Limitless

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” Mary Kay Ash

I have been guilty of limiting my dreams to what’s “realistic,” which is terrible! We can’t do that to ourselves. This world is full of negative people who aren’t believing in themselves to do anything great, so when we share our dreams, they bring us down. Why do we listen to them? Why do we convince ourselves that what we want to do is not possible, or we’re not good enough, or our dreams are too big so we don’t even try?

Take a moment to consider who you believe is successful, or who’s dreams have come true, or those who have (positively) changed the world. (The first person who popped into my mind was Steve Jobs.) How did they do it? By not limiting themselves or giving up whenever obstacles came up. And, obstacles will come up whenever we try to go for it, I’m not sure why, they just do. We should never let those stop us.

I used to love to watch the movie “Sister Act 2.” Whoopie Goldberg played a nun who was trying to teach a group of high school students to sing. There was one girl in particular, played by Lauryn Hill, who had incredible talent but she limited herself for a variety of reasons. At one point, the two had a conversation that comes back to me every now and then. Whoopie tells her the story of a guy who wanted to be a writer, but nothing was really happening with his career. If I remember right, a friend or mentor said to him, “If you wake up in the morning, and you can’t think about anything else than being a writer, then you’re a writer.” Then she says to the student, “I’m saying the same thing to you: if when you wake up in the morning and you can’t think about anything else than signing, then you’re a singer.” (My quotes may not be 100% correct of the exact words used because I haven’t seen the movie in years, but I wrote the gist of what happened.)

Other than worries or your “to-do” list, what keeps you up at night, or what do you think about when you’re bored, or what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Or what can you not stop thinking about? For me, it’s being an author. Those dreams or ideas that we dwell on, and get excited thinking about, we need to find ways to stop the excuses, stop limiting ourselves, and do whatever it takes! If those people we thought of earlier had limited themselves, think about all of the technology we wouldn’t have today . . . as an example. I’m sure you can come up with more. Let’s resolve to be limitless!

Change the World

“It is always the simple that produces the marvelous.” Amelia Barr

“Enthusiasm moves the world.” Arthur Balfour

Many of us say that we want to change the world, but we become overwhelmed by the numerous steps or the seemingly endless obstacles that arise. We want to make a difference, but there’s always something holding us back, and often our reasons are: money, jobs, families, and time. We all have to make sacrifices if we are going to pursue our passions or change the world, right? Our loved ones want us to succeed, just as much as we want our loved ones to succeed in their endeavors.

We say, but if I had more time, or more money I could: ________.

Let’s change our perspective for just a second. Why don’t we create the time to volunteer, or going to school, or whatever it is that you need to do to take the next step? We have so many things to distract us, but we can’t let that stop us. We have to make the time . . . we all get only 24 hours a day, so we need to make every day count. Maybe take a few minutes today to brainstorm on how to find time in your weekly schedule? Even if you start with just five minutes, you will discover that the minutes will pass too quickly, but it’s the start. Then find ways to hold yourself accountable to stick to your scheduled time. Set weekly goals. Talk to your family and friends about it, and give them the opportunity to support you. If you’ve already started doing this, then here’s your pep talk for the week: Keep at it! Don’t give up! The results of your efforts could be incredible.

I believe that the key to making a difference always starts with a bunch of small steps that lead to larger ones. For example, with our nonprofit, we each desire to donate large amounts of money or host huge fundraisers to help thousands of people, or maybe even helping several families get back onto their feet. We’ve been able to help people, but to us, it doesn’t seem like we’re doing enough. There’s always more people in great need, and we can’t always meet it; but, that doesn’t stop us from trying and helping out when we can.

We hope that our enthusiasm to help others will inspire the world to do the same. Sure, the economy is tough; but, if we commit to making small contributions, they will add up to something great.

 

 

True Joy and Dreams

“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life’s deepest joy: true fulfillment.”
Tony Robbins

Ah! This quote is so good . . . it cuts right through the circumstances and straight to the heart. These words capture, in essence, why Beyond Us, Inc., exists. Each of us are filled with indescribable joy when we can extend beyond ourselves to help others. I’m certainly not using this quote to “toot” our own “horn,” but only to use it to explain how we feel about our nonprofit.

Here’s another one:

“What great thing would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?”
Robert H. Schuller

Well, Beyond Us, Inc., is an example of how we are attempting to do something for others – helping those out who are in great financial need. Of course, we all have different visions as to how that will look like for us as a nonprofit. We have big plans for the future, too. We want to grow so that we can give way more than we’ve ever had before – maybe double or triple or quadruple???

We, as individuals, have dreams that we’d like to accomplish, which in turn, we would continue our donations to Beyond Us, Inc., but on a much larger scale. For example, I would love to sell a lot more novels, and donate a portion of my sales to our nonprofit on a regular basis. If I knew I couldn’t fail, I’d love to say that I want to take each novel that I publish and, someday, turn them into films! What about you? What are your dreams – no matter how big or small they may seem to you . . . Take a moment and share with us what you would do if you couldn’t fail . . . feel free to be anonymous 🙂 but, I encourage you to be bold! Sometimes the first step in reaching a dream is admitting that you want to do it. Be determined! Go for it.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Encouragement

I don’t know about you, but with all of the desperate and seemingly impossible situations that I’ve either heard on the radio, read on a blog, or talked to a loved one, have brought me down. So many people need a lot of miracles . . . and it overwhelms me. It seems like every day brings a new challenge. My brain is on overload. I care a lot about others, so that’s why it upsets me when I feel like I can’t do enough . . . that I can’t “fix” it for everyone. That’s when I know I have to let it all go, and focus on the silver lining. I need to adjust my focus onto positive things.

Here’s the inspirational quote of the day:  “You change your life by changing your heart.” Max Lucado

Boy, did I need this right now. Our hearts are very important to us, physically and emotionally. We need to rid it of bitterness, anger, negativity, judgment, criticism, doubt, fear, discouragement, past disappointments, and unforgiveness. It’s not easy, but when we lay these emotions down, our hearts are set free. When we do this, we’re healthier because we have less stress, and we do change our lives. Many of the negative emotions that I listed above, are rooted in the past. We can’t carry our past into the future, the burden is too heavy . . . besides, we have enough going on during the present as it is. Why strap ourselves down further with all of this junk?!

Let’s all be honest with ourselves for a moment today . . . do we feel weighed down? Stressed? If I said a person’s name, would you feel all twisted up inside? Are we rehashing an old hurt or argument by trying to figure out how we could have handled it better, or said something better? Let’s make TODAY the day that we let that stuff go . . . because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Let’s change our lives today! And, let’s be grateful that what we’re going through isn’t worse . . . because it could always, always, be worse.

 

Helping Other Families

Hi Everyone,

After we hear of tragedies, it doesn’t take us long to forget about them. Even the media decreases their coverage to move on to the next one, and someone is left in the dust. I say that because I am about to repeat myself. When someone is in or facing large financial trials, people tend to forget that those in need have ongoing needs. Unless someone wins the lottery, receives a HUGE donation, or some other LARGE miracle, it takes time to recover. Whenever a tragedy strikes our country we say, “We will never forget,” which is partially true. I say it because I’ll never forget 9/11 – every detail of that day, from the morning I woke up to evening, has forever been marked on my memory. But, how long did it take me to forget the faces of that tragedy? I’d rather not answer. Same for weather-related incidents, the Boston blast – how long does it take us to forget the countless lives that were devastated? What gets under my skin is when other people have the audacity to “get annoyed” with hearing about the same tragedy (& those who need help) on the news for more than a couple of weeks. Well, yes, even a couple of weeks or months after these tragedies, people still have needs!

One of the many, many reasons that I blog for our organization is to spread the word, and continue to spread the word about those who have large needs…to hopefully help them get back onto their feet. These situations seem almost impossible, but every single step/donation makes such a large difference.

