Achieving Dreams 11/1 - 11/8 Days 305 - 312

As of this writing there are 53 days left in the year... 53 days, that's about 7.5 weeks - wow!  Talk about time flying.  It really is amazing for me to think about the concept of the year rapidly winding down.  I find myself thinking about the beginning of January writing my first blogs and sending out into cyber space to be read by - who knows?!  

I feel like myself, many of you, and hopefully many many more, have grown in so many ways from those first few days in January.  It has been a real pleasure reading emails, blog and facebook comments from so many of you and watching how your responses have changed over the year.  You guys are doing great work at living life - I am proud of you all and thank you for being such a constant source of inspiration.

Updates:

11/11/2011 is right around the corner!  I hope you guys are as excited about the full moon project as I am.  We have cloudy skies and a chance of rain in the forecast for that day.  To combat that I have been doing my "good weather dance."  Regardless, I will be out there taking a picture of whatever the Universe decides to show me - remember it is not about the actual picture, but the process of doing something different, of changing your day to day routine.  For more info on the Full Moon project check it out here and please please invite your friends.  11/11/2011 at 11:11pm full moon photo shoot

Sunrise/Sunset continues to impress me with some of the amazing shots you guys are sending in.  An extra big thank you to all of you who are getting your friends involved.  And an even bigger thank you to everyone who is taking the time to check the list before posting.  Thank you all for taking the extra minute to label the pictures so well.  I cannot tell you how much time it saves me.  Please keep checking the list and labeling your pics before you send them in: Sunrise/Sunset

As I sat down to write today's blog entry, I had no idea what I was going to write about, which is often the case.  I sat here reviewing what has happened in my life since the last time I chatted with your all.  I thought about the experiences I have had, the people I have met, the conversations I have had, and one thing stood out more prominently than anything else...

I went to New York this past weekend.  The purpose of the trip was to support one of my best friends who participated in her first marathon.

Naturally I was excited to have the opportunity to visit New York, especially this trip as I got to see both the Statue of Liberty (something I have wanted to see since Ghostbusters 2 came out in the late 80's) and the newly opened 911 Memorial, which is moving beyond words.

Of course I got a little giddy when I discovered that Sleepy Hollow, aka, the place where the "Headless Horsemen" story is set, is a real town.  Not only is it a real town, but it is located just outside of Manhattan.  At the prospect of going there I was like a kid in a candy store... this became an absolute must, and boy did it not disappoint. 

1000 Challenge stuff aside, what I was more excited about was to be a part of my friend's race experience because, as is the case with so many other things in life, there is always more meaning beneath the surface than what the actual goal is.

My friend is the silent type in the sense that she is not one to boast about her goals and things she has done or wants to accomplish.  She instead quietly pursues the things in life which bring her fulfillment.  In the years I have known her, I have watched her not just grow, but blossom into the person she is today, and I am sure she would say the same about me.

A marathon is a big deal as I am sure those of you who have run one can attest to.  Hell it is a big one to even consider, as I can sure those of you who have thought about it can attest to.

For a very select few of us taking on a challenging goal like running a marathon is just that - a challenge, nothing more, nothing less.  For the rest of us, myself included, a major goal like a marathon is symbolic of much much more, crossing the finish line is just the icing on the cake.

The reason more people do not do marathons is because to do one it takes a lot of hard work, and did I mention, the race and the work leading up to it is HARD!  Training for a marathon scares off many people because there is no short cut, no quick fix, no way to start at mile one and teleport yourself to mile 25 only to cruise in the last mile.  It does not work that way. 

So many of us want the quick fix.  We talk about our hopes, our dreams, our goals, but that is it... we leave them as the subject of conversation because we all want to go from point "A" to point "Z" as quickly as possible, meaning we would love to achieve more, but only if we can skip the work, points "B" through "Y."

This "B" though "Y" part of the goal achieving process is the most challenging, the most important, and also what impressed me so much about my friend completing her marathon.

You see, the "B" through "Y" of any goal is often much more than just the goal. In training for a marathon the B-Y is the getting up early to do the long runs, the arranging your weekends to get the double digit mile/kilometer runs in so as to stay on track.  To accomplish the B-Y portion of a goal we are constantly in this tug of war: What am I gaining and what am I giving up to get what I want?!?!  It's a tough balance to find, and sadly many people never get to the point where they can see the long term gains as they get stuck and focus only on the short term sacrifices.

I was privileged enough to be a part of some of my friend's B-Y part of her life.  Both in training for the marathon and in life in general.  And in both cases she was willing to put in the work, make the necessary adjustments and sacrifices in her life to move forward and accomplish what she was after and reap the long term rewards.

After the race she told her friend that she had been making an extra effort to post and talk about the marathon with friends because most of her friends had never seen her as being someone athletic.  Now she is running a marathon!

The cool thing with accomplishing goals is you create a ripple effect.  Others watch your efforts and see what you are doing and start to ask themselves that all important question: "If he/she can do it, what am I capable of?  Could I possibly do this??"  The answer - YES, of COURSE!!  As long as you are willing to put in the work to do it.


The thing is if you don't take that first step and decide on what your goal/dream is then how can it ever come true?  And beyond that, if you are not wiling to commit to the work that goes into it, and when I say commit, I mean 110%, commit with all your heart commit!  Giving 96% here just will not cut it.  These are YOUR DREAMS we are talking about here, if you want them to come true, you have to be willing to make them come true.  Most of us are not going to win the lottery we have to earn our dreams.

The greatest thing about accomplishing goals, about achieving dreams is that once you achieve one, you realize that all the others are possible, as long as you are willing to work.

It has been such a privilege for me to watch my friend on her life path the last several years.  She has encountered the same bumps in the road as you, me, and everyone else does.  What has been inspiring is that  when she hits those bumps, she does not turn and run from them.  She does not give up and turn her back on all the progress she has made.  No, not at all; instead she continues to move forward, continues to pursue her dreams, continues to work on not being denied the life of her choosing.

