10x Value

I have shared with you all that one of my big goals this year is to provide all of you with 10x the value I deliver.

What exactly does 10x the value mean?

If the investment is a monetary one it is easy to measure 10x value.  As an example, I have a coaching client who i have been working with for about a year.  She told me last week that her income increased by more than 20x the money she invested on coaching with me.

What if it is not as easy as dollars and cents to measure value, how does one go about measuring value when it is not monetary?  How does one measure changes they make in their life?  How does one value their health, their happiness, the level of fulfillment they have in their lives?

I cannot answer those questions for you, only you can answer them for you.

All I can do is make a pledge that however you decide to answer those above questions, it is my pledge to do all that I can to help you live those answers, and make 2013 your best year yet.

I think the 10x value is a good motto to live by.  It is something we can all do.  It is a great North Star to follow.

Think about it... if you work in customer service, it does not take a lot to deliver more value to the customers.  Calling someone by their name, smiling when you interact with them, listening, genuinely listening to their concerns will instantly add 10x value to customer's experience.

The above is true in any industry.  All of us can think of something we can do just a little bit better that will add 10x the value and then some.

10x value is a great motto for out personal lives as well.  Imagine what your health and your relationships will look like if you started adding 10x more value to those. 

Now the big question, how can you add 10x more value today, tomorrow?

Staying on this 10x value theme, I wanted to re-share a couple of videos I have recently posted to the 1000 Challenge page.

In addition,  I would like to tell you all about "The Happiness Guide."  It is my free gift to all of you.  The Happiness Guide is a compilation of my 50 best tips to live a happy, more fulfilling life.  Just go to my website www.jessebrisendine.com to download your free copy of it.

If you haven't already seen the videos below, I hope you enjoy watching them.  If you have seen them before, I encourage you to watch them again.  They are full of ideas of how you can make 2013 your best year ever in all aspects of your life.

Enjoy the videos,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

 

Your Wondeful Life in a Jar

Happy New Year!

2012 is gone which means 2013 is here!

I hope this blog finds you working hard on all your 2013 goals.  It is going to be a great year, if you decide to make it so.

To help you all make this year the best one yet, check out the various facebook groups I have created to help you achieve all your goals.

 In 2013 I Challenge Myself To____

1 Million Positive Pounds Challenge

The most common New Years Resolution people make is a fitness related one.  If you are one of those people and would like a little extra support, professional guidance, and accountability, look no further than my exercise accountability group.  Check out all the details here.

I was at the gym the other day and overheard the following conversation:

"Man, I have had the worse day ever today."  The guy then explains in vivid detail about all the horrible (which really were not all that horrible in the grander scheme of life) things that happened to him that day.

The person listening to his rant responds, "Wow, that sounds awful.  I hate it when you have days like that, in fact, I had one like that recently."  He then goes on to describe his horrible day, again, in vivid detail.

It got me thinking.  Why is it that when it comes to the negative we can recall every single vivid detail and then some.  Not only that but we tell every single person that will give us an ear about all the horrible things that go on in our life.  Why do we do this?

Yet when it comes to the positive days, and the positive things that happen in day to day life, they get swept under the rug.  Often times barely a mention, let alone sharing with the world.  And when asked to recall details they get retold in far less vivid detail than the negative days.  

Need evidence, look no further than status updates on facebook.  We all have those friends who are all to willing to share, with the world, every "horrible" thing and piece of drama in their life.
 
On Monday, I was telling the above to a good friend of mine.  Then she told me about this great idea she had heard about.  Taking a jar and filling it up with notes on all the positive things that happen to you throughout the year.

You can fill it up as often as you like.  The whole idea is that this is another tool to help develop a positive mindset. 

Lets be honest we all need a little help focusing more on the positive and less on the negative.

On Tuesday I shared the photo she sent me and people seemed excited about it.  Many of you said you wanted to take the challenge with me.

 I write you this to help get the accountability ball rolling.  I have my jar, I even named it, and have put my first few notes in it, as you can see below...

