My life has been a swirling tornado of emotions lately.  A lot of you know the intricacies of that statement and some of you have no clue and its probably easier to leave it that way.  The past 24 hours, though, have been a real game changer for me. The past 24 hours have really made me stop and realize there is so much more to life and there is so much about life to motivate me.

Life is always going to be a waiting game.  Whether that means waiting for the right job, the paycheck at the end of the week, family problems to fix themselves, friends to get to the bar, the sun to come out after the rain, the phone to stop ringing, the gas to get cheaper, your wedding day to arrive, your kid to take his or her first steps… its all a waiting game.  In that wait though you find other things to occupy your time, you come across choices – keep waiting or do something about it, quit waiting and move on, but no matter what life goes on and every day there is another reason to get up and start your day.

Lets start with a text message I received last night that was a real wake up call for me.  I have a dear friend who is currently at Duke Medical going through evaluations to be placed on the transplant list for a double lung transplant.  This will be his SECOND lung transplant.  That text message asked me to help raise the money to save his life, to cover the costs needed to do the transplant.  If you weren’t awake when the first text message came through, you sure as hell will be when you get that one.  At that point I sat in bed for hours, my mind racing, how to raise the money, how strong he is, how I wish I had as much strength and endurance as he does, who could I get to help me with this task, how my heart bled for him because I just wanted to make everything ok… I’m a fixer… you should know this by now.  But all in all, I thought to myself, how minuscule this made my stressful, terrible, crappy day seem.

Fast forward to this morning.

I went to the monthly breakfast for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).  I was particularly interested in the topic that morning, Social Media for Non-profits.  Sarah Milston of Milston Consulting gave a fabulous and insightful presentation on fundraising and social media and how it should be used by non-profits in order to be successful.  What caught my attention was throughout her presentation she cited projects that were financially successful through the usage of blogs, facebook, twitter, etc.  When we reached the example of the 4 moms in Richmond who started Pennies in Protest  she talked about how these 4 moms, with the support of our community, raised $14,000 in one week.  This effort to turn the hateful visit of Westboro Baptist Church in Richmond into something positive is a perfect example of how a couple people can make big change.  Its a perfect example of how life motivates us to do good, contribute and understand we can be the catalyst for big change.  I know I can take this motivation and make change too.

Where do I find my motivation?  Even when life gets shitty, work gets stressful, people disappoint me and I just want to lay on the ground and have a good ‘ol temper tantrum… I have to find that motivation in me (sometimes it takes longer than others), take some deep breaths and realize I am my own motivation.  My goal in life to be a good person, be a good friend, daughter, sister, VCU Rams fan, traveler…. the list goes on… it lives in me.  Sometimes it takes little reminders, like my past 24 hours, to put things in perspective.  As a friend, I will work my ass off to make sure my friend gets that transplant.  I can’t imagine what it takes to ask for help in situations like that, but it is a quality I will admire in him forever.  It is a quality I will strive to emulate… asking for help when you need it most.

So for me, today, even after a couple shitty days in a row, my motivation is to help a friend.  To make change in my community and do good, big or small.  I know this may sound cheesy and cliche, but its what it took for me today, Thursday.  Friday might be different, but no matter what there’s always a reason for me to start my day.

*******UPDATE:  A paypal account has been set up for anyone who is interested in donating for our friend’s double-lung transplant. Thank you all for your genorosity and help! If you’re interested in more information and keeping up with Chris’ status, you can learn more at: http://christophernalley.com or if you’d like to donate please click the button below: