Random Act of Kindness

Last week in the mail I got a package and I was all excited because I thought it was my new phone case that I had ordered. I grabbed all the mail, went inside and like a kid on their birthday I tore it open. Much to my surprise it was not my new pretty purple phone case. But- it was this shiny silver bubble envelope from Dogeared Jewels and Gifts. Inside the shiny envelope was a small bag with a card inside. On the card was a bracelet with an elephant charm dangling.

Elephants are my favorite animal and I have loved them since I was a little girl. I like to think that elephants bring me luck and they are a constant symbol of wisdom, strength and loyalty- especially to family. The card with the bracelet on on said, "Make a wish... and put on your bracelet. When your bracelet wears off, your wish should come true. Ask, believe, receive! 

I read everything inside the shiny silver bubble envelope and still had no idea who it was from. I went back and looked through the package that the shiny envelope came in and found a paper folded up with the shipping information on it and in a lil' box at the bottom of the paper was a note. It read, 

" I can't wait to see all of your wishes become a reality- a person as amazing as you deserves everything they could ever want! I could never wish for a better friend than you... love you, always - Amy" 

My eyes welled up and my head clouded up with thoughts of how lucky I am to have Amy as one of my closest and best friends. Her kindness spills over into everyones life that she touches. She is one of the kindest people that I know. She commits herself to everything that she does wholeheartedly and doesn't ever expect anything in return. Amy has enough kindness in her heart to go around the world tenfold. I can only wish that everyone is as lucky to find such a true and genuine friendship as I have with found. 

These stories, the random act of kindness stories, are not heard of too often these days and I wanted to share it with you in hopes of spreading a little bit of happy and trying put a smile on a few faces. Everyday we all wake up with the ability to act randomly and be kind. We should all ask ourselves, "How have I acted lately?" 

Hopefully you can answer that question with something thoughtful, selfless and kind.  

40 days

My entire life I have been grounded in religion. I was raised Lutheran, went to church every Sunday and went to Lutheran schools until I went away to college. I still go to church regularly and I stand firm in my faith. For me, my faith helps me stay balanced and keeps me grounded. It's reassuring to know that I can always turn to God and he will guide me in what is best for me and my life.

For Christians around the world Lent begins this week with Ash Wednesday. Just a day away! Lent is the 40 days in the church calendar leading up to Easter. In my family growing up we always gave something up during Lent- usually insignificant things like fast food, pop, sweets you get the picture. As I got older I realized that it shouldn't be about giving up the insignificant things that you know you'll be fine not having for 40 days. We should challenge ourselves to live our lifes with out something that will be a struggle to not have. I found this on a website and think it addresses Lent spot on.

Every time we want what we have given up, we are reminded of what Christ gave up for us. Christ gave his life. While our sacrifice pales in comparison, it serves as a frequent reminder of God's overwhelming and complete love for each of us in our season of preparation for the resurrection.

In the past I've committed to things like reading a book every week of lent, going to the gym everyday or trying to stop my swearing habit. This year one thing I have chosen is to be vegetarian for the 40 days- no meat!



There are many different types of vegetarians and the diet that I'm going to follow during Lent will classify me as a "pesco-vegetarian". This mean that I won't eat red meat and poultry but I will eat fish, dairy products and eggs. I am going to limit the amount of fish and eggs I eat because I want to stay as true to vegetarian as I can. I have begun training for a triathlon and so I do need to get protein to fuel my body that fish and eggs offer.

I think this might be hard considering that I still have to cook dinner for Gregorian every night and he is a meat and potatoes with a side of meat kinda guy. But I'm up for the challenge and I'm excited to share with you all how it goes and maybe even some meat-free recipes that I come up with. So keep an eye out for those! I'm hoping that in the end I will have a greater appreciation for those who have committed their dietary lifestyle to being vegetarian. I'm also fan of "clean eating", meaning that we eat organic and minimally processed foods. I also generally cook everything from scratch. Overall, I'm really excited about the health benefits that will come from my 40 days of being a "pesco-vegetarian".

I have also committed myself to a "do good" type thing for Lent. I don't want to share it yet because I think that it will have a bigger impact and I will appreciate it more once Lent is over. I guess that is another thing to watch out for in 40 days!

What do you have planned to do for Lent?

Words of Wisdom

Anyway 
by Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.

I saw this poem printed in a classroom where I was subbing at the beginning of this school year and took a picture of it on my phone so I could have it. I recall thinking when I read it the first time, "Huh- this really makes sense". 

I recently stumbled upon it again while looking through the pictures on my phone and it seemed to connect perfectly with what my 2011 outlook on life is going to be.  I'm going to use these words from Mother Teresa to inspire me this new year. I am going to keep my head held high, always do what I feel is most valuable and be the best that I can be anyway. 

Alex P. Keaton, Teen Wolf, Marty McFly...

... all characters who were played by Michael J. Fox. 

Last night I had the privilege to hear him speak to a sold out crowd of 3,500 people at my college alma-mater, The University of Akron. And- let me tell you... it was engaging, humorous, heartfelt and defiantly inspiring. 