I am not going to lie, looking at my jar seemed a little intimidating at first.  I mean, can I really fill a jar this size with positive things that happen?  And then I remembered my jar of change I shared with you all during the 1000 Challenge.  That jar started with a few pennies and grew to over $400 in lose change.  The metaphor, things from small beginnings can grow and yield big results.

Get your jars ready and start taking note of just how great your day to day life is.

Happy 2013.  Together we will make it the best year ever!

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

I'll be Home for Christmas

Christmas is just a few hours away... I swear it was just Christmas the other day, well at least it felt like it.

Time just keeps going by faster and faster.  I was talking with a client about this the other day.  We got on the usual "time goes by so fast chit chat" and I was telling her a story about when I was a kid it seemed like the days took weeks to pass and summer could never come fast enough.  NOW, it all blurs together, and if you blink, you miss out on precious moment of life.

On the subject of time going by so fast, in February it will be three years since my Dad died.  I have not been home since.  On Monday, I am going to head home for the first time.  It is something I have been avoiding, but it is time to go.

More on that in a minute, but first a few quick, and very important announcements.

We had an awesome Ustream chat.  If you missed it and would like to watch the replay, click here.  You can also see all the past Ustream's there as well.  On that note, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions about how we can better improve the web chat experience, please let me know.  I am sorry you all have to deal with the commercials.  If Santa is nice to me, this year I will look into upgrading to the commercial free version unless we can find a better software platform.

Holidays Around the World event is going on.  Be sure to take your pictures and post them to the 1 Year 1000 Challenge page.  This was an awesome challenge last year that had 20+ countries and every continent, save for Antarctica, participating.  To learn more about this challenge, click here.

I'd like to start 2013 off with a ton of momentum by creating some year long challenges for us to participate in. These challenges are big ones, and have ZERO chance of being realized unless you all agree to challenge yourselves throughout the year.  The cool thing is it is a win win.  If we all challenge ourselves and give 100% we will all be in store for the best year yet.

1,000,000 that is right, 1 Million Positive Pounds Pursuit challenge.

The name says it all. 

When it comes to your health, everyone should have a goal!

2 of the most common goals are:

1 - Losing Weight
2 - Gaining Muscle

Health and Fitness related diseases are sweeping the globe. The #1 killer in the USA is Heart Disease, the majority of which is preventable through proper diet and exercise.

I have a goal for 2013, to help produce 1,000,000 Positive Pounds of weight loss/lean muscle gain.

 To participate, or to find out more info, join the Facebook group I have set up for this challenge:  Click here to go to the group page

1,000,000,000 Steps Challenge.

We tried to do 1 Billion steps in a month and we did not quite make it.  I still believe 1 Billion is achievable, but lets stretch it out over the course of the year.  There are actually some members of the 1000 Challenge Community that have been keeping track of their steps still.  I am hoping we can combine forces on this.  Please email me to let me know

In 2013, I Challenge Myself To_____ it is that time of year.  No New Years Resolutions, 2013 is all about challenging yourself to achieve your goals.  I have set up a Facebook group to help hold you accountable to achieving these goals.  Check it out here To join the group all you need to do is take a picture of yourself holding a list of your goals for 2013 with the words "in 2013 I Challenge Myself To" at the top

Holiday Discount... in my last blog I mentioned that until Christmas, I was offering 10% off the purchase of all personal training and life coaching services.  Since I have been a little behind on emails, I am going to extend this offer through December 31st at midnight.  This a great gift to give yourself or someone you care about.

Phew, that was a lot of updates :)

Back to what I was saying before, wait what was I saying?  OH yeaaaa, time flies, and it has been nearly three years since I have been home.

I would be lying if I said I was not nervous about going home.  I have been avoiding going since my Dad died, simply because I am not sure how it will make me feel.

Will I be sad?  Will I be angry?  What will the experience be like? 

After my Dad died I went through the normal emotions of grieving, but I was also very angry and ashamed at myself, angry that I was not in a better position financially to help my Mom after.  And ashamed for the same reason. 

Ever since I was a little kid, I always had wanted to grow up and be able to "help" my parents whenever help was needed.  At the time of my Dad's death, I felt like I let both of my parents down.

