WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

*let me preface this to say i’m not writing about anyone in particular here except myself. this is just me, talking out loud to myself and sharing my thoughts today with anyone interested in reading them.*

today, as with every day nowadays, i got up at 6:30am and headed out for my walk, plugged in to my mp3 player. i listened to another fabulous homeschool podcast and it has me fired up and thinking a lot.

i came home, opened up all the windows in the house to let the nice fresh air into the stuffy house…took a shower, got dressed, and am all ready for another great day!

here’s what i’m thinking about today…

WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

i listened to a podcast from Homeschool.com in which rebecca kochenderfer talked about getting a plan in action for your homeschooling year by getting your kids involved in setting goals. an overall goal and goals specific to each subject. this is an idea that i had not thought about before…having my child think of their own goals and putting them down on paper and doing everything i can to support those goals and help them make them happen. i love this!

the second half of the show made me think deeper about me and my life. rebecca interviewed helice “sparky” bridges from blueribbons.org. helice talks about making a difference in the world through building up other people. she uses the phrase “who i am makes a difference” on blue ribbons to give to people to really drive this message home.

WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE
this just got me to thinking about life and how there are some very different ways to look at and live life.

i was raised by parents that were, and still are (despite a multitude of flaws, which we know we all have), very much full of a zest for life.

i love that phrase “zest for life” because it really does describe it well. i know what that looks like, thanks to my parents. and i cannot imagine having it any other way. i know that’s where i learned my own zest for life, and i hope i am able to pass it along to my children.

WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

i have known people that are so depressing and down on life and really don’t have that zest. i used to date a guy like this, years ago…he was so down all the time and all about “woe is me”, my life sucks, i suck, feel sorry for me. i mean, he was really stuck in this mode. i did what i could to try to lift him up and help him feel better, but really when someone is stuck in this self pity, depression for life mode i doubt there’s much that people on the outside can do about it. certainly someone that was truly close with him might have an influence, but i wasn’t that close with him, so it just got too exhausting to deal with him all the time. he brought me down. so i finally drifted away from him and haven’t talked to him since. i wonder sometimes what became of him. i hope he found a way past that way of thinking.

what’s the point in being alive if you have no joy for living?

i don’t understand or have time for pessimism. there just doesn’t seem to be any point to it, in my mind. it just brings you and those around you down, so why waste the energy? there’s too little time in life, why waste precious time on things that don’t make life better?

i hope that i will always think of life this way. there’s always time in life to make a difference. i truly believe that.

WHO I AM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

if i’m not making a difference in the world (somehow), why am i here?