Your Life is What You Make of It

Phew, this week kicked off what will be a whirlwind of travel for me over the next month.  Yesterday, I was adding up all the miles I will fly and I found myself simultaneously shaking my head in disbelief while smiling at the same time.

More on that in a minute, but first, a few announcements:

My FREE newsletter comes out tomorrow and you are going to want to read this one!!!  It features our first ever 1000 Challenge Community Member Spotlight.  It is a truly remarkable and very inspiring story.  Here is the link to sign up for the newsletter:

I want to make the member spotlight a regular feature in my newsletter.  I hope this first story will inspire you to share yours.  Please email me if you would like to submit a story for the 1000 Challenge Community Member Spotlight.

Friday, October 12th, 2012 is going to be a BIG day.  Friday October 12th is going to be Random Acts of Kindness Day.  Please click here to see all the details about this event.  I hope you will participate and share your stories of your experiences.  I plan on gathering all the stories up and combining them into a blog post for us all to share.

Finally, the Holiday seasons are beginning and with them comes a huge influx of sugar.  If you need a little additional help to stave off those sugar cravings, check out The Sugar Challenge here

Ok back to the blog.

So yes, I will be flying a lot of miles over the course of the next month and it left me sharking my head and smiling at the same time.

The head shaking came from the realization of the shear volume and amount of time I will be spending doing air travel.  When all is said and done I think I will be flying nearly 50,000 miles over the next several weeks.  That equates to about: 70 hours in the air... wholly smokes!!

I just hope all the flights are on time... :)

The smiling came from the realization and reminder that Your Life is What You Make of It.

I have talked about this before, and you will here me talk about it again and again as it is such an important point.  YOUR LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT.

I grew up in a very small town.  Early on as kids we have choices to make.  One of the biggest ones I ever made was staying away from drugs and alcohol in school.

I watched many friends go down that path, but I had dreams of moving away and creating a life for myself.  A life that I wold not be able to create if I spent time doing drugs and alcohol.

As a freshmen in college, I was one of the most shy, insecure, self-conscious people you would ever meet.  I was lonely and lacked the social skills to make friends.  I was also on the verge of getting kicked out of school.

I could have given up, I could have moved home... that would have been an easy choice to make, but instead I choose differently.  I choose to work at coming out of my shell, to challenge myself, physically, socially, and intellectually.

In 2007, I suffered my first broken heart.  I was beyond devastated.  I cried so much morning the loss of the relationship, but what I realized deep down, was the tears were coming because I did not truly know myself.

I could have done nothing different, I could have continued on the same path I was on, and it was a pretty good one.  I had a good career opportunity sitting in front of me, I would have been able to meet another girl at some point, I had decent friends, but I wanted more.  I wanted a career of my design, not one that someone else designed.  I wanted to get to know myself before I was with someone else.  I wanted to have great friends, not just good ones.

Ok, get to the point Jesse....

The point is this, in life there are always going to be difficult decisions to make.  And in those most trying times, the easy way out is going to look more appealing than a piece of delicious chocolate cake.  Just because it is easy, does not mean it is the path that will lead you to living your greatest life.

Had I not made the choices I did, had I not chosen the more challenging road, had I not had dreams and goals to keep me focused, I would not be sitting here typing this for you all today.

And as I consistently work towards those bigger goals, the little ones come to fruition along the way... such as the ability to travel.  Which brings me back to the beginning of this blog and the smiling while shaking my head.

All the cool things I have gotten to do, all the places I have been privileged enough to see, the amazing people I have met, the inner passions I have discoverd; everything, has come as a direct result of the choices I have made.

Your Life is What YOU Make of It.

I come from a small town.  I have had and will have challenges just like you have and you will.  I promise you this: when you find yourself in those challenging times, when you find yourself at the fork in the road; be brave and choose the road you have not traveled before.  Challenge yourself to make the hard decision, the ones that holds the potential for your greatest life.

I promise you it is worth it.

Stay focused on your big dreams and your little ones will come true along the way.

Enjoy the pics,

Carpe Diem,

Jesse