Aly's 31 days of Random Acts of Awesome!

Welcome to Aly's 31 days of Random Acts of Awesome or for short RAoA. Yesterday I committed myself, via Facebook, to a single Random Act of Kindness every day for the month of December. I spent last night brainstorming potential ideas and came up with a plan.
Here goes nothing........

Week 1: WORDS (Dec 1- 8)

• All the acts performed during these 8 days will be based around "words". Sending unexpected notes to tell someone I appreciate them, leaving secret notes for strangers to brighten their day, giving someone a compliment.......

Week 2: THINGS (Dec 9 - 16)

• All the acts performed during these 8 days will be based around "things". Sending flowers to a friend, buying someone's coffee, leaving new magazines in a hospital waiting room.......

Week 3: ACTIONS (Dec 17 - 24)

• All the acts performed during these 8 days will be based around "actions". Brushing the snow off a stranger's car, making muffins for a neighbour, inviting a friend over for dinner.......

Week 4: LOVE DON'T COST A THING (Dec 25 - 31)

• In the TRUE spirit of Christmas, all the acts performed this week will not cost me a dime......this is where I may need to get extra creative.

I haven't quite figured out exactly how I'm going to document it as I don't have a computer at home so some days it may just be a post via my Facebook. However, on days that I can, I'll write about my RAoA here on my blog to share the details of what I did and the outcome.

Now, here's the best part. I'm challenging you.....yes, YOU to join me. You don't need to commit to the 31 days but why not follow my "themes" and perform one Random Act of AWESOME per week along with me?

I'm willing to bet you and I will get more out of this than we ever could have expected.

Inspiration & Gratitude; two staples in my life!

I intend to use this blog as a way to share the moments in my life that inspire me with the hopes that they will do the same for you. I also plan to share an attitude of gratitude for all things I am eternally grateful for as there are too many words of thanks that go unspoken......

Today I am grateful for a new friend that recommended an A-MAZ-ING book to me.

Who Will Cry When You Die? by Robin Sharma.

I was reading it while having lunch today and came away with the following Golden Nugget.......

"We really don't discover how powerful and resilient we are until we face some adversity that fills our minds with stress and our hearts with pain. Then we realize that we all have within us the courage and the capacity to handle even the greatest curves life may throw our way."

Sometimes it's just nice to be reminded that....you can do it.....and you will.

What's this jib jab all about???

Do work, Be more. Because you can....... what does that even mean?

Do WORK.....
Everyone should do hard work.
In the gym, workouts should be hard.....life is hard so why shouldn't your workout be too.
Outside of the gym, everyone should work hard at being better today than they were yesterday. A better mom, dad, sister, brother, son, daughter, friend..... regardless of the role you play......work hard to be a better human!

Be MORE......
As a result of said hard work, both in and out of the gym, you will be more. More fit, fulfilled, purpose driven.....MORE!. Don't we all want to be more?

Because you CAN.....
You CAN.....it's just that simple.

One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. - Helen Keller

Purpose

Nearly 8 years ago (when I was 22) my mom passed away after a 4 month battle with cancer. It was October 19, 2003. A day that I will, obviously, never forget and a day that changed me forever.

For months after her death I was a mess. Days consisted of eating poorly, little to no activity and a LOT of feeling sorry for myself. Eventually I realized that I needed to make a choice. I could spend all day, every day, wondering WHY this happened to me or I could accept that these were the cards that I had been dealt and start DEALING with them.

Life sometimes sucks...it throws you a curve-ball and then gives you a swift kick in the teeth. HOWEVER, maybe, just maybe, that kick in the teeth is exactly what you need. So, instead of wondering WHY ME.....perhaps you should ask yourself WHY NOT ME and start to figure out what you can learn from it.

Now I'm not saying losing my mom is what I "needed" but it did help me realize who I am and what I want to do with my life. I have a purpose now that I didn't have before: I WILL make a difference in my life........because I owe it to my Mom and I owe it to ME!

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all." - Leo Rosten

How are you going to leave your mark?