The F’s of Life with Jesse Cruz
The F’s of Life with Jesse Cruz - Episode 68
What do you do when life not only knocks you down, it runs you over multiple times? Jesse had the wind knocked out of his sails and had his ship blown apart. However, he didn’t let that stop him from living his dash. And in this episode he shares the F’s of life and will help you Live Your Dash!
Jesse Cruz is an amazing friend of mine who came out with a book called Live Your Dash. He has a jaw dropping story on what brought him to become who he is today. Years ago, he was a single parent and met the person he would end up marrying at a park. She was a single parent as well, and they both had daughters. They wanted to have a child together, they were trying for years when finally it happened. It was one of the best days ever! Everything was going as planned, but things changed very suddenly. His wife had to go to the emergency room from pain multiple times, but they kept sending her home. The final time she went to the emergency room was in January, and they told her she was going into labor even though her baby wasn’t due until May. His heart sank into his stomach because he knew that meant that his daughter would have a very low chance of survival. They were rushed to a different emergency hospital, and Jesse recalls that he had never seen hospital workers move that fast. He wasn’t allowed to be in the room while his wife was giving birth. He was crushed by that. Jesse’s mother was praying for the child to survive, and the minute she said “amen” a nurse came into the room saying that his daughter was born alive. They stayed at the hospital for weeks. Their daughter flatlined multiple times, and she came back multiple times. On the 42nd day in the hospital however, she took her last breath. Jesse’s mission is to carry on her life by making a difference in the world.
Shortly after his daughter's passing, Jesse realized that he had a lot of feelings that he needed to get out and thought that the best way to do that could be through writing. He started writing every single day. He took a notebook and pencil and decided that he was going to fill up the entire notebook, type it up, and turn it into a book. That is exactly what he did. As he was writing he noticed a theme starting to develop. There were eight different areas of his life that really helped him to get through things. He realized that since those things helped him, they could help other people as well. Each of these areas that he found started with the letter F, so his book is really about the 8 F’s to help someone get through hard times.Then work to forgive yourself for whatever may have happened and move forward. The first thing that really helped me in this process is to remind myself that I’m human. Part of being human is making mistakes, you can never do everything right all the time. Because we are human, we can learn and grow from our mistakes.
All of these F’s are very important obviously, but the first chapter in Jesse’s book is what Jesse really believes is able to guide our lives, and that is Focus. If you don’t have your thoughts in order, you can’t act on them. Your best action is only as good as your best thought. Your worst actions are rooted in your worst thoughts. It is so important to think intentionally. Your life is always moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts, for good or for bad. If you want to have a better life you need to think better thoughts. During his time in the hospital, there was a time when he only focused on the pain and suffering. If he had continued down that path for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t be here right now. He had to choose to heal, and he started with his thinking. What helps Jesse in improving his focus is gratitude. Any time when he’s expressing gratitude, he can focus on the blessings in his life. You can’t meet a person who’s full of gratitude and misery at the same time. When he thinks about his gratitudes, it reminds him of what is really most important.
The way Jesse tracks his gratitude is through a list. On this list there are three categories, one for people, one for things, and one for “other”. He spent about five to ten minutes on each category just thinking and writing down everything he could think of. In the “other” category he has things such as feelings and emotions that he is thankful to have experienced in his life. He reads through this list daily, sometimes even multiple times per day. Whenever he feels down or in a funk, he takes out the sheet and reads it, and instantly everything changes. Jesse really suggests trying this as well, he really believes that it will help you whenever you are down.
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A second F in his book, which really ties together Jesse’s life is his Faith. Every human being has faith in something, whether it’s religious, spiritual, or something else. Jesse’s faith is what allowed him to keep going and get through the most tragic moments in his life. It allowed him to take that crisis and allow him to teach and help other people.
The other F’s in his book are Fitness, Finance, Fun, Family, Friendships, and Forgiveness. If you want to hear what Jesse has to say about those aspects of life, you can connect with him by email at authorjessecruz@gmail.com, on Facebook as Jesse Cruz, and on Instagram @Jessecruzspeaks. You can find his book, “Live Your Dash” on Amazon, and you can also reach out to him for a personalized copy.
I would love to hear what you think about The F’s of Life and the interview with Jesse Cruz! Please send me a message on social media @Jonesinfor or email me at spencer@spencermjones.com.
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