I am not what one would call a religious person. I don’t mean that in the kind of cynical or sarcastic way that some people say it. Like, “Oh, religion…that and horse-drawn carriages are out of style.” I just like to think about the world in all kinds of ways, and I don’t want to be tied down, I guess. But there are little tidbits that I pull from different religious beliefs, different kinds of philosophies. One of those beliefs is that our lives are all meant to teach us lessons that our souls need to know.
I have had a lot of experiences in my life that caused a great deal of introspection. Some struggle. Some doubt. I’ve been thrown into a recycling bin. I’ve been asked if I was old enough to ride the high school bus when I was a senior in high school. I’ve had health issues that have been complicated (don’t worry, I’m fine). But after a lot of scratching my head about it, there is one thing that I can tell you. Life is about appreciating every single thing that you have. If you start going down the path of lamenting what you don’t have, you’ll miss out, and you’ll drive yourself crazy.
There are miracles all around you
During a period of my life when I was going through a hard time (I was going down the path of lamenting the few things I didn’t have rather than the mass of great things I did), a friend told me that I would get to the point where I would be able to turn that thinking around and realize that actually, nothing can be taken for granted at all, and therefore, everything is special. There are no guarantees, sadly, that we will all wake up tomorrow and be fine. There is no guarantee that our friends will be happy and content. There is no guarantee that that beautiful tree in front of your house will still be standing tall and graceful. But that is not a sad thought. That is an invitation to say, “Holy smokes…I am alive right now. All of these people I care about are with me and okay. I have this. I have that. Wow.”
Sometimes a great big curtain hides the good stuff
Of course, there are times when this kind of thinking is not much solace. Sometimes things happen to us or to people we care about and well, the fact that a tree is still standing just doesn’t cut the mustard. For them or for us. When that happens, something great can still happen. We can open the curtains, even just a little, and let some light in for that person. It might not cheer them up. It might not fix things. Then again, sometimes we have the chance to do both.
A story about a guy and a chance
A few weeks ago, I was hanging on Twitter (surprise surprise) when Justin Levy, a fellow I respect a great deal, posted a call for help. He linked to a Facebook page called “Help Bring Noor and Ramsay Home.” “Well what is this?” I asked. So I started reading.
As it turns out, the page (which you should find on Facebook and like) tells the story of a man named Colin Bower, a guy who works with Justin and other folks at New Marketing Labs. Colin has 2 beautiful kids, Noor and Ramsay. The problem is that his ex-wife kidnapped those 2 kids a year ago and took them to Egypt. Colin hasn’t been able to see them since.
Can you imagine the day-to-day strain, not to mention all of the other emotions that must often fight to get in the way of productivity? I can’t. A year of that…that’s hard to imagine indeed. So, many of Colin’s friends, along with Colin himself, are asking for help in tackling this problem (and if you want to show a little love and support along the way, that’s probably just fine).
Go over here where Chris Brogan lists 3 simple steps you can take to help. Talk to journalists you know. Tweet madly at people on Twitter. Make #NoorRamsay a trending topic. Why? Because if it works, you would have actually helped to make a miracle for someone else.
TutusforTanner
A lot of you probably at least saw the huge fundraising effort that Scott Stratten (aka @UnMarketing) spearheaded a few weeks ago. There was some talk afterwards about whether “Social Media Experts” were giving Social Media too much credit. Having seen all of the tweets, passion and love involved in that campaign, those kinds of comments rub me the wrong way, plus they’re just dumb. But they do make me want to prove that lightning can strike twice. The fundraising that happened for Tanner exceeded all hopes and expectations. In Mr. Bower’s case, there’s just one goal. No need to exceed it. We just need to help him get his kids back. And that’s it.
Are you ready for a miracle? You don’t have to sit there and wait for it. You can participate in making it happen. You can bring back to one person’s life a piece of his life that is missing – a piece many of us would probably take for granted. A piece that many of us probably do not appreciate enough.
Are you ready for a miracle? Ready as I can be.