One Little Word

Megan from the amazing Bloom Blog published a really neat post earlier this week. She talked about a project, of sorts, that she's taking part in this year called One Little Word, and I love it! I'm going to participate, too.

I don't make New Year's Resolutions, because I think it's a totally meaningless tradition that most people just do because everyone else is doing it and they feel like they should, too (much like matching socks. These aforementioned reasons are precisely why I DON'T wear matching socks. Or shoes. Or gloves. You get the idea.). I mean, seriously? So many New Year's resolutions are very vague promises that people make and then forget about or give up on by the end of January. If you ask me, a resolution means nothing if it's just made as part of a tradition. There needs to be a true committment; an underlying passion for it to be successful. But that's an entirely different rant. :)

And yet, don't get me wrong; I certainly believe that there's always room for improvement in life! (Especially my life!) And I really like the idea of One Little Word: choosing one word to define you and the year 2009. I toyed around with a whole bunch of ideas before finally settling on one. (Did you all take notice of that? I, the Indecisive One, made a decision. YEAH! There should be thunderous applause coming from the audience right now!)

*drumroll*

My One Little Word of 2009 is genuine. My goal for this year is going to be to live my life as genuinely as possible. I think this word has particular relevance to my life lately because I've really be struggling with being genuine on so many different levels.

According to my dictionary, genuine has three definitions, and all three apply to my life and my goals right now.

1. authentic; real
I have a major tendency to try to please people, and a direct result of that is that I often try to act in a certain way to measure up to their expectations. My best friend recently confronted me about this and we talked about how, not only is the "acting" not necessary, but it's not true. It's not real. It's not genuine. Our discussion really made me aware of the many ways that I'm not being "real" in so many aspects of my life and I am determined to change that!

2. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere
Sincerity has been a big focus of mine over the last few months, and I want to continue to make it an important part of life in 2009, too. I really believe that it's important to be honest with people and tell them how you feel. The two people in the world that I most enjoy talking to and being around are the two who I know will be brutally honest with me, no matter what. Whether this means confronting a friend about a touchy issue, asking how someone's day is going or saying "I love you", it all means nothing unless the intention is truly sincere. It drives me crazy when people ask me "How are you?" but clearly don't care about my answer!

3. descended from the original; pure in breed
When I read this, the first thing I thought of was one of my favorite passages from I John.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
--1 John 3:1-2

I love this passage because it reminds me that I AM a child of God; that I was created by Him for a specific purpose. My life has meaning and value and even when I can't see what He's got planned for me, I can trust that He is leading my life and knows what's in store. Especially in this crazy year, when I'll be facing so many changes and new situations, these are thoughts I need to keep in the front of my mind. Part of being genuine, of being pure is remembering WHOSE I am. When I do that, all my doubts about self-worth and worries about the future disappear.


I've taken Megan's suggestion and posted pink post-it notes all over the place (my mirror, in the bathroom, on my computer, on the fridge, on the radio in the car, on the cat) to remind myself of this new goal. It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of God's help for me to truly implement this in my life this year, but hey, I'm determined!

I strongly encourage you guys to take on this challenge too; I'm quite curious to hear what your One Little Words are!

Do You Know?

Good Monsters
Jars of Clay

All the good monsters open their eyes
To see the wasteland where the home fires rise
And the people shouting, "Why, why, why"

Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?

All the giants wake from their sleep
And roll outside of safety's keep
And the pain makes them feel so alive

Do you know what you are; do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things we know
Do you know what you are; do you know what you are?

Not all monsters are bad
But the ones who are good
Never do what they could, never do what they could

All the good monsters rattle their chains
And dance around the open flames
They make a lot of empty noise

While all of the bright eyes turn away
As if there wasn't anything to say
About the justice and the mystery

Do you know what you are?
Do you know what you are?
We are bored of all the things that we know
And we are forms of everything we love, we love..

If good won't show its ugly face,
Evil won't you take your place?
Nothing ever changes, nothing ever changes
By itself

We are bored of all the things that we know
Do you know what you are?
Because we are so in love with ourselves

We are forms of all the things we love.

