Make That Change!

A motto in life that I have tried to follow and try to encourage others to follow is this: “if you don’t like it, change it”. In other words, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Often we put off making changes in our lives because we feel that we can’t. Maybe we feel that we can’t give 100% effort or maybe we don’t think we have the knowledge or the right skills to do something. But you don’t have to wait until all the right pieces are in place to get started. Start small, learn as you go, but just start.

 

There is a Chinese Proverb that says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”.

 

If there is anything in your life that you are not happy with, you have the power to make changes to make it better. You are a powerful force! In my first blog post, I mentioned that I sent myself an email that just said “Do Something”. The point of that email was to get me out of a funk that I was in. I had just changed jobs and I wasn’t terribly satisfied. My husband and I were dealing with numerous issues with our daughter Taylor. She had spent months in the hospital, we were stressed and life just wasn’t great. I was in a really bad place and feeling rather sorry for myself. As I wallowed in my self-pity I remembered that I hate to wallow in my self-pity. I really do try to stay positive and feeling sorry for myself was not helping me do that. I knew that I had to stop focusing on my own problems. I wanted to turn my focus toward others. Do more to help others. That was the change that I needed in my life.

 Here are a few ways that I have made changes in my life to turn my focus away from myself and toward others:

           

·         I started writing this blog. I love to write. It makes me feel good. Through this blog I hope to share words of encouragement and to also share ideas for getting involved in charities; turning your focus outward.

·         I got involved with Livy’sHope. Taylor and I have made some wonderful new friends and we have been able to show kindness, give hope and help other families through the Kids Crew.

·         I am devoting more time to other charities like Ronald McDonald House , Feeding America and No Kid Hungry.

·         I pray more. I read Bible devotionals related to living a joyful life. I thank God every day for the blessed life that I have and I thank Him for the challenges I face too. It’s those challenges that make me stronger and even more grateful for the good times.

 

Amazing things happen when you turn your focus from inward to outward:

1. You forget your problems
2.  Someone else benefits
3. You start to feel really good

 In these past several months I have had a new attitude. I smile more. I’m happy! I don’t let the little frustrations in life get me down. Sure, I have my days when the pity party tries to creep back in. But in those times, I really do try to turn it around. Remind myself that life is good. Pray.

So if you find yourself in a rut, in a bad place or just not happy with the way things have been going. I challenge you to take that first step, do something about the way you feel, make a change in your life. Do something, anything. You’ll be glad you did.

 

In the words of the late Michael Jackson, “Make that change”

 

 

 

Charity - It does a body good!

Volunteering your time to charity is a lot like exercise. We want to do it, we know we should do it, but we seem to keep coming up with excuses for why we don’t do it. I’m too busy, I’m too tired when I get home from work, and I have to get the kids ready in the morning. Those are just a few excuses I’ve used to put off exercising.  And I’ve used some of those same excuses when it comes to volunteer opportunities.

 Another similarity between exercise and volunteering is that as much as you put off doing them, you feel really good when you’re done. Have you ever come home from work so tired that you just wanted to plop yourself down on the couch, but instead you went for a walk? After the walk, you feel refreshed, energized, and really glad that you got out and got active.

 Giving your time to serve others has the same impact. Exercise is good for the body, volunteering is good for the soul. And just like exercise, even small steps make a big impact. And there is now an app called Charity Miles where small steps literally do make an impact.

I just learned about Charity Miles from my daughter Lauren. Charity Miles is an app that tracks your miles as you walk or run and donates money to various charities. It’s like your own personal walk-a-thon for a charity of your choosing.

So I thought I would give it a try. I’ve been promising myself that I would start going for walks during lunch. My office complex has a beautiful walking path around a lake and the weather here has been spectacular. Plus I need the exercise. I chose Feeding America as my charity. I have volunteered for them in the past working in their warehouse sorting food donations for their food pantries. It’s a great organization, plus March is National Nutrition Month.

In two days, I walked 3.25 miles and provided 6.52 meals to hungry families. And it only took 45 minutes to do so! Talk about an impact….to both me and Feeding America. I now have motivation to get out and exercise each day and I’m helping a charity as I do so. (I'm envisioning a future blog post with before and after photos!)

 If you haven’t tried this app yet, you should. It is free to download and very easy to set up an account. There are a good variety of different charities to choose from – Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Stand up 2 Cancer, ASPCA, Autism Speaks and many more. When you’re ready to go out for a walk, you simply open the app, select your charity and go. At the end of your workout you get to see how many miles you walked and the impact of your workout. You can choose a different charity each time if you like. I think I'm going to pick one a month.

You no longer have an excuse to not exercise or to give to charity. In fact you now have motivation to do both. I mean, how can you honestly skip a workout knowing that hungry families, abandoned animals, cancer patients, and many others are depending on you? Go on, just do it!

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson