Happy Monday, guys and girls!  How are all of you?  Please feel free to leave a comment below, I always love to hear from you!  :) 

I'm doing well, and I had a super fun "Pre-Halloween" weekend!  I dressed up as tiger again this year (and you probably guessed that I'd do that if you've been following me on social media for any amount of time!).  I went out with lots of awesome friends to some of the bars over in West Hollywood. Always a great time!!  As you can see from my Instagram photo on Saturday night - which is also included right here in my post - in addition to my tiger costume, I was sporting another fashionable accessory:  a medical "walking boot" for a sprained foot! Haha.

The sprain occurred a few weeks ago, and I've basically had the boot on ever since. While it's been a bit frustrating to have had to wear the boot, it's actually taught me quite a few lessons. As many of you know, I aim to share lessons that I've learned so far along my journey through life, and like everyone else, I am constantly learning.  

I should preface this by explaining that I have never had any serious injuries (thankfully!).  Apart from having a hairline fracture in my wrist after skateboarding in college, I've been very fortunate to have good health and no badly-broken bones.  Now, when I injured my foot a couple of weeks ago, I initially thought that I'd broken it due to the pain.  I went to the doc and found out that it was just a sprain, but still, it literally kept me off of my feet for a while.  

While waiting for my foot to heal over the past few weeks, I've become much more aware of certain things about my body that I hadn't been paying too much attention to before my sprain.  Namely, I feel much more grateful to have a body that is functioning well! Yes, this may sound somewhat obvious to be happy about feeling good, but it's really important to give appreciation to your body and overall, to be kind to yourself.  I found it to be incredibly humbling to become more aware of just how much we depend on our bodies to carry us where we want and need to go.  

Each time I took a step and experienced pain, I was reminded of how fortunate I am to not go through all of life that way.  And it doesn't take much for pain to occur.  When we are pain-free, it is important to feel grateful for that.  This experience has allowed me to focus more on treating myself and my body with kindness and to feel more appreciative for good health and remaining as healthy as possible, physically, spiritually and emotionally.  

Finally, as a message to anyone who might be feeling pain today:  If you're experiencing pain today - physical or emotional - it will pass.  You're never alone.  Remember that doctors are absolutely amazing and can help you!  Take each day and each step with confidence, knowing that you're going to get better.  And pay attention to the lessons that you learn along the way to recovery!     

 It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold or silver.
-Mahatma Gandhi


​
Jesse x

(I'll have a new YouTube video up pretty soon!  Here are my latest videos!)  

We never know what tomorrow is going to bring.  As we have all witnessed in recent weeks, natural disasters and other tragedies can occur at any time and without any warning.  Some of the very recent events that have occurred have tested our emotional limits.  How do we continue to move forward even in the face of incredible devastation?
 
The answer to this has a lot to do with taking everything in life one minute at a time.  In the face of anything extremely difficult or stressful that we experience, it is natural to feel overwhelmed.  When we feel overwhelmed we typically also feel helpless and anxious.  These feelings can be distracting, unhelpful and unproductive.  While it may not be entirely possible to simply eliminate feelings that accompany being overwhelmed, learning how to manage these feelings can make a huge difference in our ability to continue to move forward and be as productive as possible each day. 

Personally, whenever I am faced with something stressful and when I begin to feel overwhelmed, I have found that I tend to combine all my fears and anxieties together.  In other words, I think about many things that are uncertain in my life - or many things that I’ve worried about - all at once, leaving me feeling much more overwhelmed, because I’m focusing on multiple areas of uncertainty.  Now, life is full of uncertainty and most things actually are out of our control.  All that we have is this moment, and focusing on one thing at a time when faced with a challenge is obviously more productive.  Often that means taking each minute as it comes and doing the best that you can do to remain feeling as calm and as present as possible. 

I suggest that you make it a part of your daily routine to focus on remaining fully present and aware of what is occurring around you in all your moments.  Practicing meditation can help with achieving this. Meditation helps us to focus on the now which can train our minds to operate as productively as possible in each of our moments.  Even when experiencing something very difficult or challenging, by staying fully present we are able to learn lessons and make well-thought-out decisions.

So, the next time that you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath and remind yourself that this moment is all that we have.  The past is over and the future is not certain, all that we have is right now.  You are a strong individual, and regardless of what you might be facing, by taking things minute by minute, you can and will continue to move forward.       
​
Yesterday is history,
tomorrow is a mystery,
today is a gift of God,
which is why we call it the present. 

• William Aloysius Keane

What's up guys and girls!  I just posted another interview with an awesome casting director:  Casting Director Amy Reece!  Please click here and check it out!  (It's a long interview/article because there was just so much amazing information and I didn't want to trim anything down!)