FIND YOUR PASSION!!

Okay--so I promised you all that I would post about what I have made as my resolutions for the year 2010. I have thought long and hard about a way to post this that I could adequately put into a few incredibly well-written words. I am not the best linguist (as you probably have already figured out!) but I hope that the following will help to inspire someone--anyone. If anything, it will help me to inspire myself again!

There really is only one resolution that I will encourage everyone to heed this year. Just one. It does not involve dieting, exercise, money, jobs, wealth, or things. It will not require getting anything. It can not be bought.

The resolution that I am encouraging for each and every one of you that may happen upon my blog...is to......

BE SIGNIFICANT!!.

It's as simple as that.

What would being significant entail...you ask? If I am a significant human being, I have had the opportunity to make a difference. I have had the opportunity to GIVE of myself to the point of where I have been SIGNIFICANT to someone.

This life does not give us but one chance to live it. Would it not be incredible if we all decided that we (yes-you and me!) could do something so amazing that it could inspire someone else, who could inspire others, --maybe hundreds, thousands, why not millions?? It all starts with finding your passion. Searching deep within your soul to see what is important in this world. Notice, I did not say, what is important to YOU. I said what is important in this world. What can you do to help? Locally? Globally? Maybe even just in your own neighborhood?

This is our only chance. We don't get do-overs.

I, personally, have always felt a sense of urgency in my life--like things need to be done, and they need to be done now. I have had moments where I have felt the depths of despair--have had the bottom of my core rocked. In these moments I have had the hard lessons of learning that life is short.

*My Mom's time was too short. She found out that she had lung cancer in the summer of 1979. She died January 8, 1980. She was 48 years young. I was 9 years old. I was the youngest of her seven children.

*My Dad's time was too short. He went to work on December 20th, 1989. He called me to tell me that he was so excited to find the toy that he had been looking for for my nephew for Christmas. He said he was stopping at Toys R Us to pick it up on the way home. He said, "see you in a little bit Boo Boo! "(his nickname for me.) I never spoke with him again. He had a heart attack at work and by the time I reached the hospital he was gone...too soon.

*My brother's time was too short. He had his first heart attack at 40. He was waiting for a heart transplant when he died. He was 52. He had three wonderful kids and a loving wife.

I truly don't tell you all this to depress you. Really, I don't. I am only trying to light the fire. Give YOU the sense of urgency. Please stop saying to yourself, as I did for years, "oh, when I have more time, I'll volunteer or feed the homeless, raise money, call that loved one, etc, etc,".

The time is now. And time is a wastin' away.

There are so many things that we as individuals can be doing to make a difference. If there is a cause worth fighting for --do it! If there is a neighbor in need-help them!

"We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake." Marie Beyton Ray

I swear that my moment of clarity came when I stepped off of the plane in China for our 1st adoption. I saw a world vastly different than the bubble that I had lived in.

A world where children have no voice.

Where parents are forced, by law, to have only one child.

Where children are discarded --sometimes like trash.

Where cribs line the walls of the orphanages- with eyes staring at me so vacantly--searching....searching....for something, or someone.

Where if your child has a disability, there is no insurance to cover the costs of it.

Where you give up your child so that he or she can live.

A place where the stories that you "read about" actually happen.

Where people work tirelessly for so little pay--and do not complain about it.

Where there are good people--that have seen so little of the world that they have no idea how bad they have it.

A place that gave me the two most amazing gifts that I could have ever asked for.

That was my wake up call--where I found my passion--for the first time in my life I felt directed. It felt so wonderful. I had an outlet where there was a meaningful way for me to give of myself. To be significant. To be the difference.

I am determined this year to be as passionate as ever--to make as much of a difference for those little ones waiting in China as possible. To fundraise, and advocate, and create adoption awareness. I am making that resolution to both you and myself. And there you have it--in black and white.

What is your wake up call? How can you give? How can you be significant?

"All of us were born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It is what you do for others. Danny Thomas, founder, St. Jude's Hospital

I hope and pray that you all get inspired to not just live, but to live passionately about something that matters. To be the significant one to someone. To get your wake up call, and to start living your best life starting right now!

It's already January 5th--the clock is ticking--let's do it!

God Bless you and Happy New Year!

Amy D. xoxooxox