This post was inspired by my grandfather. I use to live right down the street and we were able to see each other all the time. Now that I moved across the country, we don’t stay in touch as much which sucks because I still keep in touch with all my friends and a lot of my other family via facebook.

I know this may seem very simple to most people but if you are like me and most of your family is over the age of 50 and has concerns about technology and security, creating a facebook account may be more difficult than you realize.

As technology and the internet become more and more of our daily lives, I feel as though I am losing touch with the older generations in my family. I no longer live right down the street and when I have free time to connect over the phone it seems like “catching up” takes much longer to talk about and describe. Emails back and forth are better but then I usually get distracted with work and other emails.

Feel free to share this video with your family and friends to help them join your conversation online and share pictures, videos, etc.

Now, for my family and friends, enjoy this short, easy to understand video tutorial from my friend Ed Dale and get your butt on facebook. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Love,

Brandon

P.S. If you like this and would like me to share more stuff like this please comment below.

We were a little reluctant to move to Las Vegas. All we had seen when visiting was the strip. Since moving, we have had our amazing friends show us parts of Vegas I never even knew existed. The desert is hot, and it’s also beautiful. Enjoy the video of our latest visit to Red Rock with our friends Marshall and Erica Sylver and Kris and Kelly Carter. Be sure to leave some comments below. Thanks!

One of the many lessons we have learned through Marshall Sylver’s Prosperity Alliance education is to “deal with what emerges.” In this video B gives some examples of how you can learn this and stop feeling like you don’t have control of your life and circumstances. Adversity is a good thing, learn to deal with what emerges and you will find that you get a lot more out of your life.

The Turning Point is hands down the BEST seminar I’ve ever been to. In fact, it’s so motivating that I’ve now been to three of them. Every time it’s different too b/c you’ll go once, learn some things that you want to change in your life, and then you’ll go home and apply what you’ve learned. The next time around, you’ll learn the same information, and yet, you’ll hear something different…something you didn’t apply the first time you left the seminar. You’ll take your new information, go home, and apply some more positive changes into your life. Then, as you go more and more, you’ll repeat the cycle.

This weekend was just incredible for me though, and for a few different reasons. First off, it marks the one year anniversary for B and my FIRST Turning Point seminar. As we reflect on how much we’ve changed our life for the better this year, we look onto just how much better it is going to become again in 2009.

B and I two weeks after our first Turning Point

Second, Ang was there. That’s right, my first alliance member, the girl I wrote about in my last journal entry. She’s the one that decided to stop making excuses and TAKE ACTION, and got on a plane on short notice to change her life.

What an amazing weekend for her and her boyfriend, Mike. It’s awesome just how much The Turning Point does for people. Besides the fact that Mike quit smoking that weekend (Side note on Dec. 26^th: And has proposed to Ang), Ang had an experience of a lifetime that taught her to never let anything hold her back.

You see, six year ago, Ang’s mom passed away in a tragic fire...The Rhode Island Night Club Fire. Ever since her passing, Ang has let her mom’s death really hold her back. Even the site of a flame on a birthday candle would trigger awful feelings inside her.

At The Turning Point, Ang learned a valuable lesson. One of the biggest parts of the seminar is all the attendees eat fire. That’s right, YOU will eat fire there! (To see a video of my friends and myself eating fire, click here.)

Brandon eating fire!!!

This was extremely scary for Ang. After all, she did let even the site of fire remind her of her mother’s death…and she refused to eat the fire. She let the fear hold her back.

Later that night Brandon and Mike went to talk about Mike’s experience, and Ang and I decided to have some girl time to reflect on why she didn’t eat the fire. We brainstormed a little, and Ang revealed that she felt that she would just be disrespecting her mother by eating the fire…after all, that’s how she died! I felt differently about the situation though, and explained my outlook on the firing eating. I told Ang that she has let her mom’s death (and fire) hold her back from doing so many things. This was a chance for her to change that. All day she had learned about taking action and not letting things hold her back, and that’s exactly what she was doing by not eating the fire.

I ate fire!!!

Then I told her that I didn’t see her eating fire as disrespectful. I saw it as victorious!!! An action in HONOR of her mom! I said to her “You can eat the fire and say, ‘You may have taken my mom, and yet you WON’T take me!’” That night triggered something different in her head.