The same is possible for all of us, I would not say so unless I did not believe it with all my heart, with110% confidence.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Taking on Time 10/25 - 10/31 Days 298 - 304

A few quick updates before I get to the blog.  I hope everyone is planing on participating in the full moon project on 11-11-2011 at 11:11pm.  If you do not know what this is check out the link here: 11-11-2011 Full Moon Project :) and please invite your friends!  Lets get the entire world involved! :)

On the subject of the entire world getting involved.  Sunrise/Sunset challenge is going amazing.  Got lots of cool pictures from Asia this week including a few from the Middle East.  An extra big thank you to all of you who are getting your friends involved.  And an even bigger thank you to everyone who is taking the time to check the list before posting and who is labeling the pictures so well.  I cannot tell you how much time it saves me, which is strangely the topic of this blog :)  Check out sunrise/sunset here and be sure to look at all the albums on the 1000 Challenge page.  Sunrise/Sunset List

Last week there was a petition going around to try and get the 1 Year 1000 Challenge on the Ellen DeGeneres show - I cannot tell you all how much it means to me that so many of you think so highly of the 1000 Challenge that you would take the time to try and get it on Ellen.  Thank You!  I have an interview coming out in one of the local papers sometime this week, which I will post online as soon as it is available.  All your support and your dedication to changing your own live's inspires me and gives me energy every day - thank you so much everyone.

On to the blog...

Typing the title in I just realized that we have moved into the 300's for number of days that have passed so far this year... YIKES!!

I remember starting the 1000 Challenge typing in the numbers 1, 5, 15, and so on... 300 seemed so far away and yet here we are.  My does time fly...  In fact I had a brief conversation with someone at the gym this morning about time:  It moves so fast when you are engaged in the process of living life and it seems to crawl when you are in a "funk" and struggling to make it through the days.

I have been having quite a few conversations the last few weeks with different people about the 1000 Challenge.  Common questions are: "What's next," "What are you going to do when it is over," "Are you going to miss it," and the big one, "How has this changed you?"

Saturday I was driving down to Orange County which is about 165miles south from Santa Barbara.  Without traffic it is around a 2.5 hour drive to the part I was going.  With traffic it is a crap shoot.  It took me nearly 3 hours to get to the 405/101 interchange, one of the busiest freeway interchange's in the entire world.  Without traffic I can make it there in about 1 hour 15 minutes.  I looked at my handy Google Maps map and it showed that I had nothing but traffic ahead of me for the next 70 miles which means I had probably about another 4 hours of driving ahead of me.  I hate traffic!

I typically do not use the word "Hate" that often, but traffic is one of those times I use it.  I get frustrated every time I find myself sitting in traffic as I feel it is such a waste of my life.  I get squirmy, I get upset, I get agitated because I am going absolutely nowhere.  Not only that, but I know how long the trip "could" take and how long it is taking.  I hate when the "is" and the "could" do not match up.  So to pass the time I think of things like: If I were to sit in traffic for 1 hour every day for the next 60 years, that would mean over the next 60 years I would spend 21,900 hours in traffic.  That equals over 912 days which equals approximately 2.5 years of my life!!!  TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF MY LIFE SPENT STARING AT THE BACK OF SOMEONES BRAKE-LIGHTS AND LICENSE PLATE.... NO THANK YOU!!!!  I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR THAT!!!

After I got myself worked up into a nice little tizzy about my rapidly fading life, I calmly excited the freeway, turned around, and began heading back toward Santa Barbara.  In the past, I would have begrudgingly continued to plod along until I made it to my destination.  All the while resenting the drive and the reason going.  Turning around provided such a different experience.  I had zero traffic going North, I was able to stop at a historical park and take some pictures of ducks; and I made it to a friends house to watch the sunset on the beach - ahhh a much happier way to end the day.

Yesterday, Sunday, I went to watch this silent movie, Nosferatu, a silent film made in 1921 and one of the oldest horror movies.  What was really cool about this experience was that the venue the film was shown at had an organ so that the film could be watched to the accompaniment of live music.  Sounds really cool right? And it was, but ...

I rarely watch movies, and I never watch TV.  It's hard for me to sit still and I am in this space right now where I am so stoked about living, that the last thing I want to do is take a break from my reality and watch someone else's reality, fact or fiction.  I really dislike TV as even a background noise when friends are around as I feel it provides a distraction to the conversation and laughs that could be had.  However, it was Halloween weekend, and this was a pretty cool opportunity to see a historically significant film the way it would have been seen nearly 100 years ago.  1000 Challenge is about new experiences right, doing things I normally wouldn't do at times... so to the movie I went.

I sat through a 20 minute "Laurel and Hardey" silent that was also accompanied by the Organ music.  By the time Nosferatu started, I was already starting to squirm in my chair.  As the movie went on I became more and more impatient.  My excitement rapidly began to fade.  The "coolness" of the organ quickly became an annoyance with what seemed like the same music over and over again.  I thought it would be dramatic and add suspense, but instead, at least it seemed to me, to just make the movie corny.  

In the past, like in traffic, normally I would suck it up and see something I started to the end, never wanting to be a "quitter."  As I sat there, forcing myself to watch this movie that I was clearly not into, I started thinking about this picture my friend had sent me at the beginning of the year (see below).  And how the picture was so powerful as it signified time and just how little of it we have in this life.  Then I started thinking about all the questions people have been asking me, especially the "How has this changed you," question.

I have learned to value my time in a way I have never valued it before.  I have also learned that I love the way I am living my life.  Pack as much in, in as little time as possible.  Find fun where it used to elude me, stop sweating the small stuff, and soak up every moment, go, go, go, GOGOGOGOGO and then rest when needed.  I really love it as I feel I am not squandering any precious seconds of life away.  

Placing a higher value on my time, does not mean I waste what precious time I have on avoidable things like traffic and movies that I do not like.  No longer will I just suck it up and stick with it because I do not want to "quit."  "C'mon Jesse, how stupid is that.  If you stay through the movie, if you sit in the traffic, yea, you may see it through, but you are quitting on the free time you could have."

With those thoughts, I calmly stood up and rapidly walked out of the theater.  And just as I did with the traffic the night before, I immediately felt a sense of relief, a sense of freedom, like I was back in the driver's seat of my life.  No longer did any external forces have control of it as they did in the traffic and movie situations.

While these are small examples, and some of you may be thinking, "Come on now Challenge Boy, it is JUST a movie, and Everyone has to sit in traffic from time to time."  Yes you are all right, but for me when I have the power to exercise choices in certain situations, when my well being, my happiness is enhanced by choosing option 2 rather than sticking with option 1, from now on I am choosing option 2.  

