Number 1000 ... 12/16 - 12/21 Days 350 - 356

This morning I hit number 1000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But before we get to that, a few updates :)

1st please please please remember that this weekend is the holidays around the world event.  Please get your friends and family involved.  Lets see if we can get 50 countries this time! :)  Bonus points to anyone who can get a picture from Antarctica ... we still have not got one from there yet this year.  For all the info, click here:  Holiday's in Pictures Around the World Event

2nd I still cannot stop thank you all enough for all your support and interest in my book and in Ouch My Heart Is Broken  Some of you have started sharing your stories on the site.  I promise you that by doing so, you are going to help and touch more lives than you can even begin to imagine. Thank you for being so willing to share the challenging times from your lives.

3rd there are less than 10 Days left in the year! YIKES!!!

Well I hit number 1000.  I am not going to lie, it was a little bitter sweet.  On one hand I felt this overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  On other I felt a bit of sadness that the 1000 Challenge, at least this incarnation of it, and the year of the 1000 Challenge is coming to an end.  And on my feet, I felt COLD!!  Realizing that my tennis shoes and socks were not enough to keep my little toes warm. :)

I only planned out two of the challenges: #'s 500 and 1000.  I tried to have the rest of them happen as organically as possible.  I did not pay attention to milestone numbers like 300 or 800 etc...  as no number is more significant than another, they all are necessary to make up 1000.

However, I wanted the halfway point and number 1000 to be special.  #500 was the sunset from the same place I watched the sun rise for #1000.  Sunrise and Sunset (in that order) are my favorite times of the day without question.  I love the stillness, the peace, the serenity that is brought on by each.  It is like with each rising sun you can feel a new day beginning and with it the opportunity to start anew.  Similarly with a sunrise, as it sets and you watch it disappear; you can almost feel time standstill for a moment and suddenly your worries, your troubles,  your stresses, they all cease to exist for that one, perfect moment.

My favorite challenge this year has been the sunrise/sunset day we did in September.  (check out the video of it here: Sunrise/Sunset Challenge ).  That event has sense evolved into the ongoing Challenge of seeing how many sunrises and sunsets we can collect from all over the world.  Part of what has made these two challenges so special is sharing them with all of  you.  An added bonus is that these challenges have really strengthened our now very global 1000 Challenge Community.  I have seen posts, read emails, about people meeting others and forging friendships as a result.  I love this!  It makes the experience of the 1000 Challenge just that much more special :)

My than any time of day, when I am watching the sunrise, I feel that anything is possible.  The sunrise is so powerful.  As soon as the sun begins to awaken you can instantly feel it cast warmth over all that is below it.  And the way it lights up the world is beyond breathtaking.  I often find myself thinking, sometimes out loud, when watching sunrises, "If the sun can do all of this, if all of this is possible, than anything I want to do... IT HAS TO BE POSSIBLE."  

The sunrise, as I said above, is like a "new beginning," and I felt that made it a very appropriate #1000.  Hitting 1000, I have reached the first part (I still have to average 1 a day for the rest of the year) of this goal I have worked so hard towards the entire year.  Suddenly it the moment of achieving your goal is there, and then so quickly it passes into the next moment.  I have achieved #1000, now it is onto 1001, 1002, and as many more as I can possibly experience before the year is over.

I started the year thinking 1000 was such a big number, and look, I made it to that number with 10 days to spare.  You see, anything is possible including doing over 1000 things in  year.  :)

It is 5:43AM on Thursday December 22nd  here in California.  While the year is almost over, we still have 9 full days left to live, left to experience, left to enjoy, left to make the most of.

I'll leave you with this.  Look at yourselves as authors and your life is your story.  Shit is going to happen, life is going to be challenging, but life can also be so beautiful.  Do not let your tragedies and short coming become  your story.  Your the author, YOU WRITE YOUR STORY!  You got nine days left, get out there and start writing the story you want to live.  I promise you I will be!

Enjoy the Pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse