Stay tuned!!!!

Steve

Follow the link below.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/consciousdiscussions/2013/05/09/inspiring-advice-for-todays-entrepreneurs

Sipping Coconuts under Palm Trees in Thailand

After a little over a month in Bali, I am returning home. The beautiful sunsets, amazing surf, and sipping coconuts under palm trees while meditating about life are going to come to end.

A part of me is toying with the idea of just staying out here. I love it so much and there is everything I need out here to be happy. I know that I will return again and I have been looking in to just buying a place out here so I can just live out here a couple of months out of the year.

The only draw back is that out here is life is so slow and easy-going that I would imagine it would be hard for me to get things done. It is such a quality problem. When you live in paradise and you have everything you need, there is not a lot of motivation to work and strive for new things. It’s like a never-ending vacation for those who live here, and that’s the seduction of this place. Bali has a way of taking you out of your environment, and then slowing you down to the pace and way of life here. It is the only place on the planet that has been able to do that to me. I am an A-Type personality full of passion, motivation and an undying sense of urgency to get things done. After about a week out here, all I am motivated to do is Surf, read, write and meditate. With the occasional outings with friends and hitting a club here and there; a good time to me is sleeping in, surfing, reflecting, and then just enjoying a good conversation with some interesting people, and this place has no shortage of them.

People usually ask me what I miss about my country when I travel, I always have to stop and think about it because I have conditioned myself to live in the moment for so long I usually don’t find myself ever missing a place, instead, I always end missing the people who I have met over the years throughout my adventures. California is my home though. I was born and raised there and it is a part of me. It’s not a bad place to end up and compared to a lot of the places I’ve been to in the world, and I am extremely grateful to come home to San Diego where I reside currently.

The world is getting smaller. Technology allows me to stay connected with all of the people I have met all over the world and when you break it down, I can get anywhere I want to on this planet in about 2 days (unless your going to the middle of Siberia). Everything is a plane flight away. This makes me extremely grateful, because the ability for common people to travel to far corners of the earth has only been around for about 70 years. 100 years ago, if you wanted to go to Europe from America, you were going to have to take a carriage or car to a boat and then embark on a 1-2 month voyage just to get to some place. Only people who were rich were able to afford such a voyage. To be able to scale that amount of time down to just a couple of days and couple thousand bucks to leave for months at a time is fucking amazing to me. I mean I hop on a plane in LA, and 6 movies and 10 cranberry juices later, I am half way around the world immersed in a foreign land where everything is different, and to me that experience alone is one of the most exhilarating and fulfilling things I have ever experienced in this life. If you are a traveler, you know exactly what I am talking about, and if not, maybe it’s high time you spin a globe, pick a destination and get out of your comfort zone.

Paradise is defined as “a place or state of bliss, felicity or delight.” It is not necessarily attached to a location and although it can be, I believe that Paradise is found within ones soul. Buddhists call it Nirvana, Christians call it heaven, Jews call it Shamayim, but to me, it all means the same thing. Like I had mentioned before about living in the moment, I am not terribly concerned with what will happen to me in the after-life or even the future really. I have subscribed to the concept of living as if I were going to die tomorrow and planning as if I am going to live forever. Spending a massive amount of time pontificating about the unknown afterlife and future can be fun an enlightening at times, but the idea of dedicating a continual amount of time to this is both boring and unfulfilling to me.

The truth is that I am alive now. Time is made up, safety is an illusion, and although some humans claim it, I have never been 100% convinced that were going anywhere but 6-Feet under when we die, and we will die, the day will absolutely come so no need to fear that either. The hypothetical clock is ticking and has been for a long time. So, instead of worrying about all that noise, I just live every single day to the fullest seeking to find truth and experiencing every single person, place, thing or idea I can immerse myself in while my soul occupies this body.

My beliefs and principles are negotiable, and as a result of that I have been able to experience and do things that I don’t think most people get to in their lifetime. I studied world religions for years, went to Israel, read the Koran, hung with Pastors and Spiritual Guru’s, traveled throughout South East Asia and was open to the idea of adopting any belief system that got me closer to my understanding of God. The funny thing is that after all that, my underlying spiritual belief remained the same. It was the simple belief in a Higher Power of my own understanding, a principal introduced to me at the age of 16 years old through a 12-Step program I came in to while getting sober from Alcohol and Drugs.

My path to spirituality has been long, vast and downright tedious at times, but I have approached it with the same enthusiasm and tenacity that I have with everything else in my life never getting to caught up on any one thing and being open to it all believing that all religions and people for that matter are basically good and mean well. To deny or discount anyone’s beliefs would make me just like the people who are shut off, or unwilling to be open to a new understanding, and ultimately will not allow their belief system to be questioned or negotiated no matter how much sense logic makes in spite of what they believe. To me, those are some of the scariest people on Earth; they are the type of people who start wars over that kind of shit.

What this all means is that Paradise, to me at least; is being completely ok with everything exactly that way it is in this very moment. The more I realize that I cannot change anyone and the only real control I have over anything is how I react, and the example I set as a human being, the more easier my life gets. I do want to effect change and help those who want it to reach this kind of spiritual enlightenment, but you cannot force those who don’t want it and to judge those people for not wanting it would be hypocritical, because I spent a large part of my life in that same place.

What ever you believe is totally cool. You don’t have to conform to anyone or any religion’s or societies’ belief system if you don’t want to. You are free to do what you want; after all it is your life. If you are an atheist, agnostic, spiritually conflicted Catholic, or you simply don’t know where you stand, I would urge to seek truth in places you never thought to look before. That’s where I found my faith, and my faith is in no way shape or form affiliated to any one religion, if anything I have taken the teachings and traditions from many religions and use what I like leaving the rest behind. This is how I have found my paradise, my state of Nirvana. I don’t need to be in Bali, or some incredibly beautiful place to reach it either, it is in my soul. Besides, it has been my experience that in the darkest of times when I really needed to tap in to this place and ask my higher power for direction, I’m usually not on vacation or in a place like Bali, I’m in life, dealing with real shit, real problems that need solution. That’s when my faith has counted the most.

One final note, when I do die, which could be tomorrow or in 100 years, I have no fear going to where it is I will go next. To me, that is the ultimate adventure, the one true great unknown besides space. I have lived each and every day to the fullest, I have no beef with my fellow-men, there is no wreckage from my past that has not been cleaned up, there is nothing that I haven’t done that I have wanted to do to this point. Everything I dream up I attempt it no matter how crazy it sounds, I never live with regret or say some bullshit like: “someday I will” or “Ill try,” I only dream and them get to turning that shit in to a reality for me as quickly as possible. This has allowed me to see and experience things I never could have imagined to be possible, and for that I am extremely grateful.