Fast forward to this moment and the above leads to the nervousness I am feeling now.  I know that going home is not only going to give me an awesome opportunity to spend time with my family, but it is also going to give me a chance to make peace with my Dad's death and that part of myself I have not made peace with yet.

I share this private part of my life with you all because I wan to remind you all that I am human, flesh and blood, just like all of you.  We all struggle at times, we all experience many different emotions, and we all deal with life, and death, in our own unique way.  Sometimes it is easy, or convenient, to dismiss what I have to say, or what I try to teach and bring to the world; because "I am not like you because I do not know what your life is like."

I may not know you and I may not know what your life specifically is like, but I know humans, and I know what the human experience is like.  We are all in it together, happy/sad, rich/poor, healthy/sick, all of it makes up the many fabric's of our lives.

So yes, I am a little nervous about going home.  It is an unknown for me, but I am also excited, excited to see my family, excited to revisit my roots, excited to have a few down days, excited for mine and my Mom's date to see The Hobbit, and excited for the opportunity to grow and move forward in life.

I wish you all Happy Holiday's and Merry Christmas.

Life is only ever going to be what you make of it...

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

12-12-12

 Waaaazzz UUUUUppppp everyone!


I hope you all enjoyed 12-12-12 as much as I did.  I really love doing challenges like that one, they are so simple, yet so profound if you look a little deeper.

Before I get to that a couple quick updates

Merry Christmas!  Between now and Christmas I will be offering 10% off all Life Coaching and Personal Training programs.  That includes my Zero Limits Boot Camp program.  This is a great gift to give to someone special to you or to yourself.  Email me to sign up or if you have any questions.  Be sure to mention the 10% off promo from this blog

On the subject of Christmas, next week I will post the Holiday's around the World Challenge.  It will be the same format as last year.  This was such a fun event.  Check out the photos from last year

Start thinking of your goals for 2013.  I have a cool new accountability idea to achieve those goals that I will be sharing in the next few days.

12-12-12 has come and gone.  And while these days are fun because we can create cool challenge out of them, they really are no different than any other day, are they?

So why do the challenge on 12-12-12, why not do it on 12-15-12 instead, if the days are the same?

12-12-12 and similar days to it, provides a unique opportunity to bring awareness to a very valuable lesson.  We all love cool little things like this when the numbers on the calendar line up, or when we look down at the clock and it is on 2:22.

So what is the point of 12-12-12 Jesse?  What are you babbling on about?

The point, and the real challenge within the challenge, was to take a moment and just be aware what you are doing.  To be mindful of your life and deliberate in your existence.  You see so many of us run through life so fast that we never stop to "smell the roses."  The moment that you took on 12-12-12 was your moment to "stop and smell the roses."  Think about it...

Some of you resolved to make the day special for different reasons.  Some of you took time off work to treat yourself to something special.  That is great and that is smelling the roses.  It is making time for you.  Putting the busy hustle and bustle on hold to just be present, to be aware of who you are and what you are doing.

Some of you were working that day and more specifically at 12:12pm, but even while working, we still have the opportunity to stop, take a breath and be aware of what we are doing at work.

How many of you go to your job and are on auto pilot, going through the motions, with your only awareness of time being when the day is done and you are free to go home?

So to participate in a challenge like the 12-12-12 challenge forces us to stop and again, be present.

That is the reason I love doing these challenges, it gets us all out of the routine of life and makes us, even if for a moment, present and aware of life around us.

Some of you chose to spend the time with friends and family while some of you chose to honor the memory of loved ones lost.  Some of you chose to celebrate birthdays, while others simply took note of the time and in doing so connected with hundreds of people from all around the world who were doing the same thing.

Life goes by so fast.  So often we reach the end of a day, or a week, and we cannot remember one significant thing that happened that week, unless it was something negative, why?  Because we are not making an effort to be present.

Every day can be a 12-12-12 Challenge Day, every day there is an opportunity to be present, to experience more of what the world and life has to offer.  To be present does not cost money, the only thing it requires is just a moment, a moment where you allow yourself a vacation from the routine and permission to just be.

Thank you everyone for participating.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Kenny's Story

Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening... I think I got it all covered now.