I do not want to spend years of my life sitting in traffic when I do not have to.  I do not want to spend my life sitting through movies that do not excite me.  Who cares if I payed for it, what is the value of my time lost?  How much is that hour worth that I can NEVER get back????

There are many things I have learned this year from the 1000 Challenge.  Nothing is more precious than our time.  We only have a limited amount of it and every second we spend sitting around complaining, moaning, and groaning about our life; is one second that we will never get back.  Every minute we spend sitting around, wasting because we choose sadness instead of happiness is one minute we will never get to live again.  

Now I know things happen in life where we will experience sadness, low energy, etc.. that is part of being a human and that is also part of living.  There is a difference between the sadness that comes from morning a loss like a death or an ended relationship, vs. the sadness of sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself.  

Experiencing loss and the emotions that come with it... that is living.  Avoiding it, that is not.  

The clock is ticking.  The year that once seemed like it was going to go on forever for me is rapidly winding down.  Time is not slowing down for us.  I do not want to live my life "playing catch up," or sitting around moaning and groaning about the time I have lost.  Nope, been there, done that, have zero desire to ever do it again.  

Time is moving guys.  You can either move with it, or spend your life chasing after it, it is your choice.

Tic Toc, Tic Toc, TIC TOC

Enjoy the pictures,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Jesse

The Life I Might of Had ... 10/16 - 10/24 Days 289 - 297

Hello Hello Hello... and welcome.  I hope you enjoy whatever words find their way onto this blog.  I am still trying to think of them, so while I do, I am going to stall for a minute and remind you of a few reminders! :)

Ustream Chat This THURSDAY October 27th, 7:30pm PST.  As always I appreciate everyone who makes an effort to join in and I really appreciate those of you who stay up past your bedtimes, or get up extra early to participate.  It means a lot.  I really do enjoy spending that hour with you all.

The Sunrise/Sunset album is continuing to build.  We are getting more amazing pictures from around the world nearly every day.  As a reminder, please make sure you check the list to see if it is a region we do not have before you post your photo.  Also please label it: Date, sunrise or sunset, where in the world it is (please include the country and if it is a state, province etc... as is listed on the master list).  Remember it is just me doing it on my end so the more detailed you are the less work for me which I really REALLY appreciate.

And my apologies for delay's on shirt orders.  I have been a little slower than normal, but am working diligently to make myself more efficient :)

I am constantly watching people.  I like what I can learn in my day to day observations of humanity.  As I watch, I often find myself wondering: "What is their life like?"  "Are they happy?"  "Do they want more out of life?" "Are they settling for less than they are capable of?"  "If they are not happy, why?  Is it because of money, relationship, health... any of the above, all of the above?"  The list goes on and on and on - I have a busy brain that wonders lots of things.

As I watch people I often reflect on my own life -

This weekend I took a road trip about 250 miles north to Santa Cruz, California.  Why Santa Cruz... well, I have never been, I love the movie "Lost Boys" which was filmed there, I wanted to go, and more significantly, I am at this point in my life where I am spending a lot of time reflecting.  I have been asking myself questions like "What would my life be like if I never came to Santa Barbara?"

Once upon a time I was not the Jesse Brisendine you all know now.  I used to be the shy-est, most insecure, most self-conscious person you ever met. This is no exaggeration, let me give you some examples:

In High School, the first week of my Freshmen year I broke out in hives I was so nervous about starting high school.  I heard horror stories about Freshmen getting picked on and "canned."  I felt I surely would be the victim of such attacks.

I used to wake up every day and spend my time in front of the mirror telling myself "I am so ugly," and "I am such a loser."  In fact I was so worried that people would see how ugly I was that I used to spend, no exaggeration, upwards of 30 minutes every morning picking my nose.  I was so terrified of having boogers because I felt if I did, it would be one more thing that would enhance my "ugliness" and people would see it and they would hate me because of it.

In college I can remember sitting in Psychology class my Freshmen year and a girl tapping me on the shoulder asking if I knew when a test was, I was so shy that I turned bright, BRIGHT red and broke out into a cold sweat trying to answer this girls question.  I could go on and on with more examples and where this all originates from, but that is another blog.  I just wanted to provide you with some background info.

When it came time to go to college I knew that if I was going to have a chance at life, I needed to get out of my hometown.  I did not like it there and I always felt like I never fit in.  I have family that lives in southern California so I was familiar with it growing up as a kid.  Santa Barbara was where I wanted to go as I would have the closest proximity to them while still being near to my beloved Ocean.

I applied to the Universities of California at Santa Cruz, Davis, and Santa Barbara.  Davis because I had a couple of close friends there, Santa Cruz as a backup, and Santa Barbara because, well it is Santa Barbara.

When acceptance letters came out, they were mailed out over about a 6 week (if I remember correctly) period of time.  I got my acceptance to Santa Cruz on about the first day.  I received my rejection letter from Davis at about the 3 week mark.  At 5 weeks I still had not heard from Santa Barbara.  Two other girls, who had been accepted, had already received their's weeks earlier.  I was resolved to going to Santa Cruz.  I still held out hope for a miracle that Santa Barbara would come through, but that hope was fading.

At 18 years old I did not have anything resembling the positive attitude, or the wisdom, and belief's that I share with you all now through the 1000 Challenge.  It was quite the contrary... I was negative, insecure, sad, and anything but sure of myself.

With a heavy heart I resolved to go to Santa Cruz -- justifying it to myself that I would be closer to home so I could visit more often, even though the last thing I wanted to do was go back to my home town.  On the last day of the 6 weeks, I received an acceptance packet in the mail from University of California Santa Barbara.  I accepted that day.

I was curious to see Santa Cruz as I wondered what it was like and thus I wondered what my life would have been like had I gone there instead of SB.  As I walked, drove, and explored around Santa Cruz I took in as much as I could; the culture, the people, the beach scene, the weather, and of course the campus.

As a tourist, I loved Santa Cruz.  The weather was amazing when I was there.  The town is easy to get around and felt like I knew my way around by departure time Sunday morning.  The Coast line is spectacular and had an extra beautiful shimmer to it due to the warm sunshine shining down on it.  And of course the Redwood trees.  Nothing reminds me of home more than the Giant Redwood Trees.

These beautiful ancient trees can be found only in a very few places in the world, one of the largest concentrations of them is in the area where I grew up.  As a kid I never appreciated how majestic they are as I now do as an adult.  These trees were everywhere including the campus of UC Santa Cruz.