------------------------------------

Do you know what you are?

You've all heard the famous quote, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for a good man to stand by and do nothing." (Edmund Burke).

I don't have to tell you how true this is. I don't have to tell you what pain and humiliation feels like when you're in the midst of a group that is harassing you, picking on you, making fun of you; I don't have to tell you what hope feels like when you see someone, standing off to the edge of the group, silent, not taking part. The one person who might be able to save you. I don't have to tell you how much it hurts when that one single person turns their back and walks away, leaving you to whatever humiliation you're enduring. I don't have to tell you because I'm sure you've been through it before.Betrayal. That's what it boils down to.

Do you know what you are?

Are you a good monster? The kind no one's ever heard of? The kind that just stands by and lets all the evil monsters ruin the reputation of monsters everywhere; the kind who doesn't dare to challenge the stereotype or defy the expected?

"Nothing ever changes...by itself." Are you standing by and watching evil triumph?Pick a situation in your life that you're currently involved in... without really being "involved in". Somewhere where you're standing by, helplessly; not getting involved but not doing anything to change it, either. Well -- I challenge you to change it.
Don't let evil triumph. Whether your goal is to end the turmoil in Darfur or to confess to your parents that it was you, and not your little brother, who flooded the bathroom... Don't just "make a lot of empty noise."

Do you know what you are?

Well then -- stand up and tell the world.
Show them what you are and what you believe.

My life in six words...

Anilee tagged me in the "6 word memoir challenge".

Write about my whole life in six tiny words? Wow. For a loquatious person like me, that is harder then any other writing activity I've ever done. But I like the challenge, so I'm going to try.

Here's my thinking.

My life right now is all about speaking up, speaking out, and sharing my thoughts with the world (thus, the motivation for starting this blog!!). I am finding who I am and figuring out who I'm not. I'm becoming someone that, a few years ago, would not have seemed conceivable. For a shy girl who never questioned authority or defied the ordinary...my life now is the complete opposite of who I used to be! And yet, the person I WAS will always continue to shape who I WILL be and how I react to things. Does that make sense?

I wanted to capture all of that in my sentence. My defiance of the expected. My need to be heard. And my acknowledgement of who I used to be.

Here's what I came up with:

I will not be silent anymore.

(Wow. Who knew one sentence could make you think so hard????)

I'm still not sure that I'm entirely happy with that. I feel like it makes me sound TOO rebellious...and it doesn't capture my innate enthusiasm and passion....so I might keep thinking. But it's a start :) and as hard as this was for me, I truly enjoyed it. Thanks, Anilee :)

Ok, your turn. Everyone reading this blog -- whether you're a member of Blogger.com or not -- I challenge you to do this. Sum up your life in one sentence composted of 6 -- ONLY SIX -- words. I would LOVE to read your sentences once you've got them (reminder to all the non-bloggers reading this -- you can post too! Click on "comments" and choose "anonymous" or "other" -- you can fill in any name you want there. See if I can figure out who you are!)

And, just to keep the game going, I tag: Somnium and Nat.

Just Because

My very best friend in the world has taught me an awful lot. Lately, though, she has been teaching me about a new phenomenon of hers which she calls, "paying it forward". In other words... doing nice things for other people "just because".

She says, "I am convinced that we could change the world [emphasis mine] if we would all 'pay it forward'. Do something nice for no reason. It puts someone else in a better mood and then they are more likely to do something nice, etc. etc. I love to do nice things just for the sake of happiness. My mom taught me. She didn't teach it, she just does it. And I have seen how people react. And it's powerful."

And she herself is an incredible example of this. We went to a sporting event last weekend, and ahead of us on the stairs was a woman trying to carry a stroller, three bags and a baby in a carrier down the stairs. Most people would have walked right by her, but my best friend stopped and offered to help and we all grabbed some of this womans stuff and helped her downstairs. It was a simple gesture, but this woman really appreciated it. Later, as we were leaving the gym, on her way out, my friend stopped to pick up empty water bottles and litter and threw it all away, so the coaches wouldn't have to deal with it later. Again, another simple gesture -- but it was appreciated. Something she did without even thinking about it. Something that came natural to her.

