THE LIGHT BULB MOMENT

An idea was born a few weeks ago to do 365 Good Deeds in 365 Days starting January 1, 2009.  And now the day has arrived!  No chickening out now!  Before I delve into my “bits of goodness for the day” I wanted to post a bit about my quest:

I have always known that I wanted to do something to help and heal the world.  I know, so cliché, right?  But it is true.  I have a heart that is full of compassion for people, children, animals and the earth.  That’s not to say I’m Mother Teresa or a martyr of sorts.  I am a pretty average gal with a middle class upbringing.  An “everywoman” if you will– someone who has wanted to do good for a while, but who has been a bit caught up and involved with her own life to make good on her idealistic goals and dreams.

I just got married on August 31st, 2008, and the day was absolutely magical.  It truly was.  But when it was all over, and the big white dress was put in a box never to be opened again and the “wedding diet” was a thing of the past,  it dawned on me that I had just spent a good year focused predominantly on me and “my big day.”  I started to feel a hunger to find meaning and purpose– a desire to help others and do something outside of myself.  I’m sure many brides go through this “post-wedding-purpose” search, but it was really getting to me.

And then one day, a few weeks ago, I did something small… I bought flowers for a friend for no reason at all (other than I thought she needed a sweet little pick-me-up).  It turned out that she had to cancel our dinner plans and I never got to give her the flowers.  But from that little flower purchase, an idea hit me (literally had a light bulb moment):  I would do  something “nice” for friends and family every day for an entire year, starting January 1st 2009.   Then I thought, “ Well, I guess it doesn’t just have to be nice things for friends and family.  I should include nice things for strangers, charities, animals, the world… and anything else I can think of.”  And so the idea of 365 Days of Goodness was born.  365 Good Deeds in 365 Days.  A challenge that I am ready to take on.