I am writing to you from my desk, in my house, in my town... I am back home :)

My European adventure is over.  I cannot believe how fast the time went, I mean it went really really fast... have I mentioned it went by fast?  My, how time flies...

Ok I am running out of time on the time jokes :) hahahaha Ok, I will stop now, I am serious.

Anyways, when I got home, I was greeted with quite the surprise, Kenny.

Before I get to Kenny, a couple quick updates

12-12-12- event and Holidays around the world event's will be posted this week.  These will be photo event's so get your camera's ready!  :)

It is time to start thinking about what you will challenge yourself to do  in 2013.  I have an idea to help us all stay more accountable.  I am putting the finishing touches on it and should have something to share with you all in the next week or so.

My monthly newsletter comes out this Friday.  If you have not already subscribed to it, click here to do so.  It is free and full of good tips and information.  Who does not want FREE tips and information?  :)

 That is it as far as updates go, now, back to Kenny...

Meet Kenny:

When I got home, I walked into a house filled with the aroma's of Thanksgiving dinner, familiar faces, and a couple new dogs.  My housemate, seeing the surprise on my face, quickly told me that he was helping out a friend by fostering two dogs for a few days.  One of these dogs is Kenny.  As he told me Kenny's story, my heart melted.

Kenny,  was found abandoned in a field, lying in the freezing cold, bleeding to death.  Kenny was a "Bait Dog."  Bait Dog's are used in dog fighting.  This is the Wikipedia description of a "Bait Dog"

""Bait" animals are animals used to test a dog's fighting instinct; they are often mauled or killed in the process. Trainers obtain bait animals from several sources: wild or feral animals, animals obtained from a shelter, or in some cases, stolen pets. Sometimes the animals are also obtained through "free to a good home" ads. According to news reports compiled by the Humane Society of the United States, the snouts of bait dogs are wrapped with duct tape to prevent them from injuring dogs being trained for fighting. Their teeth are filed and their nails are cut until nothing is left.The dogs bite, and tear to subdue the opposing animal by incapacitating or killing it"

Bait animal, that's what Kenny was.  And apparently he had served his purpose and was discarded like a piece of trash, left to die.

When they first found Kenny, they were not sure if he would even live. He was so emaciated that his ribs were all protruding from his body.  He was covered in blood. And had dozens of scars all over his face, his neck, and the rest of his body.

I am not sure how the next part of the story goes, but from what I understand, word about Kenny got out and  a Facebook page was made about him which quickly got over 10,000 likes on it - people were trying to get him rescued before his set euthanized date which was 3 days ahead. People as far as Utah were posting about him on Facebook.  People wanted to save Kenny and help him find a home.

Kenny has been at my house for about a week now and he is one of the sweetest, most gentle animals I have ever met.  The idea of him being bound up and left defenseless while people are encouraging other dogs to bite and claw at him, breaks my heart.  I was talking with my housemate about this the other day and we both said we have not even heard him so much as whimper, let alone a bark or growl from Kenny. 

I have never known a dog that holds eye contact with you as long as Kenny does.  He comes up to you, very sheepishly at first because he is terrified he will get hurt, but despite that fear he still approaches.  Once he feels safe, he locks eyes on you and does not break eye contact, not even for a second.  You can see it and you can feel it, he wants so badly to connect with the person who is petting him.  He wants so badly to be loved and to be able to give love. 

Kenny was so abused, that he does not even know how to play.  I watched yesterday as my housemate through the ball for the other dogs and Kenny stood by and watched.  After seeing the other dogs fetch the ball, Kenny tried it himself.  The only problem, he is still not quite sure how to run, and he is still pretty weak.  So after a few laborious gallops, he had to stop.  I was amazed that he tried, and then that got me thinking...

Humans, as evolved as we think we are, we really are way behind our four legged friends, in a couple very big areas.

Kenny has experienced more pain and trauma than most people will ever experience in their lifetime.  His face and neck is nothing but one big scar.

