The Mom Chronicles: Do Onto Others
Well moms, we've survived. We've just about made it through another holiday season and I'd like to believe we are all intact and mostly sane. We may be tired and a few pounds heavier. We may have had a big enough dose of extended family to last for months, if not until the next holiday season, and we have set our sights on to what lies ahead of us next (and I am not talking about standing in return lines or undecorating the tree.) What I am referring to is that yearly tradition of making those infamous New Years Resolutions and figuring out how to ever follow through with them..
I expect this year to be no exception. I have already heard plenty of talk from others about the resolutions they plan to make, most of the standard weight loss, shaping up, quitting smoking, and the like. I, too have begun thinking of what I need to resolve to do this year. Yet, thinking back of all the resolutions I have ever made I can think of one, just one, I actually thought out, planned for and actually followed through with. That has made me think. As I am getting a bit older and my world becomes more and more focused on my family and how I want the world to be better for them, it has become more important to me to not just resolve to do something meaningful, but to actually follow through with it. And that my moms, brings me here.
As I have pondered some of the topics I have written about of late, one theme comes to mind. That is the theme of overcoming the bad or adversities with good. And that thought process leads me to my resolution for this year, which I hope inspires many of you. That is to do onto others.
We all know the old saying, "Do onto others as you'd like them to do to you". In a time we have seen the effects of other's selfish, thoughtless actions in our community, we have also seen the effects of those who have risen above it to bring a greater good. My resolution this year is to bring onto others and to teach my kids to bring on to others, good that can help not just them, but ourselves rise above the bad. The possibilites of how to go about this are endless. More importantly, it teaches my kids the importance of helping others and looking out for others, the importance of compassion and caring, and how to be more selfless in a very selfish time.
What is so exciting about this resolution is that the possibilites are endless. Doing onto others can be as simple as smiling at a stranger, or something bigger like helping a neighbor shovel out after a snowstorm. It can be bringing baked goods to a grieving family or volunteering at a community event. This is not a resolution that involves any great amount of funds or time. It is simple gestures throughout that bring differences to the lives of others, while just happening to bring a boost to ones self. This may seem like a selfish aspect in this resolution. While one could argue that helping others or bringing good to others makes one feel good themselves so why not do it, the fact of the matter is that good breeds good. How many times has someone extended a hand out to you in a time of need and suddenly you feel inspired to share that same gesture with someone else? It's the age old idea of paying it forward. That is my challenge to each of you.
Instead of making resolutions this year that likely won't stick or impact those around you, in a time when so many people are hurting or in need, perhaps this year won't you consider joining me resolving to do onto others. Put the energy of change in to others, and I guarantee the effects will last longer then the effects of anything you'd resolve to do simply for yourself. Teach and inspire your kids to do the same. Teach them about doing and giving. It's not about what you get back, but about doing good for the sole purpose of doing good. Your kids may wonder who is going to pay you for this or that, or why you would do something for another person for no apparent reason, but that is where the flood gates open to teach your children how it is more important to give then to recieve. How the good of the community is better then the good of just ones self. How to step outside of themselves and see and recognize the needs of others. If enough people learn and see this, perhaps that will be precisely the change we need to see in the world. The old cliche is "be the change you wish to see in the world". If you are frustrated or discouraged by recent acts of vandalism or "bad" in our community, do something about it and be someone that brings the good. While it won't necessarily make all the bad go away, it certainly will over shadow it.
So with that my moms, I hope you had a most blessed holiday with your families. I ask you to join me in making the spirit of giving that usually occurs most loudly during the holiday season, and make it last all year. As you make your resolutions for this upcoming year I ask that you take a moment to consider how you can be the change you wish to see in our community, and how you may inspire your kids to do the same. Then, may this be the year you follow through on such resolutions that hopefully by this time next year, we have seen a noticable shift in our community. High aspirations? Perhaps. But I guess you have to start somewhere.
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