Never let fear dictate your life, if you can dream it, than it’s possible, so never give up hope and continue seeking truth.

See you back on the other side of the World ☺

-Steve

Me at Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Little Leo. A Little guy in Cambodia who we found. I fixed his toe after its was smashed by a rock. He’s a tough little kid!!

I have always believed that a crucial part of my success was always having a willingness to give back. Not just in business or teaching life lessons, but charity. When I say charity, I don’t mean putting the left over change in the can at the crockery store with the starving kids on it, I mean “real” charitable acts above and beyond pocket change. For me, experiencing how it feels to help someone in need first hand, I couldn’t walk away from it and it has become a very important part of my life. On my last trip to South Eat Asia while visiting Siam Riep to go see the ancient city of Angkor Watt, My friend Natalie and I visited a school north of the city. We had to travel through the Jungle on a muddy dirt road for about an hour before we reached the shelter. I realized along the journey that after we had left the city limits, all of the villages that we were traveling through had no electricity, plumbing or any running water. We came to find out that the only clean water filtration system was at the orphanage and people from the village would come take the water from their when there was no fresh water so they were always running out. Earlier that day we had gone to the market to pick up all kinds of things like rice, school supplies, and sports stuff (these kids really like soccer). Our tour guide “Bob,” knew of the school and had gotten in contact with the person who ran the organization. After the market on the way out of town we stopped by the children’s hospital to tour the facility and give blood. We watched a very sad documentary about the children in Cambodia. They are a poverty stricken country that is largely uneducated due to the fact that the “Khmer Rouge” had wiped out more than 90% of the elder generation in Cambodia after the Viet Nam war in the late 70’s.

Natalie, Me, and Bob giving blood at the Siam Reap Children’s hospital in Cambodia

I was shocked to learn that the hospital struggled to get blood donations because the people in the community were so afraid of needles and believed folklore that it would make them sick. Most of the blood donations came from foreigners traveling through the country. Our tour guide “Bob” gave blood for the first time, he was a good sport about it, but we could tell that he was a little scared. I have to admit that I was nervous to because the hospitals in Cambodia are nothing like the hospitals in the U.S. and have to get by on older equipment the best they can.  Natalie on the other hand was a trooper, she seemed to deal with it better than both of us. After the hospital we started our journey to the orphanage. When we arrived there, we were greeted by the director. He was a really nice guy and had a western education but had come back to start this School that was in his home village he grew up in. He explained that most of the children there were either abandoned at birth or parents just gave them up because they simply lacked the means to raise them. The school taught the kids hygiene, English and vocational skills. All of the children were extremely happy to see us. After all, not a lot of white people came through there. Especially not white people with tattoos or who were as young as Natalie and I were. When we finished touring the school and learning about the programs they were using, we gave the kids all of the gifts. Seeing how happy something as simple as a pack of colored pencils or a soccer ball made me very emotional. It made me think of how spoiled I was growing up as a kid, and how ungrateful I was to have all of the incredible things my parents gave me. Out of site, out of mind right? I think this is the reason most people don’t want to visit places like this. It’s not that people don’t want to help, it’s that when you surround yourself with people like this you realize that your perfect little world isn’t so perfect anymore. In fact, it goes deeper, it makes you start thinking back to all of the things in your life that you had taken for gradate. Personally it made me feel helpless to know that I as one person couldn’t even begin to ease the pain of these kids right in front of me let alone begin to tackle the same kind of poverty and hunger all over the world. I could give them some gifts and money, spend some time with them, but then I would have to leave. Just as fast as I came in to their lives, I was gone. Going back to the comfort of my reality, and leaving them to struggle in theirs. On the way back home I couldn’t help but think about this. I wanted to do more. I vowed that I was going to start some kind of giving organization that would help kids out like this directly. No more giving money blindly to bullshit non-profit organizations.  No more donating money to charities where I didn’t get to directly see where the money actually ended up. My friend Natalie has been working with NGO (Non-Government organizations). She has dedicated a good part of her life working with these types of non-profits all over the world. I wanted to get her opinion and some information about some of the places and organizations she has worked with. Here is what she wrote. To some extent, I have always been aware of human trafficking. When you travel to countries like Thailand and Amsterdam, it is hard to miss the red light districts filled with young girls. Even in my own country, I have been exposed to seeing strip clubs and women being prostituted on street corners. I was always bothered in the moment to see the objectification, but it never stuck with me. It was just another injustice in the world that I was powerless to change. It wasn’t until I read the book “Not for Sale” that I would fully realize the severity of the issue and be moved into action.

Water filtration system at the School in Cambodia

(You can find the book “Not For Sale” Here  http://amzn.to/17loW7H) The book affected me so much that I decided to attend the Not For Sale Backyard Academy (notforsalecampaign.org), a three day seminar offering practical ways on how to get involved in the fight against human trafficking. It was there that I met Alezandra Russell, the founder of Urban Light (urban-light.org). Urban light is a for-purpose organization dedicated to supporting boys who are victims of sex-trafficking and child prostitution in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Alex and her staff serve to rebuild, restore and empower the lives of boys who work in the red light district by providing education, health services, housing and emergency care. The Urban Light center is an open shelter that boys can come to escape the harsh realities of the streets. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a little over a month working in Chiang Mai at the Urban Light Center. Like most people, when I thought of prostitution, I pictured young women and girls being exploited. It had never crossed my mind that boys made up a significant portion of the victims of sex trafficking. That is why Urban Light and the work they do are so important. Many people in the Thai community have labeled these boys as “dirty” or “unworthy” of acceptance. Many organizations choose to focus on female victims, leaving this overlooked population without assistance or love. From the moment I met the boys I knew they were going to change my life. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I am so fortunate to be apart of the Urban Light family. It is funny how some of the most poor and disadvantaged people you meet are also the happiest. It was no different with these boys. Every morning they would welcome me into their center, with the biggest smiles on their faces. They were so eager to learn, make friends, and find respectable and fulfilling jobs that they so deserved. I have volunteered with other organizations before but usually left feeling frustrated with where my money was going or with the effectiveness of the organization. It was such an enlightening experience to finally find an organization that I could trust and fully support. Alezandra and the entire Urban Light staff have dedicated their lives to providing an opportunity for these boys to live happy and successful lives. If you would like to help please visit urban-light.org and see how you can be apart of the solution for these amazing boys. There are opportunities to donate, volunteer, collect school supplies, purchase items (backpacks, clothing, jewelry) or simply just raise awareness and make noise for the boys. Please don’t hesitate to contact me for any questions about Urban Light.   Urban Light Website: http://www.urban-light.org/ To support and

get involved in a lot of ways. The worst thing that you can do is nothing. So please stop living your life pretending that everything is ok. If everyone pitches in a little bit, we can begin to solve these problems. Contact Natalie or I if you want to know more about the organizations written about in this post.

To purchase customized bracelets made from the boys please “Like” Akhaya on Facebook www.facebook.com/akhayabracelets or contact me at natpjat@gmail.com with any questions!Ok here is the link for Urban light http://www.urban-light.org/ And http://www.freedompaks.com/ supports the prevention of children in the village for Urban light before they get into sex work.

For more education and community prevention efforts 
Please Visit: Http://www.Freedompaks.com (partner of Urban Light You ca

You can get involved in a lot of ways. The worst thing that you can do is nothing. So please stop living your life pretending that everything is ok. If everyone pitches in a little bit, we can begin to solve these problems. Contact Natalie or I if you want to know more about the organizations written about in this post.

To purchase customized bracelets made from the boys please “Like” Akhaya on Facebook www.facebook.com/akhayabracelets or contact me at natpjat@gmail.com with any questions!

It would sound politically correct for me to say something like “I don’t want to get controversial,” but that my friends would be a total lie. The truth is that I do want to get controversial. I’m sick and tired of how things are in our country and I would love to see some real change.

In this blog, I am going to talk about the 2013 year in review so far and all the crazy shit that America has gotten itself in to, what it means, and most importantly what you and I can do about it, that is if you actually want to do something about it. If you don’t care at all, just stop reading, because this is going to make you feel like shit.

For more than 8 years now (since about 20 years old) I have in some way shape or form been involved in the political process above and beyond just voting. I have worked on more than 3 campaigns, started political clubs in college, participated in activism, protests and spreading awareness about things I believed to be important. During the last election in 2012, I was a very strong Ron Paul supporter and worked on his campaign like I had done before in 2008. After that defeat, I checked out of politics for good. I did this because I realized something that changed the way I look at America. Ron Paul probably came to this same realization after suffering a massive defeat and lack of support from his own party, the media, his enemies and the Zombies (my nickname for the ignorant masses) who simply did not get behind him and what he was trying to do. We realized that people who don’t want to help themselves cannot be helped, and that in order to install a want, need or desire into people to change their belief system, things were and are going to have to get a lot worse before people get pissed off enough to want to do something about it.

Unfortunately my generation, and the 2 generations behind me are the most narcissistic, entitled group of unmotivated zombies that America or the world has ever seen and as long as they have enough money to pay their rent, get an iPhone, have some cable TV and a little extra money to get drunk a couple nights a week, they will not do a fucking thing to get involved in the political process or fight for any change. I am not proud to say that about my generation, but it’s true, statistically, empirically and emotionally. If you want to see a revolution happen within my generation, ban some apple products and cancel reality TV, people will fight to keep that shit, but in a country where more people watch the super bowl than vote for president, the outcome looks dismal at best for those generations to get involved in Policy making. If you don’t believe me, here is the test: Answer these questions to yourself….

1. Who is married to Brad Pitt
2. Name 2 current supreme court judge

When I asked this same question in a survey to college kids 4 years ago, 100% knew who Brad Pitt was married to and less than 9% could name 2 supreme court judges.

Seriously? Knowing who Brad Pit is married to will not help you, knowing who is the end all be all interpreters of the Constitution of the United States of America and more importantly those who will determine what “freedom” and “democracy” is may be some good information to know? Wouldn’t you agree?

So how did you answer the questions? Are my survey results still the same? If you fall in to that 9%, I admire you, if you’re a part of the 91%, don’t worry; educated poli-sci majors couldn’t even get it right most of the time. (by the way, there are 9 S.C. Justices). All that I want you to do is to ask yourself  why common knowledge of the people who will determine the future of America is only known by 9% and shit that doesn’t matter, everyone knows. Sounds a little backwards right? Well keep reading.

Aside from what you and I believe politically, here is the most important reason I supported Ron Paul… He tells the truth like it is plain and simple. When I looked at the candidates running, it was very clear to me that the only one up they’re speaking the truth was Paul. It was comical, because the lies, and the flipping and back door deals that all the other candidates had been caught in the middle of still didn’t seem to matter when it came to public opinion. It was as if people wanted to be lied to. That they would rather have a president that is going to tell people what they want to hear knowing full well that he was not going to actually follow through on any of the things that he said he was going to do.

When did telling the truth become less important in a presidential election then making you feel good?? What the fuck is that about??

When debating people about who I thought should be president, my biggest defense for Ron Paul was this: My guy tells the truth and has a track record of doing so, and your guy has a track record of lying which makes anything that he says a moot point. People would say the craziest shit back to me like “Isn’t Ron Paul a Communist,” or “That guy will never win because he is to truthful.” WHAT???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Further more, if you really want to know the truth, follow the money. That’s always seems to give the most evidence to whom you are dealing with. Citi Bank and Goldman Sachs were among two of the biggest financial contributors to both the Obama and Romney campaign. The big banks are smart; they play both sides and control all outcomes. As for Paul, his biggest campaign contributors were active and non-active duty military, and the grass-roots campaign to elect Ron Paul, basically, the middle class and the military.

Ok enough with the political rant. Why is it like this? Plain and simple fear. Americans are scared little children these days. My generation as I mentioned before is so entitled that they are sitting around waiting for the government to fix shit and asking for free stuff as so eloquently displayed in the Occupy movements which by the way did absolutely nothing when it was all said and done. As soon as the police showed up and beat the shit out of a couple of activists, the movement died and they all retreated in fear.

But isn’t that America for you these days. Not looking at the actual problem, and trying to put Band-Aids on epic failures like the economy, war in the Middle East, lack of jobs available for graduating college students? Are we done trying to save face acting like it’s all going to be ok? Are we done living in a delusional world where we continue to believe that America is still the best and that we can never do wrong? Isn’t it about time we attempt to solve the root of the problems instead of pointing fingers and blaming everyone else but ourselves?

If you are a part of the masses that thinks that “everything is ok,” or “that things are not as bad as they seem,” and that somehow, by osmosis, everything is going to work itself out, then I feel sorry for you. You don’t even know how bad this is going to get, and by continuing to stay ignorant to the fact is distancing yourself farther and farther away from the truth. Weather you like it or not, you are directly responsible for sealing our fate however it plays out.

When you become an American citizen, meaning if you are born in America or become a citizen, you enter in to a contract. The contract is the Constitution and Bill or Rights. Weather you choose to participate in the political process or abstain from it completely you are no less responsible for the decisions that we make as a country regardless how you voted or didn’t vote for that matter. You see, that is how a democracy works, were all in this together, regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or beliefs. If America goes to war and kills people, and I was vehemently opposed to that happening, I don’t get out of the responsibility of having to accept the consequences of my oppositions actions. In fact, I am just as responsible as much as the soldier who was doing the actual killing, and the politicians that sent him or her to war. The blood is on all of our hands, that’s how a democracy works, if you don’t like, then change it, you have the right and the power to do so.

So how about the attacks happening at home? The shooting in the Colorado theatre and elementary school on the east coast, Boston Marathon
Bombings, Christopher Dorner going rouge and shooting LAPD cops, 2013 has been a pretty rough year so far. The best we could do so far was to come up with a stricter gun law bill that just got defeated this week, another Band-Aid. By the way California, my home state has some of the strictest gun laws in the entire US and had the most gun deaths in 2012. FAIL.  The topic of conversation of why these things even happened has never even entered that national media and that makes me furious!

At least when Al Qaeda plans some attacks, they are doing it because they are willing to die for what they believe in and no matter how crazy we Americans think that is, can you really ask yourself if called upon in the same way you would be willing to die for what you believe? Unlike Al Qaeda, the shootings in Colorado and Connecticut carried out by middle-aged white men who were both on Psychotropic medications were deaths were truly senseless, and if were going to call terrorism what it is we should stop being afraid of Al Qaeda, and be extremely afraid of EVERYONE who has ever had a psychological disorder or is currently on psychotropic medications which is now more than 15 million Americans last year according to the FDA. That means there are more than 15 million people who at the drop of a hat can have a psychotic snap, dress up like a comic book character and murder innocent people then blame it on mental illness and childhood trauma. Meanwhile our veterans coming back from 3 tours in Iraq who actually do have severe PTSD and cannot get the help they need because the VA is so understaffed and under funded manage to not open fire on innocent Americans.

As for Christopher Dorner, the LAPD cop who went on a rampage killing cops. Talk about a descent dude who was trying to do the right thing and just snapped one day. I will never try justifying the killing of innocent Americans, but when you back a man in to a corner and take away everything that meant anything to him to cover up some police corruption, I can’t say that I myself wouldn’t have done the same thing.

Meanwhile, bombs are going off at Public events and people are sending letters to the President and Senators with Ricin Poison, but despite all that, the Big Bang Theory has the top TV ratings in the country followed by NCAA Basketball Tournament and the Academy awards with over 17 million viewers.  People are dying, the country is falling apart, and most people are more likely to eat McDonalds and watch the fucking Big Bang Theory than do something of any significance to help America out what so ever.

So How Can We Fix It?

If we can step away from all the events and the situations that are actually occurring, we can begin to look at the bigger picture. Instead of asking “how these things happened” lets started asking “why” did they happen, and more importantly how did get to be that way.

For Example.

-Why would a decorated LAPD cop and US Military reserve man go rogue and start killing fellow officers?

-Why would a U.S. Citizen send letters with poison trying to inflict harm on politicians?

-Why would a highly educated white man dress up as a joker and open fire in a movie theatre?

-Why would a mother knowingly leave access to a handgun to her middle-aged son who has a known psychological disorder?

We can go even deeper in to this line of questioning if you dare. Here are some of my favorite questions I like to ponder.

-If we have a military strong hold 10 times the size of the biggest militaries in the world, with bases all over the planet, and the best intelligence money can by, why can’t we protect Americans from attack back home in America?

-When we bailed out the big banks that were “to big to fail” how is that any different then giving welfare check to a mother with 4 illegitimate children?

-Why would Islamic people hate us and want to kill Americans anyway? Is it possible that we may have provoked this some how?

I can guarantee you that if you start looking for answers to these questions that your whole perspective will change. Turn off the news; it’s bullshit, not just FOX, or CNN, all of it. Watching the news is no different then watching Will and Grace, it’s a sitcom for your entertainment, not hard-hitting journalism. There are plenty of places that you can find information and below I am going to provide a list of topics, websites and alternative media sites that will help you get a good understanding of the real state of America and assist you in becoming knowledgeable on what’s really going on and more importantly how it got that way because you cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that got you there. Lets stop acting like scared children that are easily influenced and take some ownership in our country and the decisions we make. Lets do this starting right at home in our own communities. We are NOT victims unless we choose to become them.

If you like what I have said in this post, please spread the information around. If you hate what I have said and think I am a communist or something, then please re-post it all over and let people know how crazy you think I am

Alternative Media Sites, here are a couple of my favorite:

http://truth-out.org

http://www.projectcensored.org

http://www.socialjusticejournal.org

http://www.aljazeera.com

http://www.amnesty.org

Great Google Search Terms that will leave you being like WTF??? Just enter these keywords in to Google:

Mark Dice, Gulf of Tonkin, 9/11 Truth, The Tri Lateral Commission, Amero, Sirius Disclosure Project, False Flag, Ron Paul, Bilderberg Group, bin laden + cia, The Bohemian Grove, Illuminati….. That should be plenty to start your journey

Incredible Political Philosophers that helped shape how I think. Just google them and read the Wikipedia for cliff notes J

Jürgen Habermas

Michael Foucault

Dr. Michael Huspek

Noam Chomsky

Hannah Arendt

Herbert Marcuse

Thanks for your support, please repost and follow my BLOG

Heres one more link to check out http://lawlessamericaflorida.posterous.com/guns-or-do-psychotropic-drugs-kill-10397

-Steve

Kids at the Orphanage

Charitable acts of                      kindness are the best way to invite love in to your life.

I spent a large part of my life being a “taker.” This meant that I always came before you. I believed that this was the mentality that I needed to get ahead in life for a long time. It wasn’t until my life was flipped upside down and I was forced to ask for help myself that I realized the importance of giving back.

There are many people in the world who seem to have been born with a unique nature to give. If you are anything like me, it was a learned behavior.

I spent a lot of my life taking care of my own selfish needs placing them before even the ones I loved and cared about. After countless times of banging my head against the wall wondering why I continuously lacked the ability to be grateful for what I had and trying to figure out what my problem was, I found that the answer was in giving back to those in need.

Charity can mean so many things. You can give money, you can donate your time, or you can spread awareness that is usually a combination of both. With so many different non-profit organizations and people in need all around the world there is no shortage of folks in serious need of our time, money, and education.

Personally, I donate 10% of my total income to charitable organizations every year. I don’t blindly give the money away to anyone until I have done vast research in to the organization to make sure that the money actually makes its way to where it is supposed to go. On top of just handing money over I make it a point to donate my time for the different causes I support, especially when traveling outside of the U.S.

In the upcoming weeks, I am going to be doing a series of blog posts raising awareness and telling stories of some of the different charities and non-profit organizations that I am affiliated with and or that I support.

Remember that no matter how bad you think you have it, there is always someone in the world who has it substantially worse off than you do, and as long as I have an able body, ½ a brain and roof over my head with some food to eat, I am in a position to help.

Don’t feel you need to donate $10,000 to make a difference, I have spent less than 100 dollars buying basic needs or participating in Micro-Loan programs that have drastically changed the lives and direction of the people who that money and or time has touched. Remember that!

Last week in Bali Indonesia, we decided to go to an orphanage called Widhya Asih. (http://www.putribaliorphanage.org). They have 7 orphanages all over Indonesia and were started by a Christian church even though most of the children in the orphanage are Balinese Hindu, or Muslim. It is important to me that any orphanage I support is non-denominational meaning they are there to help regardless of what religious denomination the children, or their families are a part of. The Indonesian government also subsidizes Widhya Asih. This always makes me happy to see that the country itself is willing to give back especially since there are a lot of Government Organizations that do not serve the best interests of the people they are trying to help.

Hanging with the Kids at the Bali Orphanage

When we arrived, we were greeted by Agustina Tri Udiartini S. or “Tina” as we called her (Head of the Orphanage). She allowed us to tour the facility and told us the story about what they do there.

This specific orphanage has almost all girls ages 14-22 and one young boy. I was a little upset about that because most of the gifts that I brought were things that young boys would want like a soccer ball and batman flip-flops. Either way it worked out because I was with 4 of my friends that were all women; three who came to Bali with me and one who lives in Bali full-time.

Tina was a great director because she had grown up in that same orphanage. She had also met her husband there too who helps run things as well. It leaves me with a really good feeling knowing that the person in charge has a real understanding of what the kids need because she used to be one of them.

We spent a couple of hours with the kids giving them presents asking them questions and buying some of the hand-made jewelry that they make as a vocational skill. The orphanage also gets the children through school and prepares them for university.

All in all this was one of the nicest most well run facilities that I have ever visited in South East Asia. I am happy to be a part of it and give money and time to the organization.

If you want to learn more about the Widhya Asih orphanages, please visit their website or email Agustina to find out how you can get involved.

Web: http://www.Putribaliorphanage.org

Email: tina@Putribaliorphanage.org

And if you are interested in hearing more about my journeys with organizations like these, please subscribe to blog or add the RSS feed here. (feed://stevenewolf.com/?feed=rss2)

I will be posting much more about this topic in the upcoming weeks.

-Steve

Steven E. Wolf

            We all seem to have a hero, mentor or leader that we follow throughout our life. No matter what the situation may be we always try to put ourselves in their shoes to make ethical and moral decisions. Steven E. Wolf is a serial entrepreneur, leader and mentor that has changed many people’s lives. He has changed the mind-set of young entrepreneurs and the direction our generation is going in within business and life. Compared with other leaders, Mr. Wolf has impacted the climate around him, created change, impacted group behaviors both good and bad, created and fixed conflict, and impacted the overall performance and development of the groups he is currently engaged in.

            Adapting to climate and change is very important in today’s society. Change happens every day and climate that we are engulfed in changes very rapidly as well. Steve Wolf manages change before it’s too late by educating himself, high expectations, making alternative plans, and always re-creating the mission. Steve follows Peter Carruther’s concept when it comes to setting an outcome goal and never turning back until it is accomplished (Garfield, 1987). When some people think of change they tend to put a wall up and try to avoid it. Change is something we all have to learn to deal with and align ourselves with in order to stay within the trends of our environment. Steve understands the rapid changes taking place today, and re-sets his goals and mind-set in order to maximize his performance to gain bigger results. Our climates also become unfamiliar when change occurs, so Steve learns to adapt quickly, relay the message, and bring along his followers. There have been negative climates that Mr. Wolf has created in the past; which caused things to change in a negative way. He was made aware of his mistakes and re-focused, planned, and executed his plan to create a positive climate for his groups (Garfield, 1987).

                  Group behaviors can change very fast and that is why Steve is one of the leaders that have had success when it comes to creating high impact groups. He understands the impact that his behaviors can have on the people around him. One negative behavior by a leader can trickle down the line throughout the group and cause negative behaviors within the entire group. When comparing Steve Wolf’s behaviors to the leaders in Peak Performance, Aldous Huxley talks about how peak performers handle bad situations or situations that may be too difficult to overcome, but those that are peak performers do whatever it takes to overcome the problem or situation (Garfield, 1987). Steve Wolf always mentions this when he works with groups, and his behavior is correlated to the group’s behaviors. He doesn’t allow conflict to get in the way of pursuing his dreams, and he makes that clear to his groups so they continue to perform at high levels even during conflict. As Steve creates intrapersonal relationships, dedicates time to his work, motivates others, consistently pushing forward, and always setting the example this will have a positive impact on his group’s behavioral habits, overall performance, and organizational conflict (Steven E. Wolf, 2013).

One of Wolf’s strengths is empowering others to produce results; which gains him power. When others produce results Steve knows they are serious. Helping them to develop into peak performers is his main goal, and his leadership ability will help them gain power. His impact is large when it comes to developing a high performing organization. He has had success in many areas that still produce him results. Steve understands the importance of creating a culture that is diverse, cohesive, and confident in their abilities to produce results. Our Nation is leading the world in teamwork and the development of organizations, and Steve Wolf is right there on the upward slope to success. Compared to Maslows Theory Z, Steve’s philosophy on sustaining performance is right on track. He instills confidence and motivation in others to boost their self-esteem and gives them enough knowledge to understand that they are part of a group that needs their skills, abilities, and leadership (Garfield, 1987).  Communicating his philosophies to the group enables them to develop into a cohesive team, become better people all aspects of life, and reach peak performance levels. Steven E. Wolf (2013) writes, So the moral of the story is make sure your peer group is one of influence, and that they are a group that is willing to push you and can help get your foot in the door in to areas where you want to be successful, have a great day everyone (p.1).

