Get inspired and volunteer

Like most people my intentions are always better than my actual action plan. In recent years, I have put myself to the task of doing more volunteer work and the rewards of giving my time have been so inspiring to me.

Three years ago I went down to New Orleans to spend a week building new homes outside of New Orleans for displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina.  The homeowners were grateful, the citizens of the town were grateful for our efforts but it was I that was grateful for the new friends I made on the Habitat for Humanity site. I gave my time but I got so much in return that it was worth every minute I hang from a ladder pounding nails.

With that experience in mind, I volunteered again to help launch a new healthy living organization called Live Well Lakewood that I told you about last week. Our first event is over with and it was a wonderful success. Joy Bauer and Dr. Roizen came to help us kick off our campaign. We had around 1,000 people go through our health fair and we got so much positive feedback that we can’t wait to start planning our next event.

 

 

I invited several other Joy Fit Club members to hear Joy’s talk. Shelley Napier had lost 206 pounds and Kathy Stewart had lost 146 pounds. We sat there listening to Joy inspire others to eat healthy and respect food. At the end of her talk, I asked them what they thought and we all agreed that Joy’s inspired us to keep on track. We all agreed that we would never go back to your former way of eating and we totally embrace our new lives and will keep those thoughts front and center as we begin another year on this side of being thin.