A view from a different brain #Guest Blogger

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.)

 

A View from the Mind- #Guest Blogger

Here at MDY3, we are attempting to do something different. We are asking people to be guest bloggers and tell the world what MDY3 means to them – the everybody everyday people of the world. Just the words of a person, no pictures, photos or other distractions. A view from mind to you.
Today’s guest blogger is from Carrie W. of Texas and besides being a great friend & all round funny person, she is, as you will read, extremely kind.
Enjoy!

 

Experience A Moving Difference
By: Carrie W.

 

Whether by design or by happenstance, I am an extreme introvert. At first glance, it seems to be difficult to make a difference in people’s lives with that kind of hard wiring, especially when it appears the only viable way to serve is through big, organized service projects, which of course hold little or no appeal to me. I have found, however, there are many other ways to touch the lives of those I come in contact with as I go through the daily grind of life.
I like to think of it as making a moving difference. As I move through the minutes and hours of each day I notice people—co-workers and clients at work, folks in the grocery store or mall, or a solitary man standing on the corner at a traffic light holding a sign asking for help. What I’ve learned to do is go beyond noticing into the realm of actually seeing them. I’m not talking about seeing them with judging eyes; it’s seeing them as real people living their lives as best they can in that moment. It’s realizing there is a reason for every one of their actions or lack thereof.
As an example, let’s say I stop at the grocery store on a Friday evening after work. I need to pick up some fresh vegetables for supper. I’m tired, ready for the weekend. Blocking the tomatoes is a frazzled woman with three children, one of whom is having a meltdown; the other two are slugging each other in the back of the cart. I notice.
In order to actually see, I must realize that woman is at least as tired as I am, especially if she’s worked all day, picked up tired children at daycare, and after shopping must go home and cook, do dishes, and give baths before she sits down to relax. How I choose to respond in that moment can make a difference in that woman’s life.

 
I could show impatience and reach over her. I could ask her to move her cart so I can get some tomatoes. Or I can make eye contact and smile at her. If I smile, will I know I’ve made a difference? No, though I know a kind patient smile from a stranger has changed many a day’s trajectory in my life. As a person who makes a moving difference, I choose to smile at the woman.
Sometimes seeing involves hearing, and speaking. For example, oftentimes cashiers at the convenience store strike up a conversation. Usually it’s about my purchase, but sometimes, they pull back a curtain and let me see into their life. They might say something about being tired, or that their little boy is home sick and they wish they were home with him. What a difference a kind word offered to them can make. Not only have they been seen, they’ve also been heard. Cashiers, trash collectors, those who deliver the mail, meter readers, and so many others are often invisible and silent to us. We don’t think about them, especially if they are working on a holiday. It costs me next to nothing to thank them for working on Thanksgiving or Christmas, stick a thank you note in the mailbox, or set out ice cold bottled water at the curb on trash days during the summer, but when I see their faces light up and they flash me a big smile, I know I’ve just made a difference.

 
More obvious ways to make a tangible difference is to purposely plan to do so. I plan to give food to the homeless by keeping a bag of canned goods, personal hygiene items, and such in my car. That way, when I stop at a traffic light where a homeless person is standing, I can hand them something through the window. I don’t know whether that person needs food or a toothbrush, but I give them something. I see them. I care. I try to help.

 
Most of the time, though, my acts of kindness are not so purposeful, except that I purpose to smile at the people I see. I purpose to offer a kind word of encouragement instead of harsh or impatient ones. I purpose to be gracious, to say thank you (and mean it). I purpose to see people as individuals who need encouragement as much as I do rather than imposing a societal label on them, like handicapped or homeless.

 
Of course, most of the time I never know if the little things I do actually make much of a difference in someone’s life. That’s not the point. That I do it is the point. Everyone I meet deals with some type of stress—that’s life. Every one has a full plate, a to-do list that never ends, illness, or financial problems. Living a life of service means I respond, person to person, often not doing anything but sharing a smile, a word, or a helpful act. Service of this sort costs little to no money, and only small moments of my time.
The next time you’re out and about, purpose to smile more, complain less, open your eyes and really see, and be a moving difference—what a wonderful way to embrace your day.