I drove through the campus and as I looked around tried to imagine myself walking through the campus there as opposed to Santa Barbara.  I wondered if that shy, insecure kid, would have been as terrified in Santa Cruz as he was in Santa Barbara.  I wondered where I would be in my life had I gone to Santa Cruz - had that acceptance letter never come.  Would I be doing the same work I am doing now?  Would I of had the same life experiences?  Would I be doing the 1000 Challenge?

The answer I finally settled on is, "probably not."  Beyond the answer though is an even more important point I want to make - I am at a place where I really love my life.  Sure I do not have everything figured out - I still have the same "issues" as everyone else: relationships, work, health, bills to pay etc... What I have figured out though is a more empowering way as to how I approach these issues, for example - I have about $20,000 in debt a lot by some standards, small by others.  I used to be the guy that stressed over the money all the time, it does not do any good, trust me I have tried it.  What does help is to do your best to pay what you can and focus on LIFE, not debt, not bills, those things are not life, they are just things, part of the process.  It will not go away stressing about it, I have tried that too. :)

You see, my life today is a direct product of choosing Santa Barbara over Santa Cruz and I am thankful for the life I have and the opportunities I have to live it as best I can.

The reason for all the above, for my nostalgic trip down memory lane, for my Santa Cruz vs. Santa Barbara analysis is this: me, you, every single one of us are exactly where we are supposed to be at this point in our lives.  Why?  I cannot answer that, only you can answer it for yourself.  What I can tell you though is that every decision you have made, every experience you have had has lead you to this moment right now.

Think about it:  Many of you who read my blogs and follow the 1000 Challenge do so because you want to be inspired, you want to make changes in your life.  Well, you would not be here reading this at this moment wanting to make changes, had everything in your life not happened.  You see all your experiences, all your ups and downs, all of them have put you here reading this right now.  Some of you want to make changes in your lives, some of you want to take your lives to the next level, some of you enjoy looking at the pictures, some of you just enjoy my bad jokes (that was a joke!).

I had an amazing time in Santa Cruz and left it smiling at it's beauty, excited for when the day comes that I might return there for another visit, and grateful that I chose Santa Barbara.  Even more than that, as I was driving home last night, I could not help but be grateful for all the life experiences I have had, all the ups and the down, all the good's and the bad's for they have all prepared me for this exact moment at this exact time in my life.

And the experiences I will have the rest of today and tomorrow and the next day, will all prepare me for all the moments to come.

The cool thing about all of that is the majority of the moments... I get to choose how I will live them.  I get to choose my attitude, I get to choose my perspective I look at things with, I get to choose the effort I will put forth in any endeavor, I get to choose if I am going to smile or frown, I get to choose to laugh or not to laugh, I get to choose to hang out with people who enhance my life or to hang out with people who don't.  I have a zillion choices that I can make moment to moment that can either enhance my life or not.

The same goes for you.

Enjoy the pictures,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

The importance of playing 10/8 - 10/15 Days 281 - 288

October is halfway over... yikes!  And I thought Halloween was the scariest thing happening in October!!!  And with a decent amount of travel planned for November, I feel like the last 77 Days of the year are going to, no pun intended, fly by.

A few updates:

Sunrise/Sunset project is going awesome!  Thank you everyone for participating and an extra big thanks for getting your friends involved.  Please keep following the list, it helps me a lot: Sunrise/Sunset List

I am looking forward to doing another ustream chat here in the next week or so.  I'll update facebook as soon as I figure out a date and time.

I am planning a cool event for 11-11-2011 and will need everyone's help.  I will post all the details of it in the next couple of weeks.  It will be a great time :)

When I started the 1 Year 1000 Challenge I had a bunch of goals associated with it.  The biggest one being, getting back to living life, and learning how to live it to the fullest.  I feel like I have done it and I love the way I am living my life right now and the course it is on.

When I got back from Utah last Sunday someone asked me, "how was your vacation?"

"Vacation?" I replied...

You see the question puzzled me, here is why:

Vacation, as is defined in the dictionary is: freedom or release from duty, business, or activity...

Vacation = freedom???  I understand the definition, but this is a perfect example of a change that has occurred within me.  I love my work, I love my life, and I love the people in it.  Why would I ever want to take a vacation from that which I love?  To me making a three and a half day 1,200+ mile road trip is not vacation that is just how I want to live my life.

I had never been to Utah before because it was "so far away."  These were actually my own words.  When we were there a lady asked us where we were from and then said, "wow California, you sure are a long ways away from home."

Are we really?  NO!  We got on the road for that trip at 3am on Thursday morning, why?  Because I want to maximize my time not just in the day, but in my life.  If I waited to leave at around, say 7am, I would no doubt encounter traffic which will then in turn make my travel time much much slower.  By leaving at 3am I can be 98% certain that I will have zero traffic because I know the majority of people will not get up that early to travel or go to work.  And since there will be no traffic, I can make the drive much faster, AND when we got to St. George we had enough time to spend all day site seeing.  Had I left at 7am I would not have been able to see Zion in the same day.

I still drove the same 480 miles, but by choosing to give up a little sleep and get on the road a little earlier, you get a lot more back.  What would have been a 9 hour drive with traffic was about a 6 and 1/2 drive without.

Give it a try your next road trip.  We all have experienced "sleep," meaning we all know what it is like to sleep.  But have you ever tried getting up even earlier to go someplace you are excited to visit.  You may be a little "sleepy" as you travel, but I guarantee you will not be regretting the lost sleep when you arrive at your destination hours earlier with more time to play.

Play... that leads me to something else:

Another goal I have with the 1000 Challenge is to learn more about people, humanity as a whole.  In that quest, I have been to more parks, festivals, museums, and cultural gatherings than at any other time in my life. In fact I was at one yesterday, the Santa Barbara Beer Festival, and someone came up to me and said, "I see you at every festival."

I was at another park on Tuesday.  As I sat there I started watching some kids play.  For some reason, this particular group of kids really got me to thinking.  They were not on the play ground, they were just running around in the grass, playing.  They had come to the park to play.  To them, Parks = Play.  HMMMMM....

When does it happen in life where we as adults lose the association of Parks = Play?  When do we stop looking at parks as an opportunity of fun and play; and start looking at them as just places, as "just another park?"

