Brendon Burchard says that when we are dying we ask the questions,
“Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?”
Today is my 33rd birthday.
I am truly grateful for 33 amazing years (12,045 days) that I have been in this world. As I reflect on my life I realize that longevity is not a mark of a good life. In fact the quality is more important then the quantity. I feel fortunate that I celebrate each day. I try to live each day to the fullest by spending it with the people I love and doing the things that I am passionate about.
My legacy…
I want to leave a legacy that I am a caring, loving husband. I want my kids to know me as their hero, their teacher, their Father. I want my family to remember me for how much I love them. I want society to know me as the father, speaker, coach that helped transform people’s lives and made this world a better place. This is not a wish but something I get one step closer to daily by my actions, my habits.
The day has just begun as I write this and already I have received loving , thoughtful messages from all over the world.
“The relationships we build are one of our greatest assets in this world.”
The people in our life take our lives from alright to amazing. So who are your friends? Who are you building relationships with?
Real Friends & Pitbull make magic.
Relentless dedication to friendship is what I experienced recently on Facebook. You see I have some friends that have a friend Lani that was hospitalized over the weekend with a rare virus. Her health was severely compromised. Lani’s friends wanted to do something for her to uplift and strengthen her spirits as she battles through this tough time. They knew she has fascination with Armando Perez (aka – Pitbull). They decided it would be their mission to get him to call her personally and offer some inspiration.
#PitbullForLani Campaign is born.
None of her friends knew Pitbull personally but they decide to leverage social media to connect with him. They began the #PitbullForLani campaign. They posted pics on facebook, twitter. Not once but what seemed every minute. They had friends do the same. They traveled to Coral Park where he went to school and took pictures with signs the read #PitbullForLani. Some of the teachers included their students with a message for Pitbull. After a few days they had done it. In fact Pitbull called her and told her that if he ever needed to track anyone down he knew who to call. Then he made this video below. (I hope he doesn’t take it down – see it while it is still up)
[youtube width=”420″ height=”315″]http://youtu.be/AJWx-wfIdb8[/youtube]
Who are your friends?
I don’t believe he is a god or the greatest role model. I don’t agree with a lot of things he does and says. But I can tell you that his message to Lani made an impression in my life. Not only that he would call her but that he would take the time to send her this video. I respect him as a man for that. Think about how busy he is, think about when other hear about this. Is he going to do this for everyone that is sick? The truth is it doesn’t matter. He did it for Lani. He cared, he expressed it genuinely.
I was even more moved by the love shown by her friends. They decided that they would do what ever it took to make sure they could get their friend Lani to smile, to feel better, to grow stronger and fight this battle. They have raised the bar, they have set the standard for what it means to be there for your friends. Thank you all for your strength, love, and support.
Would you do this for your friends?
Would they do this for you?
How many gardeners in your life are helping you grow?
Life is like planting seeds in a garden. the more nutrition, support, sunlight you give it the stronger you grow. When you cultivate relationships and build friendships what you are doing is increasing the amount of gardeners that will help you grow into a strong, healthy, and mature plant. I hope you do the same for them. Zig Ziglar said, “You can have anything in your life, if you help enough people get what they want.”
Thank you for your support daily. Thank you for teaching me and enriching my life with your comments, texts, emails, and referrals. Thank you for letting me share my passion with you daily.
Armando Perez (aka – Pitbull) Gracias y un abrazo from a fellow 305 brother, entrepreneur, father, and man. Your generosity and character inspires. Dale!
To the crew that made this possible for Lani I want to echo the words that Armando said in his video, “I want to say to your team, family, friends you are amazing because they can move not a country, not an economy, but the whole world with they way they moved for you Lani.” Thank you again for being amazing.
Finally Lani, my prayers and love go out to you. Fight the good fight and appreciate life’s beauty in each smile, touch, taste smell, and friend. Be strong and know we are pulling for you.
If you are as moved by this story as I was please share it. Spread this example of true friendship and generosity.
Cheers,
AC
PS – Thank you all for the birthday wishes xoxox. 🙂
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