Southern Idaho. That soon grew to the big rivers and lakes of the entire state. I later expanded my range to all of the continental United States. And now as of this writing, I am presently sitting once again on an Alaska Airlines 737-800 jetliner for the about-to-begin 21st consecutive deep sea king and silver salmon, halibut, ling cod, sea bass, and red snapper, Alaska salt-water fishing trip. The last week of June and the first week of July of every summer comprise my two week sabbatical of what I so love to do….increase the size and intensity of my personal addiction! I would love to have you come along in words and pictures of the wonderful part of God’s Creation known as the Gulf of Alaska, as fished out of Sitka, Alaska.

Nowadays, I always fish out of The Wild Strawberry Lodge, run by Alaska Premier Charters. Owners and proprietors, Theresa Weiser and her husband Johnny Belcher are truly professional fishermen with many many years of personal experience and know-how. They run an almost flawless fishing lodge and are always one of the top three biggest and most successful charter fishing operations in all of Sitka. First-Class quality of equipment, service, food, and lodging as well as high catch rates make them, in my personal opinion, the top fishing lodge in all of Sitka, Alaska.

The owners of Wild Strawberry Lodge know the bottom of the ocean as well as any good fly fisherman knows the bottom of his favorite trout stream. Theresa and Johnny uncannily just seem to always know where to fish or to find where the fish are on any given day. Hence their high catch rates.

The last week of each June, three to four days of sport fishing readies us for the beginning of the commercial king salmon hand troll season which opens the first week of July. Commercial hand trolling provides us the grand opportunity catch for money, as many fish as can be held in the fish holds for a day or two at a time. It is indeed a wonderful experience to not be limited to just catching one or two “chinooks” and then having to stop because you are limited out. Commercial season legally permits a properly licensed fisherman to catch fish until he tires of the activity,…if that is actually possible.

And so it is with living a successful life. It has been said that If you do with the living of your own life that which you really do love to do,….then you will never have to go to work a day in your entire life. I have certainly found that statement to be an actual reflection of the truth. Maybe that is precisely why I can fish everyday out at sea in the Gulf of Alaska for two weeks of 12 to 15 hour days and nights, and still not want to leave Alaska and return home. Those of us who are in fact truly “addicted” just never are able to get enough.

When you couple that which you are doing with the loving, serving, and caring for your fellow man, the blessings back into your life are multiplied one hundred-fold. That is exactly what God Almighty commands us as human beings to do with our lives each and every day. And like all good and proper things we do in life, the more we do it, the better we get at doing it. You see, dear ones, God’s instructions to us are intended for our own benefit if we will simply be obedient to them. His Word tells us that the more abundantly we sow (DO), the more abundantly we shall reap (RECEIVE). God’s Truth is always easy and simple to do….the problem is getting individuals to be obedient to follow and perform such instructions.

God is in control of everything, regardless of what you personally believe. He knows what is happening in each of our lives. He knows what is going to happen and He knows how we will respond to His guidance,….because He is the One who designed us and preplanned our lives,….even before we were born. Sounds incredible and hard to believe doesn’t it . Well it is true. You can choose to fight it and be miserable and very unhappy or you can relax and be obedient and do as your spiritual heart (your conscience) leads you to do the right thing. I can only tell you that your personal happiness and peace of mind will unfold in your life as God’s Will prevails in your life through your obedience and submission to His purpose for you.

The real key that unlocks the future that God originally planned for you is for you to first learn what your real strengths are and how best to use them. To accomplish this you must study and read and associate with other people who are able and who are willing to teach you how to develop your personal mental, physical, and spiritual strengths. You must first know yourself before you will ever be able to grow yourself. Having good quality highly experienced and capable people with whom you may associate greatly helps you learn quickly how best to accomplish your desired results.

Once your strengths are identified and are beginning to be improved and further developed, you need to get involved in some kind of profitable and productive manner and way of utilizing your strengths. It is indeed the blessed person who learns to earn a livelihood by performing those tasks at which he is very good at performing, and at which he is most happy and productive. Personal growth is the prerequisite to achieving happiness while living your life.

I exhort you to spend some specific and precious private time on your knees with your Lord in prayer. Talk with Him about what He wants you to do with the use of your life. Listen to what He is telling you to do and then begin to act upon what He is telling you to do! Start your personal search for a ways and means of doing what He is commanding you to do. At first you may have no idea as to how or what to do. That is O.K. Just begin by doing as best you are able to do based upon that (your own talents and abilities) with which you do have to work. Let God be your guide.

Never just make a request during your prayer time. Take time to listen for God’s response to your requests. Get some books about the subject He impresses upon your mind, and begin to read them daily. Invest in your self. Obtain some educational tools that teach you more about how to do what you feel God is leading you to do. Begin to get around other successful people who may be able to advise or give you referral contacts to other men or women who can help you learn more about what to do to become successful in your chosen calling. Learn and then apply what you are learning. Take your daily steps by doing what you are learning to do. Be consistent in the application of what your are learning. Success is indeed a journey….it is not just a destination.

One important consideration you must never forget is to stay in continual spiritual contact with your Creator. God does indeed answer your prayers. The big problem is that we do not always listen to His answers. When you are in total submission to God and His desires for your use of your life,…. you will know it! He will comfort you and you will be content to keep on working with His guidance and direction to your life until you begin to accomplish His special purpose for your life.

God demands that you become fruitful and multiply the blessings and accomplishments of the time and energy you apply to the living of your life. Productivity is the result of living a successful live. You will only be productive in the use of your own resources and efforts when you are actively and passionately pursuing the Major Definite Purpose,… God has given you to accomplish while you are alive on this earth.

And so it is…If you want to be successful and productive and therefore happy while you are alive…..then make absolute certain that you are using your strengths to the very best of your ability in an effort that will produce for you a great amount of positive godly personal internal growth that causes you to love your God and to love other people tomorrow and on into the future more than you presently do love them today.

Build on your strengths and love on those who follow your leadership.

Peace and Love to All of You………………..Poppa Bear