If you can, please help these two families who have needs:

http://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/ – their needs change daily & hourly . . . I wish we could do more for them, but we can’t for right now. Please, anything you can send to them will help. PayPal sends funds faster than GoFundMe, but I’ll still provide the link:

http://www.gofundme.com/2qbvtc

It has been such a battle for the Bowersox family, but they have been blessed with some miracles along the way. You may read more about their story here: http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2013-06-13/story/boy-who-lost-fingers-broke-arms-craig-field-accident-uses

The family has a very large need. If you would like to help out, please check out their fundraiser. Here’s the link:   https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/53d2/pray4ben

(I checked all of the links and they work for me, but if for some reason you cannot get the sites to come up, you may either: copy & paste the link into a new window, or do a Google search, you will find them.)

If you or someone you know would like to help, but aren’t comfortable in sending a donation . . . gift cards for Target, WalMart, Winn Dixie, or gas stations always work!

Pray 4 Ben

The title represents a common saying going around Jacksonville, Florida since around May 7th. Our family has known the Bowersoxes for years upon years. Our hearts break for Ben, but we’re believing for miracles. Here is what happened to this precious child:

“5 year old Ben was caught in a large mechanical door that broke his Rt arm in 4 places and broke and tore flesh from 2 fingers in his Rt hand. His Lt arm suffered 2 breaks and his 4 fingers were amputated. He was life-flighted from Jacksonville FL, to Duke University Hospital in Durham NC, because they were the closest facility that could ‘reattach’ digits on a child. After a 15 hour surgery and over 10 surgeons and technicians they were able to ‘reattach’ his fingers. Currently he is still in Duke receiving Hyperbaric treatments that will hopefully recover the extremely damaged tissue and save his digits. You can follow the story on Steve Bowersox’s Facebook or FBCJAX.com.”

The latest post from Steve Bowersox: “Ben just got out of surgery. Everything went well. His Lt hand is free & looks good. Lt leg is closed up with only a few stitches. They removed the pins in his ring finger on the Rt hand, but added some new ones to repair a fragment in his long finger. The Rt hand has healed well & after clean up is significantly better looking. It is in a splint & he is still unable to move his fingers beyond a twitch. Dr’s expect this to improve in the next 3-6 weeks. They have also removed the central line. All that remains is an iv in his Rt foot. We should be good to go when the fever drops. Most of the team is still convinced the fever is drug related. We will however have to watch for infection. Thx for ur prayers. Blessings.”  – He posted this yesterday.

It has been such a battle for the Bowersox family, but they have been blessed with some miracles along the way. You may read more about their story here: http://jacksonville.com/news/health-and-fitness/2013-06-13/story/boy-who-lost-fingers-broke-arms-craig-field-accident-uses

The family has a very large need. If you would like to help out, please check out their fundraiser. Here’s the link: https://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/53d2/pray4ben

Difficult Circumstances

“The best way out is always through.” Robert Frost

Wow. If I read this quote a couple of months ago, this post would be about how much I disagreed. However, I have to say that there is so much truth to what he is saying about difficult circumstances. When we think about our pasts, we realize how much we have learned through each difficult circumstance, mistake, or even failure. We learn that although we’re human, we are becoming stronger. Sometimes, we realize that as much as we would maybe like to erase some of those mistakes, we see that we don’t repeat the same ones.

Everyone has a story. We’re not alone in our sufferings . . . that in itself brings many of us such peace. So, take heart and have hope. There’s always someone else who has it worse than you. There’s always someone who went through exactly what you are facing right now. There is someone who understands your difficulties and mixed emotions. If you haven’t found that “someone else,” maybe it’s time to lay down our pride. We cannot do life by ourselves, and we have to stop pretending that we have it together 100% of the time. Nothing and no one is perfect. We reduce our internal stress when we share our burdens with one another . . . sometimes it is a licensed counselor. We weren’t designed to carry our burdens all by ourselves. If we did, we’d all live in such isolation that we’d never have any relationships . . . that’s kind of a bummer.