Humans have this bad habit of taking painful experiences and giving a more painful meaning to the experience.  Dog's have a painful experience and want only the opportunity to move past it and love.  Humans hold onto the pain because the pain allows them to form an identity from it - this happened so I am not good enough, I am not loveable, I can't, I am a failure, I am stupid, etc....  You all know how that list goes.  Dogs want to let go and move past the pain because they want their identity to be as far removed from the pain as possible, they only want their identity to be associated with love.

Why do we do this to ourselves?  Why aren't we more like dogs?  What would our day to day life be like?  What would the world be like if we all acted a little more like dogs?

If you were Kenny, how would you recover?  How would you go on living?  Would you shut the world out?  Would you blame everyone and everything?  Would you fault God for letting "this" happen to you?  Would you use it as an excuse to justify why things just seem to never go right in your life?  Or, would you resolve to leave it in the past and move forward and do your very best to give love and be loved?

Kenny loves to cuddle, he loves to eat, he enjoys being around other dogs too.  He loves to hug, he likes to dance, he enjoys learning new things like learning how to play.  And, what Kenny seems to love more than anything, something he gets so excited about that he nearly wags his tail right off his body, is he LOVES to be loved, and he LOVES to give love.

Maybe that is the key for us humans - to simplify the world and focus on the things Kenny enjoys the most:  cuddling, eating, being around other people.  Giving great hugs, an occasional dance, learning new things and playing.  And, most importantly love... giving love without any expectation of it in return, and soaking up every ounce of it when it is given.

Here are a few more pics of Kenny,

I have shed quite a few tears spending time with Kenny the last few days, I think as he his healing, he is helping me heal a part of me that I did not realize, or did not want to realize, needed to heal too.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

ps.  if you enjoy my photos, be sure to check out my photography site by clicking here.

Going Home

As the title implies, my time living in Europe is coming to an end.  I cannot believe 4 months have come and gone already!

It seems like the time has at times flown and at other times crept by.  It seems like a lifetime ago that I was filled with the excitement of the Olympics and the adventures that lay ahead.  It really has been only 4 months...

Before I get into the meat and potato's of the blog, mmmm meat and potato's (said with my best Homer Simpson voice) a few quick updates.

December I am planning on holding Two 1000 Challenge Community events.  A holidays around the world event like we did last year - it was a lot of fun wasn't it?? :)  And a 12-12-12 at 12:12 am/pm event similar to what we did on 11-11-11 at 11:11am/pm last year.  Details will come out in the next week or two.

On the subject of December it is the gift giving season.  Who is in need of a new wall or office calendar?  If you said yes, check out my photography website.  I have calendar's there as well as many other great gift ideas:  Jesse Brisendine Photography

It is funny because when I left California for Europe way back in July, I had visions of a much different experience than I have had.  I imagined traveling on the weekends, visiting all the cool spots to eat at, having beers at some of the local pubs, and covering every square inch of London by foot.

It started out that way.  The first month I was here, I would say I walked about 7 miles every weekend around London.  I would finish that walk with a stop at a random pub for a tasty cold beer.  And then life happened.

An ongoing stomach/digestive issue, to put it delicately, and the medicine I am taking to try to help with it put me on the sidelines from doing some of the things I enjoy.  Since that first month, I have gone out to eat maybe six times, and have had two days where I allowed myself a couple beers.  My body has been so sensitive that alcohol, red meat, spicy food, greasy food, sugary food, buttery food, fatty food, fun food, etc... really unleashes havoc on me almost immediately after.  For a couple weeks there I thought I was getting better, and then took several big steps backwards.

I am  not complaining though.  Although I would be if I was not flexible with my dreams and visions that I have for my life.

I was talking to a friend a few days ago about dogs and how they spend so much time chasing their tails.  They will spend hours in the pursuit of trying to catch up to something that is.... that is already behind them.  And what they miss out on while engaged in this endeavor, is all the potential fun that lies in front of them.

Humans get caught chasing their tails too.  We all have times where we wish we could go back, "if only we could do this over," "if I could just be like I was at this time" etc... We can't go back.  We can only stay right where we are, or move forward.  So why do we spend so much time holding onto the past.

