A Good Thing

Every year I try to make a New Year’s resolution that will improve my life and make me happier. Obviously there are a lot of things about myself that I would change if I could, and the start of a new year seems like an excellent time to reflect on my life and set new goals. Problem is, this year I set a fitness goal, kept at it for 30 days, and then in February forgot all about it. Probably pretty typical for most of us.

So this morning I sat down and starting thinking… What is it that I could truly do - and stick to - that would make my life better? First off, I’m definitely one of those “overloaded” people that enjoys being busy all the time. Here’s a short list: I have a large family with four children and seven grandchildren, plus a wife that I am totally devoted to.  I own my own business, which keeps getting busier and busier and I’m helping with my wife’s charity, which is also growing exponentially and requiring more time from both of us every week. On top of that, I’m a golf nut and an aspiring writer who tries to write Monday Messages every week!

Whew… No wonder I’m tired sometimes. But when I wrote out the list above, I realized that these are all things that I enjoy, things that I want to do. I mean, it seems like my life is all about Me and what I Myself want to do… and when I really think about it… that can’t be a good thing!

So that got me thinking... Instead of dreaming up resolutions about how to make my life better, what if I came up with a way to make someone else’s life better!

I know plenty of friends, family members, and business associates who are struggling and could use a little help and/or encouragement right now. But how? I had no idea until I walked through our garage at lunch time today and spotted dozens of freshly written letters of encouragement. My wife makes sure that every filled suitcase her charity supplies to Foster Children also includes a handwritten letter of encouragement. Perfect! My new “New Year’s Resolution” is to start this week and write and mail (via USPS, not email or text) a letter of encouragement to a different person every single week. Even if I have to give up some of the stuff on my list above, so be it, because I am committed to writing 44 letters between now and the end of the year in order to do something good for someone else… now that has to be good thing!

A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives. 

~ Jackie Robinson