Raising the Bar for 2010

Happy New Year

So what have you discovered this year: retirement, a new passion, a new perspective, a new direction? We asked ourselves what we could do to improve our little corner of the world. I'm not talking about resolutions, which are promises to ourselves we often don't keep. I'm talking about just doing, getting out of our comfort zones and off our butts, and paying our good fortune forward!

• We get up early and work out three times a week because we know we can no longer take our health and bodies for granted. We want to live long enough to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in 27 years.
• Whenever we go for a walk we always take a bag with us to pick up garbage that others have thoughtlessly tossed along trails, beaches and roadsides.
• We made an agreement with some close friends to quit exchanging Christmas presents (we all have too much stuff as it is) and instead donate what we would have spent to Heifer International and our local Hospice.
• We learned about Boxing Day this year and the traditions of giving on the day after Christmas. Early on the morning of the 26th we both took everything out of our closets and filled 6 bags with well cared for and rarely worn clothes and shoes and dropped them off at one of our local charities.
• We have a local non profit called The Children's Village whose mission is to "provide nurturing, stable family homes in a multi-generational, enriched environment for children and their siblings in foster care". We are avid gardeners and they need volunteers to help maintain landscaping. We have the tools and the time, so they are on our list. If you want to find out more about The Children's Village go to http://www.thechildrensvillage.com/

My "Raising the Bar" theme is two fold: (1) a call make time to improve yourself and to help someone else and (2) to spotlight some artisans whose work will help you celebrate the new year and other occasions in style.