When I was in college I was in a sorority, Delta Gamma. Along with The Office of the President of the University, Delta Gamma was honored to sponsor this evening which we refer to as, A Lectureship series on Values and Ethics. Last year, Colin Powell was the lectureship speaker and two years before that Queen Noor of Jordan was the honored guest. Being a DG has many perks and Lectureship is one of them! Knowing that I am part of an organization that is so committed to instilling quality characteristics in collegians and inspiring so many to DO GOOD in their lives is a wonderful feeling. 

Ok so... now that I've rambled about that. Let me get back to last night...

I wasn't too sure what to expect from it all. How long would he speak? Would he talk about his acting career? Discuss his Foundation? Would I cry? Would I laugh? Would he answer questions? Discuss his book? Would he sit or stand while he was speaking? 

As you know, Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson's Disease about 19 years ago. He shared with us last night that when he was first given the diagnosis the doctors told him that he had about 10 good years left to work. He has surpassed that expectation, at this point, by almost 10 years. He isn't flying around with Doc Brown in a Delorean anymore but he is still acting here and there and most importantly working hard to help those with Parkinson's and find quality treatments and a cure. 

He shared childhood memories, the highs and lows of Hollywood, how he came to peace with having Parkinson's and charming stories of his wife and children. He made it clear that you have to life your life one step at a time and anything that you put your mine to, you can accomplish. He spoke to the large crowd as if he was sitting at Starbucks talking to a group of 4 or 5. It was one of those, "I'm so glad that I go the chance to do this" nights for me.

While he was speaking he said something that clicked with me and so I wrote it down in my program so I would remember it correctly to share with you: 

"Answers aren't going to fall from the sky. We need to get ladders to go up and get them."

I am grateful for the opportunity to be inspired... so, to Michael J. Fox- THANK YOU!  And for everyone else... go get your ladders and make something happen! 

Green Day once said, "Do you have the time..."

And the fact of the matter is that in the last week I have not had the time. Especially, to blog about not having time. But this morning I found myself with some and so here I am! Aren't you thrilled? :o) I am!

One would think that I would have oodles of time because I don't work everyday. But, I'm a busy girl with things to do. Ya know- I clean, cook, grocery shop, wash clothes, fold clothes and then finally put them away. Then it seems like by the time I have that done I get to do it all over again. But- the best thing about having time during the day to do all of this stuff is that when Gregorian gets home we can eat dinner together and just enjoy the evening. -Delightful!-

Outside of regularly scheduled housewife things, I have been working hard on getting my ducks in a row for some fundraisers that I will be hosting in December. So, this past week I designed all of the flyers for both events. Called a thousand places for donations and wrote donation letters addressed them and those will get send out today... It's all very exciting! Check out all of these flyers...

I am a big advocate for charity and donating to those who are less fortunate. In the past few years I have becoming very involved with fundraising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. There is something about St. Jude and their mission, values and vision that I simply connect to. They never turn families away because of their inability to pay for treatments and procedures. I like to do fundraisers for them during the holiday season to benefit their Thanks and Giving Campaign. The motto for this campaign is, "Give thanks for healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not." It actually brings tears to my eyes just typing that, ohh boy! I just couldn't imagine having a child, like one of my nieces, who wasn't healthy and needed an organization like St. Jude. I am blessed to have healthy children in my life and therefore I give- I give to those who need it. I give to St. Jude because they give. They give hope. They give life.

I encourage you to take time and think about donating to a charity that is close to your heart this holiday season. Choose a charity whose mission, values and vision truly touch you... it fills your heart with joy and that is the best gift- ever.

If you would like more information on the fundraisers that I am hosting in the Northeast Ohio area or would like to donate please contact me at JamieCashWatson@gmail.com with St. Jude in the subject.

Those Rangers are some stand up guys!

Over the weekend there was an article published in my local newspaper about the Texas Rangers outfielder (and American League Championship Series MVP),  Josh Hamilton. I couldn't find the article that I read on Sunday on my newspapers on-line version but I found another article that is similar. It doesn't tug at the heart strings as much as the print article I read did however, it gives most of the details.

You see... Josh struggled with an addiction to drugs and alcohol for years, which kept him from playing in Major League Baseball.  The night that the Rangers clinched their series against the Tampa Bay Rays his team mates headed back to the locker room to celebrate.

I know from watching the Indians in their hay-day that the locker room celebration is the moments the player live for. The cool new championship t-shirts and hats, reports coming in for interviews and you can't forget about the alcohol. To have the chance to celebrate and crack some champagne with the people who helped you get to the top is surreal in itself. I'm sure that the walk back to the locker room seemed like miles for Josh. His head was probably spinning with emotions... hesitant and unsure of what would happen being surrounded by alcohol as well as overcome with excitement from the victory. So... they entered the locked room and his teammates picked up bottles and starting shaking 'em up! But, much to his surprise his teammates were not shaking bottles of bubbly... they were shaking 2 liters of ginger ale to spray and celebrate together.

This story really struck something in me. I don't know if it's because of all of the negative press and self-centered actions (ahhhemmm LEBRON!)  that you hear about in professional sports or the simple fact that it is nice to hear of people who genuinely care about and support the people around them. Maybe we all should take a second and think, "If I was in that situation... what bottle I would shake?"