We marry ourselves to ideas we have.  Visions, of how life is "Supposed to be," when Life has other ideas for us.  If we resist the ebs and flows life throws at us, we end up like the dog, spending a lot of our time chasing our tails.  BUT, if we learn to ride the waves that come with the ebs and flows of life, then we will always be able to find a new opportunity that was hidden behind the vision of what we thought life was "supposed to be."

I'll offer myself up as an example. 

I had this vision of what my down time, my personal time here in Europe was "supposed to be." Travel on the weekends, adventures at pubs and various restaurants, exploring the city on foot, and of course documenting all of it with my camera.  I had dreamed about this, I was excited about it, I could not wait for it, I got a taste of it, I wanted more of it, then life decided it was time for an ebb and flow.

Decision time for Jesse, do I hold onto the above dream, chase my tail, only ultimately to be let down when I realize that I can never catch it?  Or do I get flexible, do I ride the wave and flow with the ebb and flow?

I opted for choice #2.

The time that was going to be spent on pubs and restaurants got redirected into refining my diet, eating well, and getting rid of extra body fat I have been carrying around for far to long.  As a result of this decision I am going home in better overall shape than when I left.

The time I was going to devote to traveling and getting out in the countryside I re-invested into myself.  I spent some time rehabbing nagging injuries and learning how my body moves and ways to correct imbalances that have caused me problems for years.  And while I am not fully healed, i am definitely healing, and stronger in some ways than I have ever been in my life.  As an added bonus, I now can be more empathetic with clients who experience similar injuries.  Something I was not able to do before.

The time I was going to spend walking around and exploring, I re-invested to my own personal learning and growth.  I have been talking about taking online classes for the last 3 years.  I love to learn, but never make the time for myself.  I decided to finally do it.  And since I was given this gift of extra free time (notice the choice of language "given a gift,") I was able to really dive into this class I am taking and as a result am probably 3 months ahead in it than I would be otherwise!  And the best part is what I am learning here is only going to make me more effective as a Life Coach which means it will only help me better pursue what I am really passionate about - helping people.

Other little things that I was able to do with my extra time I was given:

• Read three more books than I would have normally read.  
• Get ahead on some of my business development and expansion.
• Learn to meditate ( I have only been talking about doing this for 6 years or more)
• Learn new creative ways to challenge my body with exercise combinations

I am sure there are a couple more in there, but that is all I can think of for now.

The point is this:

Life is not always going to work out the way we think it is "supposed to."  We are going to get thrown curve balls from time to time.  Life ebbs and flows, it always has and it always will.  If we don't learn to hit the curve or to ride the ebb and flow, we will be left like our four legged friends, chasing what's behind us, never able to catch it.

On the other hand if we learn to hit the curve, if we learn to flow with the ebb and flow, if we learn to look for opportunity in places we had not thought to look before, then one thing is for sure, we will never find ourselves hung up on dreams of the past.

Opportunity to create and make your life better exists around every corner, we just got to be willing to look for it.

So I did not get to have the European adventure I had envisioned.   I still had a great time and I am so thankful for the opportunities I did have, all of them.  I know I will be back and I know there will be other opportunities to see Ireland, Scotland, and many more places. But I may never get the opportunity of "time:" Time to heal, Time to learn, and Time to grow that I have had these last several months.  I am so glad I took advantage of the opportunity.

And now for the next adventure, back to California!  Who knows what opportunities will in store in the near future. I will certainly be looking for them :)

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

 

It Can't Rain All the Time

Helllllooooooo EVERYONE!

I have been visiting the small island of Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands for the last 10 days.  I was so excited to come here as it brought with it the promise of sunshine, warm weather, a tan and clear skies.  Four things I was no finding a whole lot of in London.

Three of the first four days were amazing.  The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, my tan was returning, and then the rain came.

And it did not leave, it rained, and rained, then rained some more, and then rained even more.  Before I get to all that a couple quick notes:

1.) I have a Youtube page where I upload weekly videos.  These videos are meant to help, inspire, motivate, and educate.  I encourage you to check them out.  After all they are free resources!!!  Here is the link:  My Youtube Page

2.)  I have a couple ideas for a few end of the year and beginning of 2013 1000 Challenge Community Challenges.  Before I get those up and running, I wanted to check with you all and see if You had a suggestion.  The more the merrier. :)

3.)  On the challenge note:  start thinking of what you will Challenge yourself to do in 2013.  I have some new ideas that will help with our accountability and ensure we make 2013 our best and most successful year yet.

