A flower in the desert

I’ve been neglecting my blog lately but I’ve been doing really well.

In life I find we get so caught up with what is wrong with this or what we are upset about, that we take very little time to appreciate the little things that make us happy.

Driving on my way home from work I concentrated on what has been making me happy and it was a very pleasant drive.

Things that make me happy:
• Cold, crisp autumn days
• Salmon-colored sunsets
• Driving with the windows down
• Singing and rocking out in my car
• Working in the suburbs
• Picturing my future
• The sky at twilight
• Reading a great book
• Finding Matte at a café in San Francisco yesterday

Now the list could go on and on, but these were just a few things that have made me happy lately.

I’ve been pretty involved with Kiwanis lately, which is nice, but I keep having that nagging feeling that I could be doing more.

A week ago at our staff meeting this man came and spoke to us (in French, as someone translated for him) about this amazing work he is doing with disabled people in Africa. Apparently they are the most shunned people and their disabilities break families apart because usually shortly after the disabled person is born, the father leaves the family because he feels that he has failed them in some way. This man talked about how he took the most inept people (disabled) and gave them purpose, found some sort of talent in each one of them. He spoke of the amazing change it brought to the communities and the families as these people where transformed – fathers come back and the community has something to stand behind.

“Even a flower can bloom in the most barren desert,” he said.

He didn’t speak very much English, but before he left our office (sometime after the staff meeting) he made it a point to go around to every person’s desk, shake his or her hand and say that quote in English to us.

His visit has touched us very deeply and I can’t shake the feeling that I want to do more to touch people’s lives. I don’t know what it is yet, but I know I want to do more to give back.

Recently, while covering a story involving some junior high girls, I was reminded that junior high girls are of an age where I no longer find kids annoying. I actually found it quite refreshing to be among the students and I think I want to do something more with girls who are that age. Being in junior high was a very difficult time for me, as I am sure it is with many girls.

Maybe I’ll become a tutor, but I’d rather interact with these girls at a social level. Help them somehow that way. There are a couple of avenues I am looking into – but that is what I am set out to do right now.

I know it sounds dumb but I want to help someone bloom. I can think of several people in my life who have helped me bloom, but I want to be that for someone else.