HBD big Bro

It doesn't get any easier each day. You learn to live with it. Each year my mom likes to release balloons in the air in memory of my brother. I am not sure what it does but having a tradition allows us to have a time to reflect on the life of my brother. I like to use this day to reflect on my life. I use it as a reminder of how blessed I am, how precious our time is, to remember to love those around us.

This is a video I made a last year. A lot of people have seen it but it stands true on my feelings.

Thank you everyone for your kind words & support.

Power Outage Movie

Here is a movie I made with my two cousins when the power went out. We had to find something to do. Why not make a movie. I hope you all enjoy watching has much as I did making it.

Rambling

It is had been to long since I made a post of any kind. It seems like a lot has been going on but in reality it is just life. I tend to get bored of things and move on. This blog seems to be one of those things. I am going to try and get re-motivated. It seems one of my most popular post was my video about my big brother. It was recently his birthday and I re-posted it.

I was speaking to someone about the video. Something I noticed is that I seem to be the rock for those around me. The reason when emotions tend to want to take over. Honest to provide a moment of clarity or put things in perspective. People around tend to come to me for help when they are stuck or just need to talk. I think I am just a problem solver and an optimist (within reason of course).

People ask me how I am so “strong” or “calm” when things happen. I developed these strengths through the emotional and physical scare tissue (muscle) I have built over time. It all goes back to what I said in the video: If you are alive things aren’t that bad.

The next question is who does a rock for everyone else lean on. This was a simple question. It is a matter of two people. The person who raised me to be the way I am and myself. It more of just knowing that person is there that makes me feel at ease and makes things better. I do also lean on those closest to me. I lean on them to remind me of how lucky I am to have the people I have in my life, to remind me the simple things in life are what count the most and to remind me. That is enough rambling for now.

Acts of kindness

One of my favorite things to do is give to or help others. Sometimes random people and usually those close to me. As the years go on and I build more resources I'm able to do this more and more. It is one of the best feelings ever. I often end up going on little sprees of these "Acts Of Kindness". The most common things I do is send random gifts to people when I see something that reminds me of them, pay a bill, or make something happen for someone (track down tickets to events, link them with an internship, find information on a goal etc.). I know friends do some of these things on the regular but I mean still do these things even when not asked, when you seem not to have time, are mad at each other or aren't even friends.  Over the years I have volunteered for YMCA, Soup kitchens, big brothers big sisters, donate blood, donate clothes......  I fell like these acts throughout the year are more meaningful then doing things on set days (for birthdays, Christmas...). You should show people they are important and cared about (including random people) throughout the year not just on designated days.

My favorite is to do things for those I know anonymously. I don't want them to feel like they owe me anything in return and it allows for me to do it with no strings attached. I usually do this with bigger items people might fight me on. It is often something that is important to them but they may not be able to do without a little help. Some of the more extreme anonymous "Acts of Kindness" I have done are paid tuition, paid a sports fee for an athlete, paid a phone bill,  and landed someone a job (I hope none of these people realize I am talking about them). I only hope they one day will all be able to pay it forward in some way and help someone else in need.

If you are reading this I challenge you to try to selflessly participate in Acts of Kindness. The only hard part is that sometimes the opportunity doesn't always come at the best time and requires a little sacrifice of something for yourself. Like giving up a favor you may need later, not buying that new cell phone or dipping into your savings.

Time with family and friends

I have been busy spending time with the family. Here are some pictures.