As kids it does not matter if we are swinging on the swing set, sliding down the slide with our arms in the air, smiles on our face, or if it is just an open field; to kids parks are an un-ending possibility of fun and adventure - kids live to play.  Adults, what do we live for?  And why do we no longer live to play?

I know, I know, we grow up, responsibilities, bills to pay, families to feed, etc... Those are all important things and a very big part of life and what it means to become an "adult," but why can't we still play amidst all of that?  Why can't going to work still be an adventure.  Even if we do not like our job, why can't we like the opportunity we have to work?

Sure there are bills to pay, but there are ALWAYS going to be bills to pay, so lets accept that and move forward.  Why don't we?  Why do we instead insist on every time the phone bill comes we are "re-shocked" as if we have never seen it before.  We know it is coming, we know how much it is going to be, so why continue to give your precious energy to dwelling on it?  And here's the even bigger question:  If you continually find yourself dwelling on the phone bill and any other regular bills, what does that do for you?  Does it make the bills better?

I would wager, No.  So why not try changing it?  Why not re-direct that dwelling time into more play time?

I think I just answered one of my questions, why do we, as adults, stop playing?  The answer: because we choose to.  At some point in life we decide it is more important to try to impress someone than enjoy ourselves.  At some point in life we decide it is better to "act cool," than it is to just be our-self.  At some point in life we decide that we would rather stress and dwell over and over and over and over and over and OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again about the same things rather than just get over it and go back to playing.  If a kid throws sand in another kids eye, the recipient of the sand is upset about it for 5 minutes then forgets all about it and goes back to playing with whoever threw the sand.  If someone throws sand in our eyes we hate them and then create this story in our head's about how that person is the "worst person in the world."  We then take it a step further and blame that person for the traffic we encounter on the way to work, the fight we get into with our spouse.  That person becomes the reason why our mortgage payment is late and the reason why we didn't get enough sleep and are "sooo tired" today.

Why?  When you read the above it seems so over dramatic to the point of being silly doesn't it.  Do me a favor, spend some time in a park this week and just watch the kids play, you will learn a lot from them.

I have wanted to see a rattlesnake in the wild ever since I was around 4 years old and my Dad showed me this rattle from a rattlesnake.  I remember I used to go back and pick it up and shake it and imagine running into one and how cool it would be.

I wanted so badly to see one that I have spent time on almost every hike I have been on saying, out loud mind you, "here rattlesnake, here rattlesnake."  I then whistle for them as if I am calling a dog.  My friends at first hearing this thought I was on drugs.  After I explained to them the story they just thought I was nuts!

On Wednesday I saw my FIRST EVER RATTLESNAKE in the wild!  I was so excited.  I yelled out loud, "Holly S**T, A RATTLESNAKE, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!"

 I had always imagined myself being so scared at the first encounter, but I was actually quite the opposite.  When I saw it, it immediately began to slither away and I was so afraid I would not get a picture that I forgot all about being scared and instead focused all my energy on getting my camera out, FAST!  Needless to say I got my camera out and proceeded to have a 15 minute photo shoot with my new friend.  As I took picture after picture I began to hear the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin's voice in my head.  I recalled every safety tidbit he ever mentioned about rattlesnakes: their strike speed, how much space they can cover in a strike, etc...

All of this was important information and kept me at a safe distance during our photo shoot.  Once I began to hear Steve Irwin's voice, in his heavy Australian accent, saying "Look at this little ripper, get a stick."  I decided that since my khaki pants had been left at home and since I am no crocodile hunter, that it was time for me to leave before I did get a stick and got to close trying to get the snake to pose for more pictures.

I was so excited the rest of the day.  I told every person I talked to all about it.  They did not fully get why I was so excited to see the snake, but all of them loved hearing the story.

So why was I so excited?  Well for me, seeing a rattlesnake in the wild has been a dream since I was kid - a childhood dream.  And it is one of the few dreams I had when I was a kid that I never gave up on.  Finally realizing that dream 20+ years later... I can't tell you how cool that was.  And what was even cooler was I reacted like a kid would.  Pure excitement, uncontrollable joy, so much so that I had to share my story with everyone, including all of you.

The moral of these stories and this blog:  never give up on dreams.  Sure you can change them, modify them, evolve them, but never stop dreaming.  And WHEN you realize those dreams, celebrate them as if you were a kid.  Remember a kid lives to play, why should we adults be any different?  All we really are is grown up kids...

Enjoy the pictures,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

The Hero I Never Knew I Had 9/30 - 10/7 Days 273 - 280

A few quick house keeping things before I get to the blog:

1.) Don't forget Ustream chat Sunday, October 9th, 7am PST. I am holding it early Sunday morning in hopes that more of our friends from around the world will be able to join in.  My fellow PST members we all can get up early on our Sunday.  I look forward to chatting with you all on Sunday.

2.) The 1000 Challenge challenge of filling up the big list of sunrises and sunsets is going strong.  PLEASE PLEASE please only send in pictures that have not yet been crossed off on the list.  The reason being: again it is only me doing everything on this end.  Each picture takes time to update and update the list, so please help me manage my time and check the list first before you send in a picture.  The list can be found here: Sunrise/ Sunset master list

3.) I just wanted to say thank you for all of you who follow along.  Your support means the world to me.  An extra special thanks to those of you who are not only following along, but taking the concepts, ideas, and little life lessons I try to impart through the 1000 challenge and are putting them into practice in your own lives.  You all are truly a source of inspiration to me.  Thank you everyone!  I can never say that enough... Thank You THANK YOU! :)

I had a blog that was about 70% of the way done that I was planning on posting today, and then Steve Jobs died.

Yesterday, Thursday, I was really sick.  I NEVER get sick!  I think I must of had a migraine, I am not sure as I have never had one before, but I woke up with a pounding headache, and my eyes hurt so bad it felt like someone kept punching them.  I could not look at my phone, my computer, or read anything as the light from the monitors and text on a white background caused more pain.  As the morning went on I started to feel more and more nauseous until finally I started throwing up.  I have not thrown up since August of 2007, that is how rare I get sick, I can actually pinpoint dates!

One of my friends even said, "you are sick, but you do not get sick... what is going on?"  That's true, I don't.  I decided several years ago that I was going to abstain from the participation in illness.  Meaning that when the annual "oh my God, it is flu season" discussions started up I was not going to even begin to entertain the thought in my mind that I might get sick.  And when other people around me caught a cold, I decided I was no longer going to focus on "so and so is sick, I sure hope I do not get sick."  Which of course I always did get sick.  Instead, when so and so gets sick, I now focus on how healthy I am and how strong my immune system is.  Skeptics say I have just been "lucky."  I say it works, and even if I have just been lucky, what harm is there in trying??????