She is such a great example of someone who serves others just for the sake of serving. Not for any kind of recognition, not to build up her reputation and not to be praised. She doesn't help others only when people are watching, so she can build up her reputation. In fact, she probably doesn't even think anyone is watching her.

But I am. And through watching her example, I've learned a whole lot about serving others. Not for personal glory, but for God's glory. My best friend is living a life that God wants her to lead by serving others with a smiling face and cheerful attitude. She never once complained about how heavy the stroller was or how picking up water bottles made her late when she was in hurry. She is a true example of a servant with a servant's heart.

And because of this, I've found myself looking for opportunities to serve others in unexpected ways. Letting people go ahead of me in the grocery store. Letting someone else have that perfect parking space. Holding doors for total strangers. Even something as simple as just smiling or saying "Have a great day!" has been known to make other people smile.

I've experienced the powerful reactions to "paying it forward" myself. Here is a story that happened to me a few weeks ago while grocery shopping... (as told to my very best friend in the entire world):

I really do love grocery shopping... So I guess I was smiling a lot, and I was also singing preschool songs softly since we did a lot of music today, they were all stuck in my head. And I saw three preschool families there, at the grocery store, and was happy to have the chance to talk to them, so I guess I was rather cheery.

I kept seeing this Lady in the Blue Coat (for lack of any better way to describe her); somehow she was always in the same aisle as me, so I guess I probably kept smiling at her. I honestly don't remember, it was just instinct.

So anyway, I'm in line, in the express line, because my I-just-need-cat-food run had turned into a 9-item run. So I'm in the express line and behind me comes this young-ish woman trying to balance an infant carrier (with an adorable little girl inside!) in one arm and a single containter of baby food, a set of plastic bowls and a diaper bag in the other.

So I said, "Would you like to go in front of me?" No big deal. But her eyes got wide and she started saying, "Oh, yes, that would be wonderful; oh, thank you! Oh, this is so nice of you! Oh, I really appreciate this, thank you!" and on and on... So she moves up and now, behind me, is none other then the Lady in the Blue Coat... and I felt like she was watching me, but I figured I was being paranoid.

So I kept chatting with the young lady with the baby as the cashier rang up her stuff and said goodbye to her (she was still thanking me!) and then I bagged my groceries and paid for them and said Thank You to the cashier and wished her a nice day and was on my way.

And then, as I was walking out to the car, the Lady in the Blue Coat who had been behind me came running to catch up to me. "Excuse me, excuse me!" she said. I stopped and she said, "I just wanted to say...well, that was really nice, what you did in there." I must have looked puzzled, because she continued, "Letting that woman go ahead of you. That was so nice! And you yourself...I kept seeing you in that store and you just kept smiling. And it was so refreshing, because I think you were the only person in that store who WAS smiling! And you were so polite and sweet to the cashier! It's just good to know there are still some good, nice, college students out there."

I thanked her and replied that actually, I was still only in high school. She looked utterly shocked. I can't think of any other way to describe it! And then she said, 'Oh...well...wow! That's even more amazing, then! Thank you for putting me in a good mood!" And then she left.

It was pretty cool!! I mean, all of those things just came so natrual to me; I did them...smiling, singing, saying thank you, letting that young woman go ahead of me...without even thinking. It's just who I am, I guess, but it was interesting that it affected this Lady in the Blue Coat so much.

We are God's ambassadors, here to live by example and do God's work. We don't always have to be traveling overseas and making all the little nations get along or ending world hunger in order to do His work. Living a Christian life can start by just being an ambassador of God's love. Showing kindness and compassion to others in small ways. You might not feel likeyouy're making a difference in the world, but to that one person, you might be making a world of difference.

Just like my best friend, who didn't think anyone was watching her actions... I was. And I am learning from watching her. Who knows how many people will be watching you, and learning from you? Who knows how many lives you can change?

I challenge you to look for opportunities to "pay it forward". To do something nice for someone else, "just because". Let's see if we can change the world.