I heard this quote once that went something like, “In order to live fully every minute, feel death’s imminence.” This video made me think back to it. I’ve been learning about this guy, Jeff Foster, little by little and started listening to his talks. Check out his life changing moment at the beginning of the clip… makes you think- do we wake up every day grateful for being alive? Or do we wake up every day with some sort of angst or anticipation of what is to come?

“Feel death’s imminence” is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

Just read this quote on Twitter from Paulo Coelho “Every human being has a personal legend to be fulfilled and this is our reason for being in the world.”

This has been something on my mind that keeps me up late at night for the past few months. We all have the potential to be great, to inspire, to motivate, to help make our personal vision of what our world should be become reality, to build an environment that supports our vision not just us.

It is a latent idea that is willing to express and create, it just takes massive action. I am sure we have all seen parts of this creative energy, where we see our ideas and dreams become reality. Even if it is not what we originally intended, we see a glimmer of the potential latent inside of us. You know the feeling of a right idea, you feel it inside of you… it drives you, it gives you a rush to chase that feeling because you know it is an inspired thought that is right.

But it seems sometimes we get caught trapped in a comfort zone, we’re too protected. Things can go bad, but we have built a framework where we are never in too much trouble. Things can’t go TOO bad because what we have deemed as “bad things” are part of that comfort zone we’ve built. Likewise the potential to do good falls in this framework. If we stick in our comfort zone, how far can we truly succeed? When we just repeat what our comfort zone recognizes as “success”… is it success anymore? Or is it just repeating something that gives our ego validation that feeds a false sense of who we truly are?

Once you keep repeating the same level of success within the comfort zone, when your “potential” becomes the norm… what’s going to push you higher? You’ve built the supporting structures to justify your levels of success. But deep down you know its the tip of the iceberg, that there is a soulful yearning to just come out and set the world ablaze with who you truly are. But the true self is held captive of the fear from leaving your comfort zone. You press at the edges of the zone, but its like a rubber band that snaps you back to the middle. Sometimes for me it is not a questions of what I am capable of… it becomes a question of what I have become comfortable with… and if I am willing to part with it.

Your Comfort Zone is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

It’s now been 2 years to date since I lost my pops to complications he had with his cancer. Since that time, a lot has happened- a lot of ups and downs but not a day had gone by without thinking about him. At the beginning, those thoughts were filled with a lot of anger, now its mainly filled with gratitude and love. There will always be a void to give him a hug and see his smile, but to pretend like it can go away is just jading myself.

The following is pretty personal and I struggled not to write this, but if I can touch one person because of it then it would be all worth it:

I’ll always remember when my mom called me to let me know she was with my dad in the ER. He had complained of breathing problems that became pretty bad. I walked in and found him in a bed at the hospital with my mom at his side. He looked at me with his customary big smile and his bald head from the chemo and said, “I like your hair.” In every moment when I was scared, he somehow had his way to instantly deflect the seriousness of the situation at hand.

What transpired from that point forward is something that no one expected. The cancer specialists and doctors a few days before had said the chemo was working, that his cancer was diminishing, and that he stood a good chance to beat it. None of that mattered anymore. In the next two weeks, I saw his lively spirit, joking personality, and Zen like patience disintegrate.

Apparently his “breathing problems” was pneumonia inflicting upon his body, his immune system was too weak to handle it. I literally watched his body fail. From having this picturesque figure I called dad on a daily basis for 24 years, to a barely human being literally kept alive by machines and tubes… it’s something I wish upon no one.

As our family stood by him, his attitude turned from getting out of the hospital to a very solemn and reverent resignation of as I quote and can still hear in my head “whatever God’s Will is to be” to take place. I’d hold his hand while he laid trapped to his hospital bed, not saying a lot because I didn’t know what to say. I remember at one point he was so frustrated with all the tubes in him he tried to pull off his breathing mask, looked at me in the eyes and said “Get me out of here”. All I could do was squeeze his hand that had tripled in size from the excess fluid now being retained in his body and tell him to keep fighting and everything would be alright. He knew he couldn’t leave, he just needed people by his side to let him know it would be alright and that he was loved.

When I was in high school, he had to get 6 bypasses. I walked with him as far as I could go to the operating room before the sedatives and anesthesia fully kicked in and was balling with tears, unable to talk because I was so choked up. He looked over and said, “It’ll be alright… I love you.” Funny how life comes back in a full circle, it was now me looking upon him saying, “It’ll be alright… I love you.”

It’s taken me two years to realize how grateful I was for those type of moments during his last 2 weeks. Grateful for his pain? No. I am grateful because as I reflect on it I realize the type of person he taught me to be- a positive person based in kindness and love. A person who could put aside their own personal fears and demons, and be totally present when a loved one needed care and attention. It was really never “taught” to me, it was shown by example by my parents and it became part of me. They’ve cultivated a deep inner sense of love, kindness, and respect- its too tough to describe.

I remember when I realized the reality of what was happening. I was alone in the hospital room with him during early hours of the morning and we started to talk about life. He then very silently asked me to watch over my family. In that simple and quiet resignation of his, I personally knew his mission in life as it related to me was complete. That he had given everything he had to make sure I grew up to reflect the essence of what he saw life to be- love and kindness. He knew I was ready to embody and had become what he spent his lifetime teaching me.

