Little things go a long way....

In setting the pace and feeling so good about it the past several days, I wanted to focus on one small difference that I could make in my day today. I knew that my heart was leading me toward helping children and today I thought I'd start somewhere. I contacted a local private non-profit school that teaches children between the ages of 3-9 years old who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injuries. I spoke to the secretary of the school and asked if they would be willing to take donations for the children. She seemed surprised and put me on hold for a second....she came back and said, absolutely.

In keeping with my spirit of making a small change in another life one day at a time, I knew I wanted to accomplish this goal today. I stopped by the local Barnes and Noble while I was on my lunch break. I went to the kids section and they had a ton of bargain books at half the price. I purchased the amount I could afford today, knowing that it wasn't a lot although it would make a small difference.

I stopped by the school and met the secretary on my way home. She asked me if I was a teacher, I said no. She then went on to ask if these were my own kids books, I told her I did not have children and these books are not used. She stopped and smiled and then said "so you're just doing this because..." And I said yes. We had a great conversation and she reached out towards the end to shake my hand and thank me.

I knew I didn't need a thank you when the secretary said, "You have no idea how excited the teachers will be to share these new books with the children tomorrow morning." That was all I needed.

Outside of my wonderful book drop off today, I had a woman in an office I call on who ran out to her car to get me a blanket to give to the animal shelter. The blanket drive in my offices is progressing, one small difference in my day.

I also spoke to a woman in charge of parks and recreations about the fundraiser for the local Children's Hospital next spring. She told me what it would take to get started and now I can move forward in this process one day at a time.

So I think what I learned today the most is that little things go a long way. The woman that ran to grab a blanket for the shelter in her car, gets to make a difference in the life of one animal. And a small handful of books will go a long way at school tomorrow for those children. I can still picture the books that I gave the school today, and now I get to picture the delight in a child's face by reading something new tomorrow.

Little things go a long way.....