Many of us live as victims to life and circumstances. We choose to allow our jobs and other people to be responsible for our happiness and fulfillment. We wait and wait and wait for the next "phase" of our life to finally lead the happy life we always wanted. We use people, schooling, and events as mere stepping stones on the pathway to happiness in a never-ending dance of "practice" for the "real thing". A never-ending dance of waiting to be happy after we achieve x, y, and z...and then r, g, h and t....and then d, q, c and v and so on. You know exactly what I'm talking about! We worry so much about looking good for others who are so caught up in having the same exact worry for us. We attach meaning to childhood events that have held us back from the freedom of now as though they actually have to mean something when really nothing has to mean anything and the past doesn't even exist, except in our minds. Life is inherently meaningless until we give it meaning and no matter how much society tells us what things mean, the choice is ultimately ours. We are the creators of our own meaning and the meaning of things. Every moment we experience exists in an infinitely empty space of nothing with endless possibilities for the creation of anything. The best part is we are the creator of those possibilities! We settle for living an inherited life of inherited meanings when we can be living a created life of created meanings or simply no meanings. Understanding that the meanings we attach in life are only creations of a life that is inherently meaningless makes you unmessable with and that's powerful.

The best way to make a difference in your life and in the world is to first take full responsibility for your life and stop blaming circumstances and other people. If you have been, pick up the phone and call the person whom you have thought to be responsible for your happiness and apologize by acknowledging who really is. Second, understand that you are the creator of your life and every moment exists in an infinitely empty space of nothing from which you can choose to create the possibility for anything. Thirdly, don't take life too serious - we will all be dead soon. Fourth, understand that love is about acceptance, not judgement. Understanding this concept will allow you the ability and freedom to love and accept anyone fully as they are and not try to change them because we all know how that turns out. Fifth, do not make yourself right and someone else wrong. Make it about workability and what works best without the self-righteousness, domination, and  stubbornness of "being right". Sixth, understand that being powerful isn't about dispossessing conditional human traits, such as judging others, because we can't help that - it's about being aware when we do this and taking accountability for those little voices in our heads. Seventh, understand that your Word is who you are and the foundation of your Word is integrity. If that is all you get from reading this, then you will live a powerful, authentic life! Eighth, understand that it's much easier to be small and blame others. Being big in life takes risk and courage. Be big. Ninth, commit yourself to something bigger than your life, such as taking on hunger in NYC or joining the movement to stop climate change. It may help keep you out of trouble with your restless mind and relationships while doing good in the world. Tenth, stop beating yourself up over meanings of something that don't even have to mean anything. Love yourself as you are and improve where you please, but without the resentment towards yourself. Forgive yourself and create a new possibility with the past where it belongs. Finally, understand that your identity, not You, is a result of your reaction to a few events which happened to you growing up. You may think they have to define you, but every moment presents a new possibility for you to redefine your life and identity. The more you speak this identity, the more real it becomes.

What the world really needs are more people who have truly come alive. More people that don't look outward for happiness and fulfillment, but understand their own power to generate it within despite their circumstances and relationships. By creating and sharing love, compassion and happiness, you exert it out into the universe which is like a two-way mirror flinging it right back. Again, every moment we experience exists in an infinitely empty space of nothing with endless possibilities for the creation of anything. Think about it. The best part is we are the creator of those possibilities! Authenticity, integrity, and profound existential awareness for your own power to create possibilities from nothing will create breakthroughs for a better life and consequently, a better world.

I eventually decided a voice over is the best way to go!

