Another happy day...

Today we had another Christmas Party at work. This time though it was for our clients. We have a very generous donor who allows us to order up some good food and get gifts for just about everyone. We served turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, veggies and cake. We play games like Christmas Bingo and Musical Chairs. Everyone gets a  smile and something small to open up. It's a great day. It takes so little to make people happy, really. When you think about trying to make people happy it sometimes seems like an enormous job and one barely knows where to start. The truth is - all it takes is a smile, a simply joke or a heart felt good morning and it sets the tone for the entire day.

I have a friend who has started to do random acts of kindness on her birthday. She does one for each year she has been on earth so this year she had to come up with 40 ideas. She's very clever so it wasn't a difficult task for her. She taped plastic bags with loose change in them to vending machines outside of her local Wal-Mart. She baked three dozen cookies for each of the local firehouses in her area and she delivered them with a gallon of ice, cold milk to each one. She went to Starbucks and secretly paid for the next 5 people in line. She got gift cards from local fast food places and tucked them away in library books so the next person who picked up that book could get a free Big Mac or a large order of fries. Her list went on and on. Flowers delivered to a local nursing home to "someone who never has visitors" or 50 lbs. of dog food and a load of old clean towels delivered to the Human Shelter and the same amount of cat food to the local cat shelter. All simple ideas yet each one a guaranteed smile.

We go through life taking each shot and letting each one bring us further and further down. Today I saw for myself that a hot meal and a warm smile can go a long way to change the world.

Feeling good about doing the right thing...

In my job, I spend a lot of time making decisions on the fly, each one usually has some impact on a person's life or, at the very least, their emotional state of being. I'm so used to this that I don't often realize how many times each day I have to do this and when I do take a step back, I know, the best I can do is hope that my decision was the right thing to do. Sometimes those decisions are hard. Actions always have consequences and as much as I would like to shield my clients from that harsh reality I know that it doesn't help them in the long run to help them avoid those consequences. I'm talking about realities like - you trash your apartment, you may end up homeless - or - you spend all your money on alcohol, you may not have money for food. These are sometimes situations that put people on "the brink" and I have to weigh the odds carefully before I intervene or try to assist in a way that would simply bail someone out of a bad situation that they created themselves. Of course, there are many things to consider but in the end, common sense prevails. So, at the end of the day, when I think back to the decisions I've had to make on behalf of someone else, I can honestly say I looked at it from all sides and did my best to do no harm. And I know that I can feel good about doing the right thing.

As you know, I'm raising money for kid's cancer research through the St. Baldrick's Foundation. I tentatively made a commitment to do this and started fund raising on January 1st. For the entire month, I kept thinking that this might not be a great idea...me being bald. My vanity would rise up and I would second guess myself. But then, as word got out, the donations started flowing in and by the end of the first month I had exceeded my goal of raising $1500. As people logged on or called in or stopped by to give me cash, I got a little more stoked each time. And the more I thought about the more I realized that getting involved with this cause is a very good thing and I know I am going to rock the baldness! In fact, I'm getting more and more excited about this everyday. Initially, I was trying to figure out ways to cover up my head once my hair is gone but now I'm at a point where I feel honored to be able to show my melon off proudly. Why? Because the more time I spend looking into St. Baldrick's, what they do, and who they do it for, the more I know they are doing some great things. And, the more I watch videos and hear testimonies from people who have shaved their heads I hear their shear joy at having done it and I get that feeling too from just watching it! Right now, I cannot wait to have my head shaved and if anyone would have told me that just a month ago I would have thought they were crazy. I know why I feel this way too. It's because I know I will feel good about doing the right thing.

You can feel good too. Click the link! Just do it! Grab onto the feeling and know deep down that you are making a difference and helping to save kids' lives!

BIG BOWLING BALL HEAD