Back to the quote. When we find ourselves facing difficult circumstances, we are so UNCOMFORTABLE. We want everything to be resolved right now, or yesterday. But, life doesn’t work that way. We have gotten too caught up in movies and television shows that try to convince us that every impossible situation can be fixed in 30 to 60 minutes. We don’t realize it, but we expect all of our difficulties to be fixed quickly as well. Yet, there wouldn’t be much value to learning those lessons if we didn’t suffer some. We wouldn’t have compassion on others. We wouldn’t sympathize or desire to help anyone. We would be come unbelievably selfish. The saying of “a silver lining in every cloud” is so true. We have to change our perspectives, no matter how bad our situations have become. There is always something positive to find in them . . .  whether it is a harsh life lesson, or an improvement of our character, or discovering that “it could always be worse” and to be very thankful that it’s not.

So, whether you are in a difficult place right now or not . . . as we know the difficulties will, again, arise at some point . . . believe that great character is refined through difficulties. Remember that your best way “out” of a situation is actually to endure the hardship. It usually improves once we understand that we’re not alone, we need to reach out to others, we need to take hold of a positive mindset, and be thankful for what is going well. Just as diamonds are refined from just plain, dirty rocks, we are refined by our difficulties when we are determined to persevere. We become beautiful, multi-faceted, and we brightly shine. We become a hope to others. We become better versions of who we are supposed to be, and we realize that life – and everything – has a purpose.

 

 

Helping Others

We were contacted the other day by a family who is in desperate need of assistance. We are going to seek ways in which we can help, but I wanted to get the word out. If you can help this couple, please do what you can as soon as possible. As the popular saying goes, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” If you can’t help, please help them by telling everyone you know about this blog/fundraiser!

Thank you! Every small step leads to larger ones….

http://allbuthomeless.wordpress.com/

Read their story, and then please share it:

http://www.gofundme.com/2qbvtc

I checked the links and they worked for me; but, someone told me that she couldn’t find the site. If they don’t work, then please copy and paste into your web browser. Thanks!

Kind Words 2

        Here’s a photo that I saw on Pinterest last night. It captures, or summarizes, what I tried to say in my last post. I was thrilled to find this picture. I am pretty excited because I hadn’t been looking for it. I wasn’t even looking in the appropriate category either . . . I had been browsing Humor pins.

        I do apologize for the blurry image. I don’t know how to upload a picture from my phone to this blog yet. Anyway, if you can’t read it, this is what it says: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” – Leo Buscaglia.

Kind Words

“Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past or future… but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” Helen Keller 

One person who was willing to make a difference had completely changed Helen Keller’s life. We can do that for each other. You never know the influence your words and actions can have on another person. Bullies use poor words to tear people down. The rest of us need to be kind and use positive words to build each other up.

If you have a little social anxiety, or desire to make a difference but aren’t sure how to get started, here’s an idea: smile! If you have ever worked in customer service, you were told during your training that “a smile goes a long way.” The more experience I have at work and in dealing with strangers, and even people I know, that saying is so true.

A smile doesn’t require much effort. Once we feel comfortable with that, we should move on to say things like: “please,” “thanks,” “have a nice day,” “how are you doing today,” and mean what we say. How many times are we in situations when we pass someone in the gym, or out on a walk in the neighborhood, or on line at a store? Do we acknowledge the person passing by us?

Do we care when we respond to the person behind the register? They always ask us how we are doing . . . why don’t we ask how they are doing? Customer service is a very difficult industry and those representatives could use a little more patience and kindness from us.

In a world where we have incredible technology, a lot of people still feel lonely. Let’s start a chain reaction . . . Smile at a stranger or share a kind word! It can make the world of difference to someone else who may have been struggling, but based upon their appearance, you’d never know it.

Here at Beyond Us, Inc., we’re not just interested in helping people with tough financial situations. Sure, we do it because we care about people, but our funds are limited. We care about other people and their hearts as well. It doesn’t cost even a penny to smile or say something kind to someone else. You can’t buy anything for a penny anymore, so to do something that costs you little, means much more to someone else. In a world full with negativity and stress, we can make a difference by being positive, kind, and probably brighten someone’s day.