Recently I started thinking about how much Heather and I talk about our opinions on giving back and helping those less fortunate. I make no secret of it that sometimes it makes me feel like I'm lecturing or up on a soap box. It makes me even more uncomfortable since I myself am SUCH a work in progress. But, I think I've come to an important realization (one that my poor husband had to listen to for at least an hour on a recent road trip while I got my mind around how I really feel....hee hee =)...you need to, you HAVE to talk, live and share areas in your life that you want to strengthen. You should link up with others that feel the same way. Isn't that what we do when we come together to celebrate our religion as a community? Isn't that why society suggests conquering addictions as a support team? Because its easier to commit to something WITH another than it is without. If you are committing to being kind - a community that feels the same will share ideas and help keep you moving in the right direction. Even when we ourselves aren't for that moment. Because we're living a human existence and so we fall. And then get back up again. And then fall....and as long as you surround yourself with likeminded people and messages of positivity, you'll get back on the path again.... even when its hard and you just don't feel like it. After enough times of surrounding yourself with the positive message, it becomes hard to just ignore it and turn away from it. It becomes a part of who you are.
The great thing for Heather and I about PIOB (Pass It On, Baby! - clever, eh?) is that we really CAN'T fall too far off the path in giving and kindness. Why? Because we are lucky enough to hear from people on both sides -- people who need and people who give - and they pull us right back in to the fold. We hear stories and personal thoughts - and so while I have a string of days that are crazy and I'm stressed, or I am stewing about something that I cannot change, or I am jealous or envious, or (insert your weakness here - I'm sure I've suffered from it!!) - there is this voice that comes through from the emails telling me to snap out of it. It reminds me to become the person you want to be each and every day. And it also reminds me to focus on what's important, what's good - to me that's helping others in any way that I can. Right now, that way is moms and children - its what I know.
For me, its really easy to get lost in the day to day. Running kids to school, back from school , to activities, dinner, chores - sometimes when I'm feeling REALLY sorry for myself, I think I just have SO much going on. Boo hoo for me....so tired. (lol!!) But, then remind myself that EVERYONE has the exact same 24 hours in the day. And that the days build in to weeks, months and then years. If you keep waiting for there to be time to become the person you want -that chance may never come. So, like all of us, you make time for your priorities. And though I can't tell you how to prioritize your life, I can tell you that every religion, every branch of spirituality tells you to care for your fellow mankind. Why? Because we're all in this together.
When I was little, when my brother and I would fight and argue or my sister, my mom would tell us that our family was only as strong as our weakest link. The same can be said about our society. Mahatma Ghandi once said, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." He was one of about ten famous authors who said a similar statement. ' So I think that most of us know - I mean know in our core that that is what we are supposed to be doing....its just that we aren't always the person we are supposed to be - again, me at the top of the list!! We are busy, stressed, tired, sick....but regardless of that we HAVE to find the time to be the people we want to be.
You might be reading along and think - Wow - how pompous and arrogant she is! The truth is, I'm not. I don't mean to be. I'm trying like you are and I just want this place to be a little better than we found it. I'm making mistakes as I go...I'm trying to learn from others....and I really hope that you see some positivity in my words and that maybe it helps just a little. I can't tell you how many times little notes from some of you have helped get me back to where I need to be headed.
In love and kindness,
Email Elizabeth & Heather
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