What will you do today/this week to make difference

I put off my training today [4 weeks out of BoneIsland IM] to be a running buddy for a 12 y.o. girl. She has been working for the last couple of months with Girls on the Run, an organization that works to help girls build better life skills, to do her first 5k. My friend was going to be her mentor but got really sick last night and couldn't run today.

I have to get to bed now... tomorrow [ok, today] is going to be a long day, but I will smile more during the pain.

Ok, I like this.

Today the kids and I are making cookies for friends in the neighborhood. I told them they could deliver the cookies to their friends they play with but there is an older woman down the street whose husband passed away last year. We don't really know her but we will make a point to spread some cheer her way. It is easy to always give to those we know, a little harder to reach out to a stranger.

If my waitress tomorrow is cute, she's getting an extra tip...unless she messes up my order.

Seriously, to make a difference, I'll continue to do what I always do, be polite, hold doors open, smile, say hello to strangers, give folks I don't know a laugh or two.  

Nice idea.  A kind of dig-a-bit deeper challenge.

I'm teaching English in Bahrain and run on a walking track near where I live (folks here mostly just walk).  I'm going to try to strike up a conversation with more people when I'm out there.  The common greeting here is Salam alikum which means something along the lines of "May the peace of God be with you".  It is a good starting point with people.

Yesterday, driving to the gym, I saw 2 little Jack Russell terriers running down a fairly busy road.  I was to turn right and they went left.  I turned around and drove a few blocks until I saw them. Pulled over and called them to the car.  they ran right over.  I could tell they were very friendly so I opened the door.  They jumped in and were so happy.  One had a collar with a number.  Called and left a message on a ladies VM.  That's when I realized I had not thought this through.  What if nobody called back.  I had 2 very friendly happy pups in my car.  Not knowing them, I could not take them home and put them with Hoover.

Fortunately, a few minutes later she called back.  They lived about a mile away so I brought them home to a woman and her very happy son (it was the son who left the gate open).

It made me feel good to reunite the pups with their family.  This got me thinking about Bill Murray's rant at the end of Scrooged.

I like this idea a lot - not something we should have to think about but let's do so.

I have a friend in the UK with a severely disabled stepson who is fanatical about all things triathlon.

We have toyed with the idea of getting a tri team together to carry Aaron to do a tri.  First person to volunteer was Macca - said he'd gladly do a whole IM carrying Aaron.  Sadly Aaron isn't up to that kind of distance, it's doubtful he'll live another year to be honest.  But we think we can get him through an Olympic.

so with that in mind my first thing to do for Aaron is to send him a visor I won at a tri club raffle signed by Jo Lawn, Belinda Grainger and Rinny - he can have that.  He will get greater pleasure from it than me.

Then hopefully sometime next year I'll be giving up some vacation time to get Aaron through a triathlon of some distance.

this i like

I will simply do my job, every day for the next 20 years and usually I make a difference in someones life whether I know it or not (Police Officer).

But this holiday season- I participate in our Agencies Christmas Drive every year. We go out with Civilian Volunteers and interview families in need to get an idea of what they need for the family during the holiday and winter. I help with collecting food, toy and clothing donations and also wrap gifts for each of the families. We then deliver food and wrapped toys to all the families the week leading up to Xmas. Its a great feeling to be able to help someone and it really makes me appreciate how lucky I am for the things I have in my life. All the kids really enjoy it when we come to the houses too and like to ask questions about the Police Cars. We usually help over 100 families a year.

I donated two bikes to the World Bicycle Relief on behalf of my parents and sister in lieu of Christmas presents this year. This is an awesome program that gives bicycles to impoverished kids so they can get to and from school...

But - I will keep looking for other ways to make a difference - this is such a great idea.

An old classmate posted on her FB about her child's school fundraiser dinner for vocal music.  They are about 3 hours from me, and I give every year to our local schools, sports, band, and vocal groups.  I asked if she new a family of four in need that would be able to attend this dinner.  I paid for a family of four to eat a nice warm meal and the school received money from it also. 

She then posted of a person who would like to remain nameless, of what I had done, and she got a few more people to do the same thing.  I have not heard if the dinner has happened yet, or how many families were fed.  Made me feel lucky to have what I have and help others when I can.

I just donated to our local mental health non profit which I've never done before.  They have a ton of emergency counseling services and even have a program to mentor people into jobs.  Sounds like a great program- although it's really the first I've looked into it.

I also called my daycare director to tell her that the staff on hand were amazing when the school went into lock down a few days ago.  I personally thanked her daughter who has the early morning shift.  In the process I learned a ton about their emergency plans.

I'm doing a 26.4.26 run in Nashville TN on Saturday.  X3 Endurance (local tri training company) and Nashville Running Company are organizing a run to beneft victims in Newtown CT.  There will be a 6.5 mile loop.  Runners can choose 1-4 loops for 6.5, 13, 19.5 or 26 miles to honor the victims.  Runners are asked to donate a minimum of $1 per mile run to charity.  All proceeds going to a victims' family fund.  This started with one guy posting to facebook asking for 26 people to join him.  There are now over 500 people planning to attend.  More information below or on the X3 Endurance facebook page.  With it being the weekend before Christmas, many people are traveling but have committed to run wherever they may be this weekend and donate through the website below.

http://www.x3gear.com/collections/donations/products/26-4-26-sponsorship