Day One – 60DM

Sweat, sun and smiles are all ingredients for a successful family outing

Today is one of those days.

Emily, Joel and I took our love for roller coasters to Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio.  This was Joel’s first trip to CP and by the end of the day he didn’t want to leave.  As a teenager you grow up riding all the big coasters at Cedar Point and knocking all the small coasters as being obstacles along the park route.  Let me tell you, Cedar Point offers an excellent selection of rides for families.  We had a blast today riding the tilt-a-whirl, Caddilac cars and other classic amusement park rides.  Granted, we walked about 5 miles and sweated about 5 lbs but at the end of the day, we smiled at each other with our sunburnt faces and enjoyed our quiet ride in an icy car.

On our drive home Emily and I got to talking about our dreams for the next 60 days.  It’s been a great chance for Em and I to reconnect on what our goals are as parents and what lasting memories do we want to instill in our children.  One of our days will consist of taking cookies to neighbors.  If you live around me, keep you cookie jars clean.

This brings me to a topic I feel we all need to hear, address, re-address and repeat almost monthly.

Community.

We all live in one (community) but how many of us take part in one?   When we first got a house I remember feeling strange that none of our neighbors came to introduce themselves to us or went out of their way to be sociable.  It was difficult and led to those akward small talks, head nods and noise-free waves. (We’ve all had those)  When we moved into our new home in February, we could tell we were right where we wanted to be. In the first couple of months we had people bringing us meals and treats which made us feel welcome and allowed for a much better dialogue with everyone.  I hope that if you live in an area where you get new neighbors you’ll reach out to them and give a random act of kindness, not for money or for thank yous, but out of the kindess of your heart.

We all love family.

Let’s move beyond the dollar, beyond the schedule and beyond the TV guide.  Let’s get back to the old saying of

“God, others, then yourself”

My challenge for you this week is to go out of your way to do something for a neighbor.  And please, don’t do it for money, or a sales lead or anything other than a smile.  Bake cookies, sweep their curb or take them some Dietschs pretzels.  Practice giving from your heart to others and you’ll find you have started planting seeds of kindness in your children and in your community.  Who knows, maybe somebody will return the favor one day when you least expect it.  So this week, give of yourself. Be selfless. Be a leader.

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. ” ~ Marianne Williamson

Stay Nerdy My Friends

Jay