Many World leaders are looked at as peak performers that are always creating new ideas, and producing new results. That is the path that Mr. Wolf is taking, and won’t give up until he is 100% satisfied with his footprint on this Earth. He has become a peak performer through team work, education, self-mastery, motivation, confidence, and setting goals. Steve has learned to adapt in many different environments, cultures, and climates. His philosophy of perseverance, reaching his dreams, and never giving up on dreams has gotten him to where he is today. The most crucial part to reaching his peak performance has been his ability to plan, evaluate and executive his process, performance, and outcome goals (Garfield, 1987).

Compared to other leaders in the book Peak Performance, Steve Wolf is top of the list. His success so far at such a young age is tremendous, and he will only continue to develop into a better leader. Wolf has made a major impact on the climate around him, created many changes, impacted group behaviors, created and fixed conflicts, and impacted the overall performance and development of the groups he is a part of. Steven E. Wolf (2013) quotes, No path to success is linear; in fact, it’s an incredulous journey of peaks and valleys that is painful at times and downright unbearable at others. That is what my mentors taught me, and I have never forgotten it (p.1).

References

Garfield, C. (1987). Peak Performers: The New Heroes of American Business. New York, NY:

Garfield Enterprises.

Wolf, S.E. (2013). The young entrepreneurs guide to life: Unlocking the mystery to your

success. 2^nd Edition.

It is things like this that keep me doing what I’m doing. Thanks Derek, you’re a good friend and I am honored to be a positive part of your life!

When I visited bali for the first time last year I was hooked. There is something magical about this place, and if you are a surfer, you truly are in paradise.

The first time I came to Bali, I bought a one way ticket and came with a backpack and a surfboard. I ended up at a Surfcamp on the southern part of the island (around Padang Padang) called Rapture Surf Camp. Josh is an Aussie guy that runs it and he is great. His wife Maggie who also designs some pretty cool bikinis does yoga classes on site as well. A surf camp is a great way to go if your traveling by yourself and you want to join some more experienced (or less experienced) surfers and get some local Balinese surf guides to take you to all of the hidden spots. There are many choices in surf camps out here, but for about 35 Euro a day ($45 USD) you get breakfast, dinner, surf transport and a really nice furnished place that all inclusive + the staff make it all worth it!!!! Whether you have never surfed a day in your life or your a pro, Rapture Surf Camp is the way to go!

On my second trip to Bali, I decided to come with a couple friends. We went the route of renting a Villa in the Seminyak area for a month. Seminyak is a great place to stay for many reasons, main reason being there is a little something for everyone up here. One of my friends is really in to Yoga and buy’s and sells hand made Balinese jewelry (Check her stuff out here). Seminyak has plenty of yoga to go around.

My other two friends are foodies and love to shop, and Seminyak has it all. Your outside of Kuta, the main drag of Bali which is usually a loud crazy drunken shit show, but close enough to get a taste. The Seminyak main drag has all the shopping you could ever need as well as plenty of food options to sample all of the different styles of taste.

If your a Yogi 100%, and that is what you are coming to Bali to do, plan on spending some time up in Ubud. Ubud is like the Yoga capital of  Bali with plenty of places to practice and plenty of food, shops, and accessories to meet the needs of the biggest yogi’s.

For me, Im here to surf and relax. Ill do some Yoga too, but recently I have been training Krav Maga back at home. Krav Maga is the hand to hand combat that is taught to the israeli defense force. Knowing that I would be gone for a month, I wanted to find some way to continue training while out here. I found an MMA gym in Seminyak that teaches Kick Boxing and Brazilian  Jui Jitsu. The name of the place is Dojo Aora right underneath the Hammerhead Gym which is a traditional gym for you gym rats out there who just need to pump weights everyday.

All in all, out of all the places I have ever visited all of the world, Bali is the only place I have loved so much I have come back for a return visit. I am planning on buying a place out here and trying to live out here a couple months out of the year.

In the mean time here is a quick list of what I have used when coming to Bali.

1. Flights – Try Sky Scanner or Kayak (Usually China Air, Eva Air, or China Eastern are the cheapest to Bali)

2. Accommodations and Vacations / Yoga Retreats: this is where we stayed /// Villa Indago. go to the facebook page, and Send a friend request to Amanda Jane Williams. Amanda

**** Amanda Jane is amazing, She is an Aussie Yoga master and makes a living out in Bali arranging yoga retreat vacations. For the price you pay compared to what you get, she is hands down the best. All of the villas come with a daily maid who also cooks and does shopping for you. Amanda knows her stuff and will get you all set up with everything you need, from a phone, to a driver and will direct you to all the best shops and restaurants in town to boot.  ****

3. Phone in Bali – Make sure to have your GSM phone unlocked and then get a pre-paid Telkomcell Sim card. They are easy to find, and are all over the island. To make calls back home, use SKYPE.

4. Surf Board Bali, to bring or not to bring - It’s usually going to be $75-$150 a board depending on the airlines, China Eastern counted my board as a checked bag, but you never know. Even though I brought my board last time, I decided to  just buy one while I was out here. Here are a couple trusted places where you can get a legit board for about $350-$600

1. Naruki Surf shop in Kuta

2. Luke Studer Surf Boards

5. Clothes: Don’t bring anything warm, just lots of board shorts and sunscreen. You can buy the rest out here, its CHEAP!

6. Transportation: Scooters cost abour $3.50-$5 per day, or if you lack scooter skills hire a driver at about $40 per day!

Any other questions, just ask here, I love Bali and I believe everyone should experience this place!!!

CHEERS

No path to success is linear; in fact, it’s an incredulous journey of peaks and valleys that is painful at times and downrightunbearable at others. That is what my mentors taught me, and I have never forgotten it!

This Blog post is a little long, but I guarantee that reading it will immediately change your state, make you cry, and give you hope all at the same time. So don’t quit on me and please re-post and comment if you like it!!!

