July 22, 2012: Say Yes to Serve...

Heaveno!

Hi online blog family!  Hope you are all doing well wherever and whenever you read this.  It's been a challenging and busy week for Team Ringgold, but a really rewarding week for Team PUCK.  Our 2nd quarter fundraising results are in, so we know where we are halfway through the calendar year.  Last year, our goal was to raise $50,000.00 for Dr. Tolar and Dr. Wagner, and we ended up raising $54,718.65.  Our 3 year plan was to double that number year over year.  Now mind you, we had no real clear idea of how we were going to actually do that, but I've been a student of goal setting for long enough to have had it beaten into me that the how is NOT REQUIRED at the time of the setting of a goal in order for it to happen.  It seems counter intuitive, but through multiple trainings, seminars, books, and essays, I have been told to just get the "what" and the "by when" down on paper first, then get in action... the whole 'ready, fire, aim' philosophy Sam Walton employed to make Walmart the "ginormity" it is today.

Well, halfway through THIS year, we have raised $55,764.00... which means we are ON TRACK for our goal... still with no clear-cut plan!  Don't get me wrong, we have an idea about what events we are doing for the year, but we don't really know how much they'll pull in till their over, and they don't add up to the $100,000.00 we're shooting for.  However, there is something to be said for being in action.  I guess this just really reminds me not to get hung up on having 'the perfect plan' in place before undertaking something I want to do.

P.S.  That $55,764.00 gets doubled thanks to the generous matching challenge grant co-sponsored by EBMRF and JGSF.  Thanks to the incredible generosity of both groups, this means the docs have already received $111,528.00 as a result of our combined efforts... in just 6 months!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y that has donated, shared a facebook post on their wall, served on a fundraising event or committee... we wouldn't have and couldn't have done this without YOU!  Without YOU, it would all still be just another big idea.  Thanks for bringing this into reality.



In other news, Ang celebrated her birthday on Wednesday, and we had a big party at her parent's house today.  Wednesday, Ang suggested we got to Duke's at the Pier in Huntington Beach, CA, the town she grew up in, and the site of our first date, and our fifth wedding anniversary spectacular (remind me to post about that another time).  After a phenomenal meal, we caught the most beautiful sunset on the pier.  Pretty cool birthday present, Mother Nature!  Well played!  Today's party was a group birthday party.  Ang, her brother, his wife, and Ang's stepdad, and his son's girlfriend (did you get all that?) all have birthdays this month, all within 9 days of each other!  I would like to say I have pictures but yours truly is running on 2.5 hours of sleep, and I forgot the camera.  I did have the where-with-all to snap a couple of pics with my phone.  I am sleep deprived because yesterday at 8am, I drove to Phoenix (5.5 hours) to rehearse with my old band for the second time in 10 years.  I sat in on a couple of songs 6 years ago during a concert and sat in on one rehearsal then.  It was pretty great to get back together with the guys.  We rehearsed from 2-11:30, then went to the club we are playing at in November for our PUCK benefit concert and hung out, then back home for some acoustic music making and long-winded pontificating till the wee hours of the morn.  Then, at 8am, it was time to be back in the minivan on the road to return home for today's party.





Can't do that very often, that's for sure.  I feel the ache of my body shutting down as I type so I'm wrapping it up here.

Last but not least, the title of the blog post....

I have noticed very recently that some massive doors are swinging open for me on the public speaker front, and I think the reason is because I am saying YES to serving other's needs.  It's almost like I am not pursuing speaking gigs, I am helping other people out, and as a result, more and more gigs are coming my way, which I am REALLY excited about.  I love to speak, I'm fairly good at it, and I'd really like to build speaking into a major pillar of my income and career... so... I just keep saying yes to when life asks me to serve.

What or to whom can you say yes to serving in your life/community?  Tell the rest of us!

God night.