3.02.2011

Joygiving #2-winner

Well..we are all winners, but for this challenge, there could only be one. :( I know. If I could, I would have gotten everyone a copy of the book "Operation Beautiful". Such a good book with a great message...and it's really fun to do your own kind of "OB" (as I like to say).

But this month, the winner is: Sam!! I'll be getting in contact with you shortly. :D Congrats!!

So in case you missed what this challenge was, it was to do something to help SOMEONE else just by being you. As I thought about this challenge, so many things came to mind. It seemed like such an easy one. I mean, how hard is it to be yourself and help someone smile along the way? Reality check! I found that I was so caught up in trying to do something awesome and meaningful, that I was missing the whole point. About halfway through, things got worked out and it was so, so much fun. Just like in the book, I went around town and stuck notes everywhere. The library, the grocery store, bathrooms, my kids' pillows, everywhere I could think of. I even took my daughter along with me and that was the real blessing. Seeing how she wanted to help someone else made me smile and oh so proud of her. ;)

But..how was it 'living'? How did it make me live? How did it make anyone else live? Or did it? Well, you know how some days, you have just had enough? Loud kids, crazy traffic, never ending dishes and errands, burnt dinner..etc? Those days happened a lot this month. Not sure why, but they did. It was frustrating to wake up and think, "How am I going to really LIVE today?". But I'll tell you a little secret. It was so much easier waking up and saying, "How am I going to help someone else truly live today?". Discovering that by putting others first meant living was awesome to me. I've always known this, but haven't practiced it as often as I should.

This past month has given me the chance to:
*See my kids giggling when they should be sleeping..and not getting upset. They are living in the moment.
*Help a neighbor who is dealing with the death of her father. Crying, in it's own way, is living.
*See that people are people. We're all so different, but we're all people. Important people. People that matter. People that hurt and ache, and people that smile and do kind things for each other.
*Open my eyes to the kind of person I need to be..

What has this past month done for you? Tell me, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Tell me the good from it, tell me the bad from it. Tell me what you're going to do differently next time. (there will be a next time. :D)

We've had a lot of cloudy, snowy, rainy, windy days in February. A LOT! But there was one day..one amazing day, where the sun was out and shining. Everything was happier. Everything was new and sparkling. Everything around me was alive. Just as I am hoping to be. Hoping to LIVE every opportunity there is. Don't let it pass..

Photobucket

Until next time...