Many people who have met me in this past year or two have met me while I am on a big up-swing in my life, and yes it has been a great year so far; but all to many times I meet people who have some kind of self limiting belief about themselves as it relates to me and my life; and how they don’t believe that they themselves can achieve a level of success that I myself have achieved or any successful person for that matter.

I want you all to know, that the story you tell yourself is your reality. Change your story, and it will change your life.

Something happened to me this week that made me remember a painful time in my past that I haven’t shared with most people. In fact there are probably only a couple people in my life who know about it. I want to share it now with you because I think that it is a very valuable story that will hopefully help some people who may be struggling with similar things in their own life…

So here goes:

Back in the summer of 2008, I came back home from the trip of a lifetime. I had been vacationing with my girlfriend of 2 years in Western Europe. We were at the peak of the Real Estate boom; I owned a successful brokerage that was allowing me to pull down about 18k-25K of income per month. I had gone back to college for fun, bought my first house the year earlier for a half a million dollars and was at the top of my game. I WAS only 22 Years old!!!

In September of 2008, the Economy went to absolute shit, with the DOW dropping 477 points in a day and the housing market turning in to an absolute frenzy. It began a series of events that would change my life forever. Nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen in my life.

A week after the Crash, my brokerage was shut down because our parent company closed the doors over night. I paid out my sales team from my own pocket ($50,000) and told them good luck. I brought the 28 deals we had left in the pipeline to another broker house but watched 2 out of those 28 deals actually get closed as the economy melted down and multiple banks and business shut their doors. Needless to say, it was over, my dry cleaning bill that month cost more than I took in.

I was hemorrhaging money and very quickly going in to debt as my overhead and lifestyle cost me 15k-20k per month. My investments lost substantial value, and my income was cmpletley gone. I was starting to get desperate.

Meanwhile, My sponsor/Mentor in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) was diagnosed for the 4th time with Esophageal cancer. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been sober for since I was 16 years old (12 years now!!). (Check out my book The Rich Kid Syndrome if you are interested in hearing that whole story). A week after I got this news I found out my father was be federally indicted by the FBI for Medicaid fraud and was looking at some serious legal problems despite the fact he was innocent. To make matters even more bleak, my girlfriend who I was in love with decided to break her 3 years of sobriety and went from an incredibly beautiful and intelligent person who was Psych major attending Pepperdine University to a full blown alcoholic drug addict who would disappear for days at a time with no recollection what happened or what she did. The women that I knew and fell in love with had ceased to exist, and when I needed her the most, she checked out emotionally and I was forced to break it off.

I was 23 years old, and in my last year of College for my undergraduate degree in communications. I was scared, in over my head and every time I would try to cheer myself up and say something like, “it could be worse,”, it got even worse! My best friend at the time decided to move out with our mutual friend on very short notice skipping out on rent and leaving me in an even more desperate situation. Then my father on the advice of his attorney took a plea bargain with the federal government that was supposed to be a slap on the wrist type case, but resulted in him losing his medical license and being sent to federal prison for 5 months. Just when I thought this nightmare couldn’t get any worse, all my credit lines were frozen and I couldn’t find employment to generate some kind of income.

Within 6 moths, all of this happened and I was now $140,000 in debt. The house I bought 2 years before was worth $100,000 less than I bought it for. The two men who I looked up to in my life and went to for advice and guidance were hurting, one was terminally ill and dying and my father in Jail. The two closest people two me were gone, my best friend and the love of my life.

I was broke, lonely, depressed, and in the most pain I had ever been in my life. 

The breaking point happened 1 month after all of this. I found a tenant to rent a room in my house to help cut my overhead cost down on the mortgage payment. He seemed to be a descent tenant, good credit and had good job. It turned out that he was actually a con artist. The job was fake. Social Security Number was someone else’s, and he had people posing as his former employer and landlord to get passed the rental application process.

I came home from job searching one day and checked my accounts and realized that all of my money was GONE! I immediately called the bank and they told me that I had cleared checks pulling the money from my accounts. This guy ended up taking the last $10,000 that I had set aside so I could survive over the next couple of months. My cards stopped working and I couldn’t even buy a $0.99 taco.

I went to the police frantically, but they sent me away saying that it was an identity theft case and because there was no immediate threat of danger they couldn’t assign me a detective right away. I’ve never felt more angry and helpless in my life. My Bank couldn’t help, the police couldn’t help and I was so desperate that I just snapped.

The con-artist roommate of mine did not know that I had found all of this out and was due to come home in a couple hours. So I went home, I loaded my gun, and shut the lights off in the house waiting for him to come home. I decided I was just going to shoot him, maybe not kill him, but I was so angry and desperate at the time, I may have done so. I just snapped, I lost it and I wasn’t thinking clear. All of the pain I had been feeling just got channeled and put on him, and I was determined to make him feel how I felt inside.

While I was waiting in the dark for him to come home, my mentor Mike Watson called me out of the blue and asked me “how I was doing.” I told him “horrible” and explained the story of what had just happened. Mike asked me what I was going to do about it, and I told mike “I’m going to shoot him.”

 Mike realized that I was not thinking clear and told me to go put my gun away and call him back. He didn’t give me a choice. I hesitantly complied, and called him back. When we got back on the phone, Mike told me:

“Steve, I know you’re angry, and feel violated, but bad things happen to good people and the only thing that separates us is how we react back to the world when people do us wrong.”

Mike went on to tell me that unless I immediately forgave him, that I would carry this anger and obsess about it, that it would eat me alive unless I just dropped it and moved on. I couldn’t imagine forgiving this person given the drastic nature of the situation, I mean come on, what would you do if someone stole your last penny in my same situation. I’d been in full-blown fistfights over much less; I was planning on shooting the ass hole.

This was a dose of humility that I really didn’t want to swallow.

Mike made me promise him that I would call the scumbag and forgive him immediately before the guy had a chance to come home and meet my wrath face to face where in that moment, I probably would have done something incredibly stupid out of sheer anger.

So I called him, after he tried to make some bullshit excuse of what happened with the money, I stopped him and said this:

“I know what you did, and it’s ok. I forgive you.” He replied, “huh? What do you mean you forgive me, you don’t just forgive someone for something like this.” I then explained that…

“Yea, well I wasn’t going to, in fact when you came home today I was planning on shooting you, but then something happened, I spoke to someone who loves me and he told me to let it go, and to forgive you. I realized after talking to this person who loves me, that guy’s like you who operate like this and are sick, and that even though you took 10 grand from me, I wouldn’t trade 100 grand for the life and the people I have in my life. Guy’s like you live in a world where you look over your shoulder every day wondering if that will be the day you run in to me, or any of the people you have hurt before in the past. Guy’s like you end up getting shot in the back over 200 bucks. So yea, take the money, you will have to pay for it one way or another in the future, but don’t ever come back here, because if I ever see you again I am going to hurt you real bad!”