There is no distance on Earth that separates us from the benefits that rainforests provide. The Amazon rainforest is one of the most ecologically diverse regions in the world and greatest remaining natural resource on Earth. For years, I dreamed of traveling to the "Lungs Of Our World" and experiencing it's adventure, serenity, culture, and natural beauty. Well, I certainly got more than I bargained for! It all began two years ago when I started building Everything Connects and planned my second mission of planting 10,000 trees. I reached out to Project Amazonas and have been collaborating with this wonderful organization ever since to make this tree planting mission of mine a reality. My goal was to plant as many trees as possible and donate to and volunteer with the indigenous tribes, particularly the children, in the area. I traveled with my sister and met a group of awesome volunteers in Peru at the Project Amazonas Santa Cruz Forest Reserve. This trip was incredibly eye opening to the realities of jungle life. We first landed in Iquitos, which is a city built in the heart of the Amazon and is only accessible by plane or boat. We stayed there two nights to get settled in, become accustomed to the endless mosquito attacks, meet the other volunteers, and prepare for our excursion to the field station. Iquitos is the third world equivalent of New York, bustling with life all day and night. However, I found the city to be very polluted with garbage everywhere, dirty water, and horrible air quality. Not to mention the countless stray dogs that were all suffering from some type of horrible ailment. The locals were for the most part very kind, but being the "gringo" I was, which is an outsider or tourist, I always had to watch my pockets, especially in the busy marketplaces. I've always known about the challenges people in third world countries faced and lifestyles they led, but it's very different to learn about these issues online or in a book and to actually experience it first hand. I wanted to help every single child and stray dog in need while there! It drove me nuts not being able to. Anyway, our second morning there we finally left for the field station which was an adventure in and of itself. We began by taking a "Moto Kart", that my sister and I called "Go-Karts", ride to the dock, where we boarded on a small boat that took us down the Amazon River to the town of Mazan where we were welcomed by a swarm of locals trying to grab our bags to put into their Go-Karts and take us to another dock on the other side of Mazan. These locals meant no harm, but initially I was defensive trying to "protect" my belongings. I learned slowly the cultural differences and more times than not, the hard way. We finally decided which Go-Kart to jump in and made our way across the beautiful scenery of Mazan to the other dock where we settled into a small boat operated by Juan Pablo, who was working for Project Amazonas. We then made our way down the Mazan river and finally to our field station. Here are a few photos of our journey from Iquitos to the forest reserve:

Upon arrival at the field station, the volunteers, my sister, and I were welcomed with raw beauty and complete serenity. The noise of the city was non-existent, all we could hear was the beautiful chorus of endless Amazonian creatures. The field station itself was remarkably beautiful and spanned many acres. We had our own chef and a great mentor and guide Don Dean who is a board member of Project Amazonas and owner of the field reserve accompanying us. After settling in, Don gave us an introduction to the reserve and outlined our work schedules and what to expect during our stay. We learned that to get to bed every night, we would have to hike almost an hour through the jungle to sleep in another part of the reserve! This was exciting as most of the wildlife came out at night, but fairly dangerous as we were a good distance from civilization and surrounded by poisonous snakes and venomous spiders, however with good caution and common sense, we were all enjoying ourselves. With all the danger that surrounded us, it was a moth that got the best of me. On one of our night hikes, we saw a snake and so we all pointed our flashlights to it and I jumped into the light to snap a photo. Unfortunately, all the focused light attracted an immense amount of flying insects. One of those flying insects, a moth, happened to fly into my ear. As soon as it went up the ear canal, I panicked and stuck my finger in there to get it out, but instead I pushed it deeper in to the point that no one could even see it. I ended up spending two nights and three days with this moth in my ear until leaving to go to the hospital in Iquitos. Both those nights I spent hearing nothing but buzzing and wing flapping in my head. It was psychological warfare for me to stay calm, but I did a good job. Arriving at a hospital in Iquitos, even the doctors in the E.R. couldn't remove it, so I was sent to a specialist elsewhere in the city who needed to use a robotic camera to find it and then a special metal scooper to take it out. The moth was huge, but I was just glad it was taken out without further incidence. Here are a few photos of the reserve, our group, and some of the wildlife:

We spent our days setting up seed bags, planting trees, playing with and donating to the local kids, maintaining the house, traversing the jungle, trying to survive the onslaught of mosquitoes at night, and simply enjoying our stay and awesome company. Half way through the trip, all the other volunteers and Don left and my sister and I stayed a week on our own with a local named Juan. We decided on our second day alone to kayak together and after being out there for an hour, these dark rain clouds surrounded us in a matter of ten minutes and we were rushing back to the reserve trying to escape the coming downpour. We never made it in time and got drenched, but I'm glad because as soon as we pulled our kayaks onshore, we didn't bother running to the house and instead danced in the rain! It was an amazing feeling of rawness and oneness with nature that I'll never forget. Having the house to ourselves, we went on working planting the trees and maintaining the house, but the biggest task we had to do was hike the entire perimeter of the reserve to plug in coordinates for GIS satellite mapping that my sister Ariana specializes in. This was crucial for Don who really needed to update his maps and so we spent almost every day hiking. One of the days we hiked seven hours. It was a tough, but very rewarding experience. The jungle despite being filled with beauty was lurking with danger and we learned that weary eyes and clear minds were our greatest allies. In the end, we had planted tons of trees, made a GIS map, spent time playing with and donating to local children, helped renovate the house, made some great new friends, experienced the beauty, danger, and culture of the Peruvian Amazon, and created memories that will last a lifetime. For anyone who wants to volunteer for this organization, contact me and I will put you in touch and answer any questions you may have. Here are some more pictures from the trip. Hope you enjoy!