Anyways, somehow this migraine found a chink in my armor and was able to keep me down for most of the day yesterday.  With nothing to occupy my time other than my thoughts, I had a lot of time to think.  I found a great deal of my time was spent thinking about Steve Jobs; who he was and what is the legacy he left behind. I spoke with one of my friends about this last night, telling him I was having a real hard time with his death, and I did not know why.  My friend, who at times I refer to as my "Jedi apprentice" for his growing wisdom, responds with a very "Jedi-esq" ... "that's because he is a dreamer Jesse, just like you.  There are not a lot of you out there."  Wise words my young apprentice, wise words indeed.

I am a dreamer.  I dream big dreams for myself and I dream even bigger dreams for humanity as a whole.  The 1000 Challenge is a personal challenge I started for myself, I wanted to challenge myself to live life in a way I have always wanted.  To experience it to the absolute fullest.  What it is has grown into is something much beyond myself.  It has grown into an opportunity for me to not just teach, but to actually show people from all over the world what I think is possible for each and everyone of us in terms of living the life of our choosing.

I do not think any of us are meant to settle for a "well i guess this is as good as it gets life."  On the contrary, I think "to settle" is a bad phrase, one that should be eliminated from all of our vocabularies.  We are not meant to settle, we are meant to thrive, to live and soak up each and every precious second of life.  That is what I believe we are meant to do.

Sure we are going to have bad times and challenging times, but rather than let those times dictate our life, we instead use them to learn and grow and then use them to direct the course in life we choose.

I had and I still have not read a great deal about Steve Jobs.  Hence the title of this blog "The Hero I Never Knew I Had."  As my thoughts drifted more and more to what Steve represented to me, represented to the world, I started to realize just how much respect and admiration I have for this man.  As my friend so accurately stated it: He is ( I use "is" here deliberately as I believe legacies live beyond us and thus someone is never truly gone) a dreamer just like me.  And so from one dreamer to the other... I offer my obituary, my attempt of a tribute to Mr. Steve Jobs.

Apple co-founder, Pixar co-founder, entrepreneur, innovator, visionary, and dreamer Steve Jobs passed away quietly on the morning of Wednesday, October 5th, 2011, ending a long battle with Pancreatic Cancer.  When he passed, "He was surrounded by people he loved."

Steve was no different than you or I.  Born in 1955, he was given up for adoption and taken in by a family from a modest background.  After graduating high school he enrolled in college and quickly dropped out after just one semester, shunning the ideology that you NEEDED a college education to get ahead in life.

Instead, Steve began exploring, began dreaming... dreaming of the possibilities that man kind could create through technology.  Short on funds, he would often sleep on the floors of friends apartments, and recycle Coca Cola bottle's for money to buy food with.  In a situation like this, most people would begin to feel sorry for themselves.  Most would focus on how the world seemed like it is against them, how they just can't catch a break.  Steve was not most people, Steve had a dream.

By the time he was 25 years old he was worth over $100 million dollar's, having launched Apple into the forefront of the home computer industry.  By the time he was 30 years old, he was fired from the company he helped create.  Again, most would fault the world, fault other people; most would focus only on the situation, being fired from their job and now facing un-employment at the young age of 30, but not Steve.  Saying, " The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.  It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."  Where there is "perceived" failure, there is really opportunity.  And that's just what Steve did, he seized the opportunity to create.

And create he did: NeXT Computer and Pixar are just two of the more noteable creations that came during this time period.  NeXT software eventually became the software that powers the "I-Tunes" store, among many other applications.  And Pixar, well in case you have never heard of movies like the "Toy Story" franchise, "The Incredibles," and  "A Bug's Life," to name a few... those were all Pixar creations.

All of this lead to Jobs eventually being re-hired at Apple in 1996, 11 years after his dismissal.  What happened between that time and the present is well documented.  In fact, many of you are probably reading this blog on an innovation that came out during this time: "Ipod's," "Itunes," "Iphones," and "Ipads" are just a few of the highlights that have contributed to making Apple one of the most profitable companies of the modern era.  The technology that Apple created during this time period has changed our world and changed the way we interact with one another.  It's cutting edge innovation gave us all the above, but more importantly, it forced the competition to accelerate their innovation game.  By doing his best,  Steve forced others to do their best.

What would a great leader, a great visionary, a great dreamer's story be without adversity... in 2004 Steve faced the greatest test of adversity in his life, the diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer.  As fate would have it he had a rare form of Pancreatic Cancer that was operable and thus curable via surgery.  He had the surgery, and in a 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class of Stanford University, Jobs said: " Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.  Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."  We are all going to die one day...  don't wait until death is knocking on your door to start living.

It was in this same 2005 speech he also said, "sometimes in life, life is going to hit you in the head with a brick, don't lose faith..."You have got to find what you love..."the only way to do great work is to love what you do."  "If you haven't found it (what you love) yet, keep looking, DON'T settle!"

Don't settle... wise words to impart on a world that is all to quick to settle for second rate living.  Sure not all of us may not be CEO's of companies we co-founded, or multi-billionaires, but those two things do not equate to happiness.  Doing what you love, in any aspect of your life, that is what leads to happiness.  And if you are working at a job you may be less than fond of, make the best out of it.  Resolve to go in and give your best everyday... that knowledge leads to not necessarily a love of the job, but a love for the work you do.  Steve kept working at Apple until August of 2011, when he was finally to week to carry on his day to day duties.  Less than two months later he is dead.  Why stay and work, knowing that your days are rapidly coming to a close.  He certainly did not need the money.  And if he quit earlier, everyone around him would certainly understand the reason.  So why stay?  The answer: Steve loved what he did, and he wanted to continue to contribute, he wanted to continue changing the world until he was no longer capable of making the change at the level he wanted to.

And finally, from that same 2005 Stanford University commencement speech, Jobs said, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life... Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary."

People are always going to talk, society is always going to have their opinions of what you "should" be doing. At the end of the day if that is not what feels right, if that is not what makes you happy, if that is not what makes you wake up in the morning wanting to Carpe Diem, then what is the point of it all?