I hung up the phone and I never heard from him again, that is until about a month ago. I will finish that little story at the end of this blog.

I went to sleep that night and woke up the next morning and drove to the beach. The beach always made me happy. So I went there and sat on the rocks and watched the waves break on the shore. I was fed up, and sick of being depressed and in pain. In that moment right then and there, I promised myself that I was going to live through this, and not only live through it, but that I was going to fucking knock it out of the park. I reminded myself that I was a survivor, and that it was not in my nature to quit or give up. I remembered everything that my mentors taught me, and all of the people who made sacrifices for me to get me as far in life as I had come. I stood up; I looked at the sky, and I declared to God that I was going to fight through this and come out shining or DIE trying.

 After this change of state and paradigm shifting moment of clarity, what I needed to do became clear. I went home, I organized my thoughts, set some crazy goals and got to work.

Over the next 3 years, I ate shit, trudged through very hard times and endured the storm. I kept reminding myself that what ever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, and that everything that I was going through was preparing me for something.

My dad went to prison for 5 months but then got out, I buried my sponsor and Mentor Mike Watson and spoke at his funeral, I finished my last year college strong with a 3.8 GPA and got my bachelors degree. I helped build RevvNRG (The Multi-Level-Marketing company I work with) to 20,000 + Distributors in less than 3 years hitting the top rank in company, I Settled and paid down $120,000 worth of the debt I owed with out a collection or a bankruptcy and to top it off, I published my latest book “The Young Entrepreneurs Guide to Life.”

During this period in my life, I remained in a peak state. I found some of the best friends that I have in my life. I attribute that to the fact that the only energy I was putting out in the world was positive. I had no time for anyone’s bullshit. Not only that, any negative people in my life went away very shortly after I made that declaration to the world, they had to go, I had nothing to give them, and if they weren’t adding to my life I was in no position to waste any spiritual or motivational energy, I needed all the positivity I could get, and if they weren’t with me on that, they had to go. My dreams and family became to important for me to risk failing on the count of mediocre people around me, after all, the people around me is one thing I actually have a lot control over.

As things leveled out in my life I starting taking more time for myself. I wanted to keep the positivity going, so now that I had time and a little money, I took up skydiving, and fight training (Krav-Maga), got back in to my music, and started to travel again.

5 months ago, I took a trip to S.E. Asia. I started in Bali, and then went to Malaysia, Cambodia, Viet Nam and Thailand. I spent about 3 months on the trip booking a one-way ticket, selling all my stuff and left with a backpack and a surfboard. I spent my time surfing, trying new things and amercing myself in those cultures. I had plenty of time to reflect on the past years and I was in a constant state of gratitude. I had won; I defied all odds and handled my shit! I was so happy. I came home from that trip high on life with an even greater conviction to keep going.

I have come to some new realizations in my life lately. My time is my most valuable asset and I have reached a point in my life where I realize that I need to spend even more time then ever to give back!

I am sitting in Bali again presently as I write this blog. The week before I came here, I was invited to attend the Tony Robbins Seminar in Los Angeles with my Cousin Jordan Adler (A top producing MLMer in Send Out Cards and Author of the book Beach Money).

Remember that con artist roommate who stole the 10 grand from me. About a month ago, I received a call from the district attorney in San Diego telling me that they had caught him and he was trying to straiten his life out, this meant that he was willing to pay back the money he stole from me back in 2008.I honestly didn’t believe that the guy was going to give me 10 g’s but the day before I left to meet my cousin for Tony Robbins, the lawyer called me and told me that he had a

$10,000 check for me. Astonished, I flew down to his office, grabbed the check and cashed it immediately! I couldn’t believe it, the guy actually came through, and I just put 10,000 bucks in the bank that I never planned on ever seeing again 5 years earlier.

I got to the event up in L.A. and met up with my cousin who was with couple of his friends ranging from MLM industry leaders to formal American Idol finalists. Jordan has the coolest friends; they are always incredible people doing cool shit in their lives. Like-minds attract other like-minds.

I sat there listening to Tony do his thing and I was again overwhelmed with gratitude. Here I was sitting in the Diamond VIP section with Millionaires, great thinkers and successful people in all industries. I thought to myself wow, what a gift. I couldn’t have even imagined that I would have been this far along 4 years prior. Not to mention, I was $10,000 richer and was leaving to go to Bali for a month the Sunday that the event finished.

As I met my friends at the Airport yesterday and started writing this blog post I was in a surreal space saying to myself “yes! This is your life Steve! You are not dreaming, you did it and guess what… you’re just getting started, so live it up, you deserve it kid.”

I imaged Watson looking down from heaven smiling, and saying, “that-a-kid Stevie, I knew you could do it.” I imagined what all the other people in my life would have said who are no longer here. I thought of what might have happened to me if I ended up shooting that roommate of mine. I thought of the smiles that I bring to my parents faces when they think about how I came from almost dying on drugs when I was 16 years old to where I am at in my life now. The people I’ve helped, the places I have been and the things I have done are truly a testament to what happens to someone who never quits, and continues to do the right thing NO MATTER WHAT!

Life fills me up now. I am so rich, so blessed and so grateful to be alive. I wouldn’t trade the past for anything; I love every part of my life good and bad.

As I watch the sunset tonight over the beach in Bali while drinking a coconut next to a palm tree, I am going to think about the future, and all the people I am going to get to be of service too! I am going to thank my higher power for this life and soak it all in. My hope is that who ever reads this does the same…

Live your dreams, don’t just talk about them. Do what ever it takes to get what you want, then give back what was so freely given to you. Let go of your fears, they don’t serve you, helping others and remembering where you came from does. It does not matter what happened in your past because it doesn’t determine your future…

You are strong, capable, and worthy of all the great things in life as long as you are willing to work for them.

Today is my Late Sponsor Mentor Mike Watson’s Birthday; he would have been 60 years old today and almost 30 years sober.

Lots of Love from Bali Mike I love you and will never forget what you taught me, see you on the other side of the world.

-Steve