2) May never get to enjoy the seafood we enjoy today because already 90% of large predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish, and sharks are now gone, and by 2048, a study done by the Dalhousie University of Canada projects all the species that we fish today to be extinct. Overfishing | Solutions

3) May never get to explore the stunning diversity of life on Earth because scientists are warning that within a few decades, at least half of all plant and animal species on Earth will be extinct. According to the IPCC, direct climate change impacts alone will commit some 20-50% of species globally to extinction, possibly by 2100. Mass Extinction Crisis | Solutions

4) May be more vulnerable to diseases such as lyme disease, malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, plague, and avian influenza, or bird flu, which is poised to become more difficult to control and more widespread due to rising temperatures. Global Warming | Solutions

5) May never get to thrive in a stable climate because the world is now firmly on course for the worst-case scenario in terms of climate change, with average global temperatures rising by up to 6°C (11.5°F) by the end of the century. Global Warming | Solutions

6) May never get to experience symbolic icons of the natural world, such as lions, tigers, elephants, gorillas, and rhinos, which are all disappearing fast in the wild due to poaching, habitat loss, and more. Poaching | Solutions

7) May never get to live safely in coastal areas since NASA scientists are predicting several meters of sea level rise this century if we continue our current carbon emissions path. Sea Level Rise | Solutions

8) May never get to enjoy today's abundance of vegetables, field crops, fruits, and nuts since pollinators, such as bees, which pollinate much of these are disappearing at rates double their normal. Learn more. Moreover, with every 1 degree Celsius rise in global average temperature, yields for crops like rice, wheat, and corn fall by 10%. Average global temperatures are projected to rise by up to 6°C (11.5°F) by the end of the century. Do the math and it's a recipe for disaster. Learn more.

9) May grow up in a more violent, war-ridden world due to climate change intensifying security threats, exacerbating migration, increasing conflict by increasing competition for depleting resources, such as food and water, and causing more natural and humanitarian disasters, which can potentially cause mass migrations of environmental refugees with anywhere between 200 million to a billion people migrating in the next four decades due to global food wars alone. Global Warming | Solutions

10) May be living in a world dominated by air, water, soil, noise, and light pollution, which already leads to 40% of deaths worldwide and the malnutrition of 3.7 billion people. Environmental Pollution | Solutions

11) May have to live in a world whose ecological foundations have collapsed. Humans have already transformed about 43% of the ice-free land surface of the planet, and according to a study from 22 respected biologists and ecologists, the world is approaching a "state shift" in Earth's biosphere where once 50% of the natural landscape is lost, there may be an ecological collapse, threatening the web of life, including humans. Habitat Loss | Solutions

12) May have no choice but to get used to more extreme, frequent, and longer lasting floods, heat waves, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, allergy seasons, air pollution, winter storms, and pest incidences due to rising global temperatures. Global Warming | Solutions

13) May have live with 15 billion other humans in 2100, and a resource-strapped Earth. Human Overpopulation | Solutions

14) May be surrounded by desert due to desertification, which is spreading at rates set to exceed one third of the planet's landmass by the year 2100 with severe drought, currently occupying 8% of inhabited land, rising to 40%, and extreme drought, currently occupying 3% of inhabited land, rising to 30%. Global Warming | Solutions

15) May live on one planet, but need the equivalent of three to provide the resources required to sustain human consumption and waste in 2050. Finite Earth | Solutions

16) May live in a world where water is worth more than gold. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions. With the existing climate change scenario, almost half the world's population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030. Global Water Crisis | Solutions

17) May never experience the raw beauty and true treasures of a rainforest. Rainforests once covered 14% of the Earth's land surface, now they cover a bare 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years and certainly by the end of the century at the current rate of deforestation. Tropical Deforestation | Solutions

18) May find it much harder to satisfy their appetites. Each human on earth lives off the farming equivalent of about a third of a football field today. Population growth and urbanization will shrink that available land base in half by 2050. Arable Land | Solutions

It's easy not to care about the trees, bees, and polar bears, but when we realize that their problems are just as much ours and especially those of our children, then people start paying attention.

Do more than just pay attention, make a difference in your life, for all life, and for the ecological foundations of life!

Not sure where to start?

I'm short. I'm only 5'5". I blame my mother, but I still love her. Point is I've always felt small and not just in height, but as a human being among billions more. As one little person whose miniscule actions are seemingly meaningless and instantaneously ineffective. As just another fish in an endless ocean of people. I got tired of it. Tired of feeling incapable. Tired of holding back. Tired of being afraid. Life's too short for that nonsense and too precious a miracle to leave unexplored the incredible potential of the greatest natural resource on Earth: human willpower.

So, what is human willpower anyway? The dictionary definition calls it, "The strength of will to carry out one's decisions, wishes, or plans." I call it self-control. It is the foundation from which confidence builds, change happens, and willpower flourishes. It is the solution to most major problems, whether personal or social, largely stemming from a lack of self-control, whether it's compulsive spending, short-sightedness, procrastination, or chronic anxiety. It is our ability to grab hold of the present while better shaping the future. When I took control of those little voices in my head telling me I'm not good enough, I realized they were the only barrier between me and a world of endless opportunity. That I was my own worst enemy. I've never looked back since.

For some, embarking on a life-changing journey built on sheer determination and raw willpower usually begins with a dramatic or major event. For me, it was a simple question. A question so simple, it begs the question of why we question ourselves to begin with? I believe there isn't a single moment in our lives where we can pause and say, "I know all there is to know about myself, including my limits and capabilities," because you never know when you'll shatter your own expectations and where your willpower will take you.

My journey to building Everything Connects began two years ago when I knew absolutely nothing about website development, was still wrapping up my Master's degree in HRM while working full-time managing multiple small-businesses, didn't even know how to correctly hold a DSLR camera, and knew little about environmental issues and solutions. What I did know was something felt very wrong. That something was missing. From a young age, my father introduced me into the business world and I've been there ever since. I was good at what I did, became comfortable, and felt secure. But, I wasn't leading the passionate life I had always wanted. I settled for the idea of creating a strong economical base from which I could pursue all my passions, but that idea began to crumble as my desire to help others while truly following my heart and dreams took strong hold of me. Slowly, I began to let go of my fear for an uncertain future, I began to accept I had a Master's in something I wasn't passionate about, that I had spent over a decade managing businesses that my heart was never into.

Late one evening in a moment I'll never forget, I became so fed up of feeling trapped in a world whose limits only existed in my mind and so I asked myself, "What can I do with my own two hands to make the biggest, most positive difference in the world?" That utterly simple question literally changed my life. To answer that, I began where most great things begin: passion. All my life I had a great passion for people and nature and although I had always explored both, whether it was learning outdoor survival skills or volunteering to help others, I never truly dedicated myself until now.

I quickly realized that by focusing my passion, motivation and love for both people and nature to preserving the natural environment, I could help protect ecosystems, people and wildlife simultaneously by helping to sustain the complex web of life and interconnected systems that sustain us. With my vision in hand, where was I to begin? I knew nothing about website development, so I began to teach myself and built this website, page by page. I knew little about environmental issues and solutions, so I began to learn. I had never held a DSLR camera before, let alone knew what aperture, shutter speed or ISO were, so I bought one and learned through trial and error. I always thought I was too small to make a difference, so I embarked on a mission to pick up and recycle 1,000,000 pieces of plastic, plant 10,000 trees, paint 500 roofs white and volunteer for 100 organizations to prove I wasn't and that you aren't either; to prove that one person can make a difference, whether small or large. That it all adds up, is positively contagious, and that every single person matters.

Transcending my business background, I spend my free time educating myself on environmental issues and solutions, photographing wild places and wildlife, managing and further developing this website, and pursuing the completion of my four missions. My goal is to do the best I can, with what I've been given to make the greatest difference possible.

The beauty of this little story isn't the splendor and glamor that surrounds it because there is none. It's the simplicity of it all. It's the reminder that internal struggles ultimately shape who we are, who we can be, and who we will be. That at the end of the day, what really matters are the things which make you come alive. The people which fill your life with love and happiness. The passion which drives you towards your dreams. Because the best way to make a positive impact in the world and in the lives of those you care about is to first make that impact upon yourself. From there, anything is possible.