Hello MDY3ers!!!
Thank you for all the wonderful emails and the amazing amount of hours that you ALL are putting in!!
We have another Guest Blogger!! This week’s guest blogger is the talented Theresa of Tess & Co.. And we are very lucky to have her as her talents keep her super-duper busy!!! So read her guest blog on what giving is all about to Ms. Theresa….
P.S. you can follow her on twitter or check out her website!!
Take it away Ms. Theresa!!!
Hi! It’s the Fourth of July – and one of my favorite holidays! There’s just so much to celebrate: happiness, good food, family, fireworks, brass bands, bunting, honor, sacrifice and strength. It is a wonderful gift to be a part of the greatest nation on earth. It’s a nation that generations of people have spent or given their lives to build – and now it’s our turn, our privilege.
It is exciting to think that we have a chance to take our turn at service. And there is so much to do! That might make you think of grand, big things like non-profit organizations and benefits and children’s hospitals. But I think the first thing, and greatest thing, is to change the way you think.
You are a force for change in this world. Why not make it a positive one?
When 9/11 happened, my choice was to join the US Air Force and do what I could to make that change happen. I’ve served in deployments around the world, taken enemy mortar fire, planned troop operations to stop those that kill, and I’ve hugged little girls with tears in their eyes because they held a book in their hands for the first time.
I think every moment is made of active choices. The choice to smile instead of frown, to give instead of take. And it’s your choice. That’s a freedom you have. I heard someone once say that they wanted to live their life in such a way as to get a good obituary at the end of it. How much better to build yourself a ‘living obituary’? I mean, what if you lived each day in the manner in which you want to be remembered?
A smile for a smile, enjoyed between you right now, not after you’re gone.
Or, a smile for a frown, which turns to a smile tomorrow – and you were there to see it.
Let’s enjoy each day we’ve been given – no matter what it looks like! One of the greatest freedoms we have is our mental choice to make it a great day – a positive day. Life is so much more than ‘just get through it’.
I’ve seen so many deployments come and go – for others and for me. You usually start with ‘just get through it’ and get back home. Those are always the hardest to bear. Every day is painful, every day feels longer than the last. The odd thing is that you enjoy, you live, you truly grow in a deployment if you make it about each moment. And the more you live this way, the more people you collect around you that think the same.
In my deployment to Afghanistan, I saw my small effort of a few children’s blankets in my off-duty hours turn into 6 tons of supplies shipped in from all over the world. We came up with so much to give, that it took a joint military & Afghan government operation to deliver our pallets of positive change.
One change in how you think can create a new kind of world. Do it!
(Photographs courtesy of Tess and Co., all rights reserved.)
Moving Difference 