The next morning, she went back into the seminar and asked Marshall what his opinion was. He had a very similar opinion to mine. That was the point when Ang knew what she had to do. At lunch that day, she took action and, in honor of her mom, ate fire!!! It was a real emotional moment for Ang, and I was so proud to witness her overcoming her fear.

Ang the Fire Eater!

**Side note: December 15^th**

Ang and I are in constant contact and is doing awesome! She has many people noticing all the positive changes in her and Mike since attending The Turning Point, and she reports that she is not letting anything hold her back anymore! Anytime she may feel a little fear, she thinks of how she honored her mom when she ate fire. When she sees fire, she doesn’t freak out anymore. She reminds herself of all the good times she had with her mom. And she is taking new actions every day towards getting the life that she really wants. I’m so proud and excited for her…and I know when she continues to apply everything she learned in Atlanta, she will continue to achieve many more successes for herself.

On another positive note, Mike is still not smoking. He will celebrate his one month anniversary on Christmas Eve!

Congrats you guys! We love you!!!

Today I experienced death.  I didn’t die, and yet I participated in an activity where I got as close to death as I’d ever want to be apart from the real thing.

It was interesting really.  There was a group of us, and where I don’t want to get into the details of the activity because I would want each and every one of you reading this blog to experience it fully for yourself, I will tell you that while the group was arguing on how to complete the task we were given, Brandon and I were frantically taking action to protect each other.  So, we put our heads together and formed a plan!  And the result ended up separating us from each other, I died and Brandon lived.

We pushed ourselves mentally and physically at this event...

What a weird feeling.  I wasn’t going to be near Brandon for the rest of the weekend.  Instantly tears started to build up.  I thought about how much he loves me and how thankful I am to have such a strong man I can proudly call mine.  He ran around coming up with ideas on how we would both live, and only had our safety in his mind.  All the experiences we will go through together make us stronger and stronger, and we love each other more and more.   (Thank you thank you thank you baby, I’m so grateful for you.  That day I realized even more how fantastic it will be to spend the rest of my life with you!!!)

I watched him start to help the others.  Since I was the one of the first people to take action, I was able to sit on the side lines and observe everyone else during the activity.  Some laughed, some cried, some yelled, some said nothing.  I started to think about the situation, and came to a realization.  These people are reacting the way they are all because I took action.  Me…I stopped everyone from arguing because I just went for it!!!  I literally took a leap of faith, dove right in, and even though I originally didn’t have the complete outcome that I wanted, I led everyone else to start taking action!  What would have happened if I hadn’t taken the action I took.  Would someone else have stepped up to the plate, or would the arguing continued until our time ran out, and we all would have died?

I looked at the people I had saved.  And the ones lost along the way.  A peaceful feeling came over me.  I was going to be alright even though I didn’t have the outcome I was originally aiming for.  I would deal with what emerged and hold my head high because I took action, and I was where I needed to be to come to that realization.  I mean, with the theory of life after death, what would people that we cared about think when they’ve passed on if all we did was sit around and cry, or blame everything going wrong in our lives because of their passing?  And whatever you believe to be true, whether you believe in ghosts, spirits, heaven, or none of the above, is true for you and no one else.  You are still able to think about that loved one(s) and know that they would probably kick your butt if you didn’t move on with life, continue to take new actions, and live the best life you could.

We took action and broke through cement!!!

With that huge insight came another new little piece of me.  I vowed to always Take Action Now.  When?  NOW…because you never know what day will be your last.  Brandon and I already have our plans for 2009.  Do you?  Maybe it’s now time you sit down and really think about you want next year.  Do you want a new car?  A new house?  To quit your job?  Take your kids on vacation? Create amazing relationships?  Have an incredible sex life?  Live, laugh, and love often?  Extra money in the bank?  To not have to worry about how you’re paying your bills?  It is all possible when you believe and take action.  I know that now.  And I love my life!  I’m taking action every day.  You will do it too.

xoxo.

