Challenge #22: This Little Light of Mine

Challenge #22: Do Something to Make the world a better place.

What?! Are Kim & Jason serious? Well, not always. In fact, they’re often downright silly! But what I mean is, what could I possibly do to make the world a better place? And I thought Challenge #19 was going to be the hardest…

Well, I’ve been thinking about this challenge all week and by last night I still had no ideas. But then a good friend of mine called me. Her name is Karla and I met her a year ago when I was an advisor for the Child Development Associate Credential. I coached her through the process of earning her CDA and we decided we liked each other too much to not develop a friendship as well as a business relationship. Anyway, when she called last night she started out by saying, “I’ve got something to say to you and you better listen.” Whoa. Scary. Then she proceeded to tell me how grateful she was that I was her advisor for her CDA and how grateful she is for my friendship. (I’m paraphrasing – she really went on and on about how wonderful I am, which kind of made me want to hide my face in embarrassment, and totally made me cry.) Well, I’m pretty sure her words of praise and love didn’t exactly make THE world a better place, but by golly they certainly made MY world a better place!

So that’s when I began to think of ways I can make the world’s of those around me a little bit better. Below is a list of things I did today to hopefully do just that. Some of these things (like #3) I do often, some not so much (like #6). But I’m going to try to do these little things as much as possible in the hopes that other people will then pay it forward in their own way. I can’t affect the entire world at once, but I can affect one person’s world at a time.

1. I wrote “Boungiorno Principessa” on Stacey’s bathroom mirror this morning. (If you don’t know what that means, ask an Italian, or just watch “Life is Beautiful.” Or both.)

2. I shared half my blueberry bagel with strawberry shmear (Such a fun word to say, shmear!) with a coworker.

3. Each time I used the restroom at work I made sure the paper towel was dispensed for the next person so they wouldn’t have to turn the disease-riddled wheel.

4. I said “please”, “thank you,” and “you’re welcome” as often as it was appropriate to do so.

5. I let my staff know how awesome I think they all are.

6. I didn’t get mad at anyone in traffic and calmly got out of the way of people who wanted to go faster than me. (This is a big deal for me, peeps!)

7. I allowed the lady at the box office for Centerpointe Legacy Theater to pick my seats for me since I had to change my tickets for “Anything Goes.” She seemed so excited to give me third row seats. I prefer to sit in the balcony so I can look down on the whole stage. But I couldn’t burst that excited little bubble of hers. I just couldn’t.

Anyway, nothing I did was earth-shattering. Not by a long shot. All I know is how much I appreciate the little things others do and say for me. And that’s all I hope I did: little things.

“…by small and simple things are great things brought to pass…” – Alma 37:6 (The Book of Mormon)