4.)  The holiday season is here!  If you are looking for some cool gift ideas, check out my photography page.  A motivational calendar or a pretty picture make great holiday gifts.  Check it out here

So, onto the rain....

As I was saying it rained, then rained some more, then rained even more than that, then it stormed!  When all was said and done, there has been more rain here in the last 6 days than in the last 2 years combined!  Two days ago I was sitting by my window watching the rain come down, and I remembered a quote from, "The Crow," one of my favorite movies growing up:  "It can't rain all the time."

"It can't rain all the time," is the title of a song from the lead character's band, but it is used as a metaphor throughout the movie.  Just to give you a little background, the lead character and his girlfriend are murdered on "Devil's Night" a night of looting and mayhem that crime lords organize the night before Halloween.

One year later, Eric, the main character, is able to come back to life, kill all the bad guys, and avenge his and his girlfriends death's.  The metaphor from "It can't rain all the time," is formed throughout the movie.  "It can't rain all the time," comes to mean: that we will all experience some rainy days during our lives.  Some of those days will turn into severe storms, storms that may seem like it is impossible to survive, but you can.  No matter how  dark the skies are, no matter how horrible the reality may seem, the sun and promise of brighter days are on the horizon because, "It can't rain all the time."

So how does "The Crow" tie into me sitting at the window on a rainy Canary Island afternoon?  Well, earlier that day I had talked to three of my friends who live on the East Coast (Connecticut and New Jersey).  They were very fortunate to have minimal damage from Hurricane Sandy, but others, as you all know by now, were not.

I sat thinking about Hurricane Sandy and all the people affected by it.  Then I thought of "The Crow," and as I was thinking of "The Crow," the storm broke for a few minutes revealing a small patch of blue sky.  And it reminded me of a few important facts that are definitely worth mentioning here.

Hope can be bred out of chaos and destruction.  Whether you are dealing with Hurricane Sandy, or your own personal storm, keep searching for hope.  Hope has the power to guide you through the darkest of days.

Perspective is so important.  When we are hit by a storm, whether it is a physical storm the likes of Sandy, or an inner one that rages inside you; it is so easy to develop a negative perspective.  Your perspective is your North Star, it guides you through life.  If you form the perspective that the world is against me, God hates me, etc... you will go through life experiencing just that.  If instead you look for a more empowering perspective, something like: this is my opportunity to help others, this is my chance to be a better neighbor, friend, etc... your North Star will guide you on a path that allows you to experience more opportunities to help, be a better neighbor, etc...

Strength is not just for bodybuilders.  Strength is something that resides in all of us and when the storms of life hit, it is the time we need to dig deep down inside of ourselves and summon our greatest strengths.  We all have the capability to be stronger than we are. 

Love.  It is so important, our most precious natural resource, and during stormy times, there can never be enough of it. Spread as much love as you can during these trying times, love will eventually prevail.

Every second of every day people around the world experience extremes.  A man in Texas can be experiencing the miracle of life, the birth of his first child.  While at the same time a woman in Egypt is watching her son get murdered.  Life happens in the blink of an eye, it always has, and it always will.  We are not guaranteed a tomorrow, we are only promised this moment that we are living right now.  No matter how perils the situation may seem, it is important to stop, take a breath, and take a few seconds to be grateful for all that you do have.

Amidst devastation it is so easy to focus on the have not's: the loss, the destruction, the injuries, the injustice's.  These may be a reality, but they are not the only reality.  That other reality lies in gratitude: your breath, your still alive, your abilities to make a difference, friends, family, your ability to move, to read the words in front of you.  Stay focused on gratitude it will help you through the storms.

"It can't rain all the time." Eventually the storm will pass and the dark skies will give away to the promise of a brighter tomorrow.  Stay strong, look for an empowering perspective, spread the love, express gratitude, and keep hope alive, for without these things, we are nothing and life has no meaning.

My thoughts and love are with all of you who are weathering a storm.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse