Wed - Tuesday... Days 69 - 75

I knew that the 1000 Challenge would be a tremendous additional time commitment on my part.  I knew sacrifices would have to be made, sleep would be lost, social life altered, and those long sought after time management skills I have been searching for my whole life - they needed to be learned. My personal hygiene has taken a blow... I have a goal to shower once a day and to shave, well... to shave whenever I think of it (I keep my razor in plain site to help remind me).  I knew I would have to stretch my already long days to being a little bit longer to find the time to average nearly 3 new/unique experiences a day for an entire year.  What I didn't factor into the above equation was how much additional time the extras would take up.  After being home for one week... I am FINALLY caught up... with work and the 1000 challenge.  I still have to try and clean my bed off, a side goal of the week, to make my bed sleep-able... as of right now it serves as a storage space and I have taken up residence on the couch.

In the midst of trying to catch up with work and 1000 Challenge updates, I have been trying to develop strategies going into the future so as to help me continue to be successful in accomplishing the 1000 List.  This last week was a lot of quick goals, ones that I needed so I had more time for work.  Also, spa day could not have come at a better time as I needed to slow down, relax, and sleep.

I had dinner with one of my best friends last night we were talking about the frantic pace at which we both seem to be living our lives right now.  She asked me how I was feeling in the midst of mine.  "You know, I really am enjoying it, and I really am feeling good."  And that is the honest truth.  For all the long days and extra "unexpected time" that the challenge now takes up, I really have been enjoying it. I  have done and seen some cool stuff that I would have never otherwise.  I have met some really interesting people and most importantly people are becoming inspired by it.  The more emails I get, the more comments I get from all of you, from my friends on facebook and twitter - telling me how the 1000 Challenge is making a difference in their life, how it is motivating them, their friends and family... the more energized I feel.  It really has been an incredible first three months and I have all of you to thank for it... Thank You.

It is funny how the universe, how life has a funny little way of working out... I literally just finished typing the above line 10 minutes ago and then took a quick break due to writers block (and because I was starving).  I came back and saw I had a new email and I wanted to share it with all of you.  It was a heartfelt thank you to me, but I think the underlying message the author mentions is what makes it something we should all take note of:

"A few months ago got notice from my doctor that I have Major depressive disorder. And I have to eat pills for this moment to somewhere future. Not so nice to hear something like that and made me want just sleep and sleep.

Every little thing since then feels like a hard thing to do. But following you on twitter and reading your blog, I have realized that little things also can be a goal. You don’t have to set up your goal high and you can still have a wonderful day. My goals are little; making my bed, cycling to the train station or just be @ work whole eight hours. And I made them." 

I have talked about this before... the goal of the 1000 Challenge is not to mark off item after item on a bucket list.  Rather it is to do something new everyday, to make absolute each and every day meaningful - to make it, all of it, count.  Little everyday things make all the difference.  Big moments are here then gone.  I saw Machu Picchu, that was a life time dream, but I saw it two weeks ago.  Sure I have pictures and memories of it, but if I just lived my life for the opportunity to have another "Machu Picchu moment," I am missing out on the opportunity that lies within the 1000's of little moments that are given to each and every one of us every single day.  Little things ladies and gentlemen little goals, little moments, little things they are what make up the fabric of our existence, they are what make life really worth living.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse

Me "Attempting" to learn the Violin