So what does this all mean...

and why should you care? I honestly don't know. My only goal here is to let you know that despite the fact that you may be cynical and not believe my motives and thoughts, I truly just want to make the world a better place somehow. This is where I start and I hope to get ideas from other people, and read your inspirational stories and share these fantastical whims onto the rest of you.  If you don't like that notion, that's fine, don't read.  If you like what you're reading, thanks! You can live through my sad writing skills, with my encouraging for you to try to think about what you want to do, or you can feel free to let me know how you're enjoying your life and making the world a better place.

My daily goal is to make someone smile or engage in conversation with someone that I would otherwise not cross paths with and pass on something to make their day/evening better.

These corgis make me smile, like little clown dogs :)

What have I done? The last two days, I have started at my goal in earnest:
During a Friday morning run, I was running along 5th Avenue and picked up a random cheap fan that they were passing out in front of the store Mango being used for branding and getting the name out there.  I played with it for a while during my run.  On my subway ride back to my apartment, I saw a mother with her daughter and son.  She looked tired and the girl looked a bit sad, and I decided that I had absolutely no need to keep this cheap plastic fan that would eventually wind up in a garbage bin or landfill.  I offered it to the mother to give to her daughter. Nothing fancy, nothing exquisite or even well thought out, just pure chance and opportunity.

Saturday, I was fortunate to have a couple of lovely conversations.  I ran about 13-14 miles in the morning in Central Park as I ramp up my preparation for the Philadelphia Marathon in late November.  As I finished my running, a retired couple begins talking to me.  We engage in conversation about how beautiful the weather is, and just the opportunities that are afforded in this city that are beyond so many other people.  As the runners, bikers, rollerbladers go by, they see a woman they know who has MS go by on a hand bike.  Despite the fact that she has MS, she triumphs over that and gets out to cycle every other day. Amazing and awe-inspiring. 

Just on my way home from a friend's place tonight, I had the pleasure of conversing on the subway with a couple in their 20's (David and Amanda).  While they were heading out to the Lower East Side, they took the time to tell me the story of a friend who lives close to Central Park where you can see/hear the NYC Marathon in the fall.  A few hours after most of the people had crossed the finish line in last year's marathon, they heard in their apartment, a spontaneous cheering erupting and progressing up the avenue.  It turns out that it was for the last person that would cross the line that day, a man with one leg proceeding to finish the 26.2 miles of the marathon on crutches.  I personally can't wait to see the marathon this year and hopefully volunteer.

We need these inspirational stories. You take what you're given and you live life to its fullest.

Time for a celebration!

into the middle of a sentence.  I woke up this morning with not much to note except that I wanted to hit snooze again and wait a few more precious moments to get up.  But, it was the first day this week that it was not raining and it looked nice outside.  So I finished my quick half hour run/jaunt through the streets of Manhattan and realized that everything is right in the world for me at this moment in my life.

Obviously, the world is still in disarray and has many issues including questions in this very own city revolving around the mosque issue in the World Trade Center area and the violence/hatred that has stemmed from that. But, that aside, let's look at the positives going on.  If you've taken the time to read this, come to this realization.  You're privileged enough to have access to internet.  That means that you likely have the time and means to not really have to stress about the clothing on your back, the shelter over your head, and where your food comes from.  You may hate your job or work, which is your right, but for most of us, our biggest worry is what we are eating at our next meal rather than if we are even going to have a next meal.  Read that, let it simmer, and smile.  Your life is good no matter whether you care to believe me or not.

I enjoy my life, I love what I do, I like my company, and I am fortunate to have good health.  So, my plan today was to try to smile at everyone I passed on the way to work.  Accomplished.  I felt self-conscious and got no return smiles, but I sure hope that somewhere, someone felt better about their day because of it.  My next goal is to start accruing photos of me with random people just smiling and being happy in this city/country/world with other tourists, people on the way to work, coworkers, whatever.

Be happy, share your positives with the world, and I'll try to do the same. :)

To aspire, to befriend, to congratulate, to dare, to empathize, to fancy, to give, to highlight, to imagine, to justify, to kindly, to love, to meditate, to nurture, to optimize, to persevere,  to query, to rejoice, to smile, to thrive, to uplift, to validate, to work, to (be) xenial, to yede, to zest