100 Day Challenges

There was a fair amount of buzz yesterday about using the last 100 days of this calendar year. Perhaps we need a little re-start, or a reason to try something new, or motivation to finish something we started. I liked the idea of challenging myself to (re)commit to doing something I enjoy but have not been honoring: writing.  I decided that every single day for the rest of the year,  i will write something. It may not be a lot and it may not be anything i want to share (though i hope it will be) but i will write first and judge later. I look forward to sharing the better stuff with you, and hope that some will share their challenges and success stories with me. For those particularly interested in sharing, if I gather enough, i would like to compile them into another project. Let's write! (or anything else that you want to do) Use the time you have. Do something that makes you happy. 99 days left to this calendar year...

Joy in little things

Is your heart light? What ideas or experiences help you return to that feeling? Thursday morning i was pleasantly surprised by little things that helped me think of great things. I walked with a friend i see about once a week on a common commuting schedule to a local coffee shop. I was able to admire the pastry case selections without choosing (needing or wanting) a single one. Victory! Then as we walked to the bus stop on the corner, I found eleven cents. A shiny penny heads-up and a dime to go with it in the give-away jar! Fantastic! When i arrived at work, a coworker announced she had made a blueberry-blackberry buttermilk cake to share. Yum!

Friendship, Self-Control, Helping Others, and Sheer Gratitude all combined for a BRIGHT day.

All in a Day!

Today I took a "vacation" day to do some things at home. It was so nice to sleep till sunrise, lounge with my cat, and finish reading a book! I made and sampled a pan of brownies, surfed a store's website for deals on "essentials" (and chose not to buy yet), and processed a couple loads of laundry. My big event of the day, however, was attending a volunteer instructors' planning meeting over dinner. Someone else paid for dinner, and we worked as a team to establish a training schedule for local and regional basic disaster preparedness classes. I am very excited to be on the schedule as a co-teacher for this round of sessions this fall. I will also be attending a two-day class next week! I explained to the team member driving home that I feel renewed purpose and excitement, like i have a new way to use my formal education as a "teacher" -- it's been a while since i worked with really young students and while i love them dearly, i find greater confidence and comfort in "community education" than i did in the public schools. I enjoy a quieter day job in an academic library these days, and then gain additional experience and excitement through volunteerism. I feel so blessed to be able to help and to belong to a diverse, gifted group of caring individuals.

Updates: Perfect Timing

Sometimes, no matter what's happening in life, be it perceived as good, bad, or something in between, circumstances align and enable us to see how perfectly the pieces fit together. Most of us have ups and downs, difficulties, and hopefully someone and something helping us re-balance.

It's already been more than a couple of weeks since we started talking about the Spreading Joy Challenge. If you haven't already discovered it for yourself, it's impossible to share true joy without renewing your own in the process! I think that's the special quality about actions rooted in love: like an infinite multiplier, those thoughts and actions, "vibes" or ripples expand, flow, and return. It just feels GOOD.

What I'm recognizing tonight, in having tried to help others, I am also helping myself. I am breaking away from old thought patterns about what other people might think. I'm less fearful of emotion and connecting with others. I've always wanted to be  a "giver" and am learning that to truly be a better one, I also need to better develop the "receiver" aspect...You know, as in one hand to give, the other to receive? yeah, that.

This afternoon i learned of the passing of a retired coworker. While sad, I was also relieved for her, and glad that I was among those who got to visit her in her final days. This evening, I received my copy of Marie Wikle's book, Spreading Joy Daily. I started flipping through it, and found a piece about sharing joy through sorrow. Of course, it spoke to my heart tonight, and I am determined to do that at work tomorrow with my team. Those times often bring people closer together.

Marie sent me special messages on Twitter and while I haven't met her in person yet, her good will reached me like having an old friend in the room offering hugs. In this moment of knowing others care, I felt valued, refreshed, and uplifted. That in turn gives me the strength and desire to go out and make a spot a little brighter.

I hope that each of you in your ups and downs finds whatever it is that speaks to your heart in that moment of need, that you are able to embrace it, and to use it for good.

How are you doing with your challenge(s) today?

It's almost the halfway point (two day warning) of a recent 30-day challenge I embraced. It doesn't take long to discover lots of little (and big) things we can do to help someone along the way. Maybe one day all you think you can muster is a smile to every single person you meet. Not knowing their full stories you might not realize just how great an impact that could be for someone. Maybe another day you get to do something a little bigger and you get to keep it a secret. Those are super-charge days. I like to dream of being wealthy enough to be a generous, anonymous benefactor. These days, mysterious mini-blessings feel pretty big, too. It's not all about money, and not about what you have, but what you choose freely to do. I encourage you to experience the happy heart of one who lives (and gives) cheerfully.

Rememberize Your Card!

I experienced great joy this weekend...I hosted my niece on an impromptu visit. She brought Flat Sally with her to have some fun and record it in her travel journal. For those of you not familiar, there is a series of children's stories about Flat Stanley, which contribute to absolutely fabulous elementary school lesson plan ideas. Many children have taken a new interest in their environments, experiences, and means of recording them as a result. They make these flat pals who join them on some adventures, and then they write about them to share with their teachers and their classes. Flat Sally joined us on a walk to the local library (which sadly was closed for early summer hours already), a bus ride, and a trip to the corner store for milk and eggs. She helped us make French Toast for breakfast and shaped some homemade salt dough into a beautiful set of sculptures. We baked a "one bowl" chocolate cake from scratch. She helped my niece with a really neat card trick. I "rememberized" my card and they knew exactly which one it was!

I am looking forward to future visits. We still have museums, parks, and concerts to enjoy. We have farmers' markets and festivals coming later this summer. We have other friends and family to join us or take their own turns to visit. We might even be able to find some yard sales or host one. Most of all, we have love and great imagination. Please, dear heart, rememberize that and carry it with you always.

I've taken a 30-day Challenge. Will you join me?

Today is the start of a new fiscal year at work. It is also the beginning of a new month, and a time to discover lots of new opportunities, reasons to be grateful, joyful, and helpful to others. I found a "Spreading Joy" challenge and couldn't resist. I like to shine my little light making the world a brighter place. It brings me great happiness to add to a more positive experience for the people I encounter each day. I don't need or want recognition for any of those things I do so I won't be listing any of them here, but I do want to offer you that same special feeling that occurs when we do good in the world. Drawing from the ideas and inspiration shared by Marie Wikle on http://www.spreading-joy.org/site/
I accept and share the challenge to spread the joy each and every day this month and beyond. Start small (unless you're ready for big already) and help hearts grow.