Brandon and Sanna Summer 2003

There’s a term “stop and smell the roses” and that’s exactly what we’re doing today!!!  We are celebrating life, and there is one life in particular to keep in mind on this beautiful day.  Sanna Middleton, Brandon’s Mother, passed away four and a half years ago.  Today would have been her birthday.  She would have been 48 years old today.  What an incredible woman she was; always thinking of others, helping everyone she crossed paths with in any way that she could.  She possessed so much love for every person she met, and her beauty was so much more than just skin deep.  At the time of her passing, Brandon and I were living in Connecticut and Sanna was living in Florida.  We were preparing to move back to Florida to be closer to Sanna since she had been physically struggling for quite some time; for years the doctors were putting her on this medication and that medication, unable to pinpoint what was causing Sanna to have so much pain.  All the physical pain was causing Sanna to shut down mentally, and we knew we had to get to Florida to help her in every way we could so she could get better.  We were working extremely hard, and B and I were easily working 55-65 hours a week at the time, saving every extra dollar besides money for our bills so that we could move to Florida as soon as we could.  We even moved into Brandon’s Nani’s house so that we would not have rent, allowing us to save money faster.  We were so busy working; we only spoke to Sanna about once every other week at that time.  We were staying focused on getting down there as fast as we could to be with her.  In February of 2008, Sanna had a heart attack, and we knew we had to work even harder to get to Florida as quickly as possible.  We took action and set our move date for June.  Two months later and two months before our move, we got a phone call from Brandon’s G-pa who was living just 15 minutes from Sanna.  He was calling later than his usual bedtime, and my heart sank as I told Brandon that he should probably excuse himself from where we were and call his Grandfather back.  I watched Brandon pace around the parking lot, and I just knew that we didn’t get to Florida fast enough.

After about an hour, Brandon called me from the car and told me we needed to go.  We drove in silence down to Sanna’s favorite spot in the whole world, the “Rocky Beach” outside of Nani’s house.  We sat there for about two hours, crying, talking, and remembering Sanna that night.  About a month later, Sanna’s ashes were spread just out on Long Island Sound at that very spot.  We always vowed from that moment on to celebrate her life and do something huge for her.  Today, we are starting the Sanna Joan Foundation, and plan to leave a legacy for both Sanna and my Grandmother, Joan, who passed away just four months after Sanna that same year.

My Grandma and me. Winter 2003

Today we remember Sanna with an extremely important lesson that Brandon and I have fully come to understand since her passing.  Even though Sanna is physically no longer around for us to visit and enjoy, Sanna has taught us to always remember to stop and smell the roses on our journey through life.

What is stopping to smell the roses?  Don’t get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  Don’t take the people who love and care about you for granted.  Don’t work so hard you forget to do exactly what the lesson says to do; STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!!!  Call your friends and family.  Visit them as often as you can.  Write emails just to say hi.  Make sure to take time out to have fun.  Appreciate all you have, and be grateful for everything you’ve achieved.  Share with others.  Help others.  Take risks.  Be all you can be.  Love your life.  Live the way you deserve to.  Stop and smell the roses.

Brandon and I make sure to live every day to its fullest!  We wake up and start our day saying “What a glorious day filled with love, opportunity, and potential!”  We stay in touch with the people we care about the most, and make sure to tell them how much we love and appreciate them all the time.  We don’t take anything for granted, including each other, and have the best relationship possible because we always make sure to let each other know how important we are to each other.  We also work hard on our alliance, always bringing more and more people in who want to create prosperity with us and live the best lives we can live.  We live the way we know we deserve to.  We smile a lot.  We laugh a lot.  We love a lot.  And we definitely take time out every day to stop and smell the roses.

Not a day goes by that we don’t think about Sanna.  And instead of getting depressed and sad that she’s not around, or letting her passing hold us back, we live life for her.  We celebrate her all the time.  We laugh about all the great times we had with her and thank her every day for the times we did get to share with her.  When we see rainbows, we know she’s nearby telling us hello.  She’s around every day, and we celebrate her more and more as time goes on!

Thinking of you Sanna...

We love you Sanna, and today, we celebrate you.  Thank you thank you thank you for being in my life.  You will always be remembered, and your foundation will enable you to help others even though you are physically no longer around.  Thank you for being such a positive force in all of our lives!  You touched everyone’s heart that you ever met, and we love you, miss you, and think about you every day.

xoxo.