Steve ate a flawless diet, he took care of himself, and he had all the access to the best medical treatment available, but in the end, this larger than life figure still died, just the same that all the rest of us one day will.  You see, as I began this obituary, Steve Jobs is no different than any of us.  He is a mortal, just like you and I.  What sets him apart, what causes us to morn his loss is that he gives us hope.  We see in him a quality which we all wish to indoctrinate into our own lives... we all wish to live our lives pursuing our passions... we all wish to live our lives giving and getting 100 percent out of each and everyday.  The only thing that stops us from doing this is our-self.

We are not all destined to be political head's of state, professional athletes, or CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies, but each and everyone of us was born with the capability of greatness.  This I think is Steve Jobs greatest legacy he leaves the world with today... we are all capable of greatness.  It is instilled inside each and everyone of us, and it is up to us to discover what that greatness is for us.  Greatness is there, it lies in a place deep inside of you... a spark that is just waiting to turn into a flame.  Only you can add fuel to the flame and cause it to burn brighter.  Only you can uncover, nurture, and live your greatness.  The power lies within YOU!

Thank you Steve for leading by example.  May the next generation of dreamers pick up where you left off.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

The Importance of Celebration 9/24 - 9/29 Days 267 - 272

Tuesday was a big day for me... I finished my first book.

Over the last five years or so I have had three or four ideas that I thought would make for a good book.  Each time I started putting pen to paper on one of those ideas, (actually it was really fingers to keyboard :)  ) I would get frustrated at the writing process and stop.  The excuses for stopping included, but were not limited to: it's to hard, I am not a good enough writer, my grammar skills stink, no one will want to read this, this idea is stupid, I am stupid for thinking up this stupid idea... and the list keeps going and going and going, kind of like the Energizer Bunny. (I am on a roll with clever jokes today)!!!

This particular book I began writing about two years ago and have worked on it whenever I would have a creative burst or would find myself in the right emotional frame of mind.  As with the other books, as well as many other great ideas I have had in the past, I made up countless excuses as to why I should quit, why I should give up on writing the book.  The thing that kept me accountable to finishing it: I made sure to put it on the 1000 Challenge list - "Jesse, finish your book, don't let fear and excuses hold you back."

The last couple weeks I have been working on it for hours each day, so much so that my eyes hurt from staring at the computer and my neck has formed a gigantic "computer knot" as I like to call it.

The last five days have been a mix of emotions as I grew closer and closer to completing it.  First there was Anxiety to the point I felt like I was going to throw up - why?  This book, and the website that it will go with, were created from a part of my life that very few people know about.

The website is one I created nearly four years ago and have always operated it as an alias.  The sites sole purpose has been to help people and I know it has based on the 100's of emails I have received from it over the years.  I know people value it, so why the anxiety?  Fear.  Plain and simply fear.  Fear of putting myself out there, fear of what people will think of me when they know that the alias on the site, Michael, is really me.  Fear that it will lose its impact and ability to help.  Fear that my book is not good enough, is not well written enough, that no one will want to read it, that those who do read it will think it is stupid, that it is not... you can re-read all the "excuses" above.

After I made it through the anxiety, I started to cry randomly as I would type.  I cried as I could remember back to the how I felt at the time I created the website.  I cried as I reflected on how far I had come and how much I have grown since I made the site.  I cried over the fact that I was actually seeing something major to completion.  The fact that I stuck with an undertaking as challenging as a book and saw it to completion - that realization made me cry.

As the tears subsided I started to feel a sense of pride.  A sense of pride that caused a smile to spread from ear to ear.  A feeling of, "wow if I can do this, if I can do something that is so challenging for me to complete, what else am I capable of?"  A sense of pride that I could channel a very painful experience in my life and turn it into something positive and something I really believe, with all my heart, can and will help a lot of people.

Tuesday, September 27th 2011, around 2pm, I typed the final sentence and sent it off to have it put in the digital format that it will be available in as soon as I finish updating the website it will go with.

Then I felt sad.  I had just completed this major lifetime achievement and wanted to celebrate it, but with who?  Since I have kept it secret from virtually all my friends, most of them do not even know about the existence of the site and that I was writing a book.  There are a few who know about it, but are out of town.  The few that are in town I didn't call because I didn't know how to say, "hey, I just finished my book and want to celebrate, would you like to join?"

It's funny, but this was the thought process that was running through my mind and I share it with you because I think it is something we all do to often... we do not share, let alone celebrate our achievements.  As a result, I believe we achieve less and less of what we are capable of because we do not value the internal reward at the end.  That reward of feeling good and letting others share in and celebrate this feeling.

Does any of this make sense?  I think all of us, myself included, are very very quick to dish out high fives and good jobs to friends, to family, to total strangers, but when it comes to a self high five and a pat on our own back's, it's hard... why?

Why is it so hard for us to celebrate our achievements?  Why is it so hard for us to be proud of our successes?  And does this behavior hold us back from succeeding and achieving at our greatest potential?

HELL YES IT DOES!!!

We do not celebrate and share our achievements because we do not want to be perceived as being arrogant.  We do not share with others what we want to do because we fear what they may think of us.  We keep our successes hidden because we fear like we may sound like we are bragging and none of us want to be "that person."  We hold off on achieving goals and sharing them with people because we are so afraid of failing and having to face people if we fail.  This fear is so great that we would rather keep our hopes and dreams silently locked up inside of us where they can remain unrealized along with all the other hopes and dreams.

It is sad.  And the above is a big part of the reason why I was sad at the completion of my achievement.  I do the above just as much as everyone else.  And as much as I fear all the "reasons/excuses" as to why I do it, I tell you what, the sadness and the honest acknowledgement that my fear keeps me from achieving my best is a much scarier realization.  I would rather share my goals, my dreams, my successes and face the "what do other people think" fear and the possibility of failure, than to live another day allowing the fear to keep me from achieving my best.

So with that in mind, I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge some of you who have written in recently and shared some of your successes with me.  I love reading about what all of you are accomplishing.  Reading about the successes of the members of the 1000 Challenge Community inspires me in more ways than I will ever be able to articulate here.  I am so proud of each and everyone of you.  I wish you all could see the smile on my face when I read an email about a fear you have faced.  I wish you all could feel how proud I feel of you each time I read an email about you achieving a goal.