To this day, I still regret not finding the right mix of words to say at his funeral. But as I grow, that regret slowly fades away. I begin to realize that he has never truly left. Everyday, I see an opportunity to radiate his positivity, an opportunity to tell my mom and sister I love them, and to be kind to someone else. We grow these attachments to the material world, to human form, the world of aesthetics. It all dissipates eventually. What does last is how we touch others in our lifetime, how we make them feel- those type of things can be carried out for an eternity as long as one person can truly reach out and touch another’s life.

Thanks dad for everything- the memories, your patience with me, the love, the care. We’ll be back together one day, but you know I have your love and kindness to pass on. I love you. I miss you. I forever carry your life’s work.

Thanks Dad is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

This is just a test post to see if I can blog from my phone. While I am at it, do you have any tips or tools you use to stay better connected?

Blogging from phone is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

Been a few weeks since I last posted and promise I have something new and unique on the way. In the meantime, I got notification early this morning I would be added to the “Twenty Something” grouping on Alltop. While I am on the very bottom of the page right now, it is really awesome to be on the same page as some of those awesome GenY bloggers. Check it out http://twenty-something.alltop.com (very last feed on the bottom… for now).

If you haven’t heard of Alltop, you should really check them out ASAP. Imagine an aggregator that pulled all blogs and news into one spot AND then you could search by whatever topic/category interested you AND you could create a custom page based on your multiple interests and passions- welcome to Alltop. I use my custom page to check news and commentary on topics I have a passion for or care about. Another big benefit is I get no more negative news in front of me (you can still get it though if thats what you choose

I’ll be back with you guys real soon.

I’m Now Listed on Alltop! is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

For all those in the Tampa area, I am doing a random act of kindness. I am giving away 2 complimentary tickets to the Tampa Theatre (does not count for special events). Respond to me on Twitter (@jopinion) and they are yours. I even pay shipping. Like last time, there is no catch- I just ask you pay it forward.

Random Act of Kindness for Tampa Tweeps is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

This was an experiment I did last week to see how far a random act of kindness would go leveraging social media. One person responded and the result was awesome.

Do good. Pay it forward.

(Part II of the interview coming up tomorrow).

Pay It Forward is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

What does $10 mean to you? It means the world right now to Haiti. Type in “Haiti” to 90999 on your cell phone and help out an entire country in need.

Support Haiti is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

I’m on this random act of kindness concept pretty heavily, so here is one I thought was worth sharing… respect people… that’s it, and it is worth the extra minute to be patient, listen or give some one the time of day no matter how disengaged you are.

This is all brought about through my continual search to find a position that will help me expand the skill sets cultivated in my past career and build value to another. I have worked with almost every financial recruiter in the area and have nothing but bad things to say for about all of them (there are 2 that I have respect for). The job market is a bloodbath right now, highly competitive with so much talent in the applicant pool (especially in the financial industry).

Here is the standard process I’ve gone through with in the recruiting process:

1. Find a position that I am qualified for on an internet job search board (I highly recommend, www.simplyhired.com),
2. Wait for a recruiter to call,
3. Set up an appointment for an interview with the recruiter,
4. The recruiter goes over my resume than the position,
5. The recruiter may give out a skills test and then make you sign a bunch of forms for their client(s),
6. The recruiter will tell you they will submit your resume and follow up with you. Reassure you that they will be your personal representative, don’t use other recruiters because they are the shit, and to call them if you ever need anything.
7. You never hear anything back from them for a while on the positions you discussed.
8. They call up out of the blue to check up on you to see what you are up a few months later because they care (those are the good ones) or most likely they never call you back.

I understand it is a tough market out there and they are probably the busiest they ever have been, but when you make a phone call and e-mail a recruiter 8 times in the span of 2 days and they cant return your phone call and e-mail, it is a slap in the face.

It isn’t just relegated to recruiters, on two separate occasions, I’ve gone through rounds of interviews- one was with a major commercial real estate brokerage- I contacted the regional manager I interviewed with twice and left at least 4 voicemails and 2 e-mails: no response whatsoever (I even started to interview the secretary if he was available the last time he called, he was there and was free). The second was an educational certification company that where I met most of the higher ups, again HR said to call if I needed anything. So I asked them what their decision was after not hearing from them for 2 weeks (when I was promised they were looking to fill the position quickly). They didn’t even have enough respect for one of them to contact me- they delegated it to an “associate” who I had no clue what he did to tell me at 5:30PM that they had decided to go with the other candidate.

… those automated e-mails from HR departments “we’ve carefully reviewed your resume… and have decided other candidates are more qualified at this time…” shows a million times more respect than people you invest a small piece of yourself with and never get back to you.

Times are tough and when that happens people go crazy, I get it- I truly do. But what I don’t get it is why people can’t slow down and show some respect for others. To take 5 minutes out of the day, be open and transparent, and let another know the true situation. That’s what I don’t get.

So if you want to do a random act of kindness that will take a couple of minutes, slow down and listen to someone even though you might not be interested, get in touch with someone you had promised you would but didn’t… people feel better when you care what they say or you right a wrong… it’ll make you feel better too.

An Easy Random Act of Kindness- Show Respect is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com

So I have been exploring this underground revolution of random acts of kindness and decided to do one myself- to give away a gift card I had received over Christmas. I posted it to a Facebook group of over 1 million followers with active posters- no answer. I tweeted it out there to my approximately 4,000 followers- no answers (one did eventually answer and will be getting it).

My question is are we so judgmental that we automatically see it as some sort of gimmick? Are we not openly trusting enough anymore? Does there always have to be some other “catch”?

You Don’t Like Random Acts of Kindness? is a post from: DreamAndSeek.com