The accomplishment of a goal, no matter how big or small, is something to be acknowledged, is something to be celebrated.  The following are some of your achievements taken at random from a handful of the emails I have received in the last month... sharing them with you all here is my way of celebrating with you :)

" I'm thinking different about things that use to scare me, like horse back riding. The last few days my neighbors horses have been right outside my house, and the first day I thought, yes they are BIG!! the second day i though, They are very beautiful. The third day I thought -it would be very cool if I conquered my fear and went for a ride."


"Due to a recent financial rut, I had allowed myself to fall into the mindset that all I could "afford" to do was sit around the house doing essentially nothing.  Hiking is something I have always loved doing, yet for some reason I've stopped the past few months. It was a great reminder that there are plenty of things I love to do that don't cost anything.  It's only about a 45 minute drive to Lake Tahoe, I've been there at sunset plenty of times, but I think that was the first time I've ever really paid attention to it. The whole thing has made me realize while it's easy to waste my energy worrying about what I can and can't afford, the only thing I really can't afford is to let life pass me by."


"I have had some pretty dark days in the past several years that I don't ever care to relive. This year that has all turned around... I'm so very thankful, and I am trying to live that gratitude by putting to practice daily the things I've learned from you this year. 

I think JFK said it best, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." 

"I just moved to Hong Kong from Toronto 2 months ago to pursue my dream of living in Asia (this is something I have wanted to do for years) but have been so burdened and stressed out about finding a job, I have not spent much quality time reflecting on the amazing opportunity that I have at the moment. 

 I have challenged myself to do more 'new' experiences in order to live life to the fullest. This week, I signed up to a Meet Up hiking group where we hiked up Mt. Parker in Hong Kong (and I have never hiked before!).  There were many points on the hike where I just wanted to give up, but knew it would drag the entire team's motivation down if I did so I just plugged on despite I thought it was impossible! I now want to challenge myself to do more"

One final one from me:  

On Saturday a good friend of mine, some of you know her as Granny Gore (that's an entirely different story), will be running the St. George Utah marathon.  When i met her over six years ago, the doctor had told her if she didn't get her health under control she may not be around much longer.  She could not ride a stationary bike on zero resistance for more than 3 minutes without getting winded.  Going up and down stairs were fatiguing to her.  Now, at the age of 70 years old she is in good enough shape to attempt a marathon.  I want to acknowledge her, and her story because I have witnessed her journey and I believe that in her quiet way, she is living proof of what one can achieve when they put their mind and heart to it.

Celebrate your successes!  Share what you have going on with your friends.  Ask your friends and family what they have going on.  Ask them what do they want to accomplish.  Find out what their hopes and fears are.  If you do not ask, many of them will not share.  Ask, help them share.  Encourage them on their journey's.  And when they achieve something, celebrate it with them.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

p.s.  I will share the book and the website with you all once the website is finished, which will be in the next two weeks :)

What's on your mind? 9/16 - 9/23 Days 259 - 266

What's on your mind...

I don't know about you all, but I easily think no fewer than 164,283 different thoughts a day.  My mind is constantly racing, jumping from "this idea" to "that project" to "what needs to be done" to "what I want to do" to "more of this" and even "more of that."  My little neurons and all the other pieces that allow our brains to produce thoughts must get tired from the marathons they run on a day to day basis in my head.

I have always thought this is problematic... aren't we supposed to be able to quiet our minds?   Isn't that what "they" say?  That to be able to relax, unwind, let go, we need to learn to shut off our minds?

I have gotten frustrated with this from time to time because I struggle with it.  I have tried meditating, but typically to no avail.  Whenever I get settled into my meditative spot and try to sit still, I start thinking about everything I want to do when I am done.  Then I get mad at myself for not being able to focus solely on the meditative process.

This year, more than any other, I have learned how to be more present, to be living more in the moment.  I spent a great deal of time talking about what a wonderful feeling that was during my Mt. Jacinito hike.  As the year has gone on I have found myself being more open to experiencing the challenge's and the day to day parts of life than I was before, but my mind is still constantly running wild.

Yesterday one of my good friends asked me if I had been to the Labyrinth at one of the local churches.  Not only had I not been there, I did not even know what one was.  He explained and I thought it sounded interesting so I choose to have that be one of the challenges for today.

Off I headed to the Labyrinth and what I found was a small square probably about 20 feet wide and 20 feet long.  Within that square was a maze like design.  The description said walk with a question on your mind.  My friend had told me that the point of it was not how fast you finish, or to even finish, the point was to just be with your thoughts, to be engaged in the process of it.

I finally settled on my question and started walking the Labyrinth.  The whole time I was trying and trying to keep my question as my sole thought, but it just was not happening.   All these other thoughts were jumping in and out of my mind.  I started to get frustrated at my seeming inability to focus on one thing, when something cool suddenly happens.

For whatever reason I start talking out loud to myself.  I talked about all the thoughts and questions I listed above.  I asked myself why is it so hard for me to tune my mind out... why do I have difficulty mediating?  A realization washed over me as I began to answer my own questions...

Why would I want to turn my mind off when I enjoy the thoughts I am thinking?  Why would I want to stop creative ideas from popping into my head.  If I am actively learning each and everyday how to be more present, why do I want to try and sit still and meditate to experience what I am already experiencing??? WHY WHY WHY???

The biggest smiled appeared on my face and I began laughing out loud.  Meditation, as I understand it is an exercise of clearing your mind, of being present.  At least that has always been my goal when going into it.  Why would I want to clear my mind of thoughts I am enjoying thinking?

I think a greater exercise for us all is rather than focusing our energy in trying to quiet our minds, lets instead focus on changing what our minds think about.  Instead of focusing on the bills that need to be paid, the weight that needs to be lost, focus on the creative opportunities you can pursue to make money and the great workout session you will have later tonight.  Don't worry so much about clearing your mind, focus on enriching your mind!

This does not mean we are going to eliminate those pesky negative thoughts altogether, they will inevitably sneak up from time to time.  What it does mean is we should focus more on celebrating and enjoying the positive ones that do exist within our head.  This means all the  "this idea," "that project," and the "what I want to do's" are really the thoughts we should spend more time embracing and working on nurturing.

 I feel as if I have just solved an ancient riddle and added one more thought to the 164,283 that are already running around in my head.  "It's ok, in fact, it is great to have lots of thoughts running through your head when you are enjoying them."  Hmmm...  I think I am going to go back to spending some more time in my head :)

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Carpe Diem,