Focus: Be Better

Tuesday, January 13, 2009, by Leigh Anne & Sherra

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We have designated Tuesday as a day where we will have different women share “Moments & Memories” in their lives.

We plan to feature women from all walks of lives – it may be in the form of an interview or as a guest writer. The column on Tuesday will be centered around our word of the month. We’d love to feature you as a guest writer. Qualifications: No experience necessary…just be willing to share a great moment or memory with other women. Send us an email and we’ll schedule a date. Our guest writers do not necessarily have to have a website or a blog as we want iLash Girls to be a place where every woman has a voice!

Sherra says…

Kerri is my oldest friend though she is actually younger than me. Go figure. We were in a blended class way back in my elementary school days. She was in 4th grade and I was in 5th grade in Rockford, Michigan. Our dads were golf buddies and we actually learned to play golf and snow ski together. I’ve never forgotten how you mastered the rope tow that day, Kerr We’ve kept in touch through all these years and I was delighted when she agreed to be our guest here today. Please welcome Kerri…

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I am a self-employed sales representative working from a home office. I have spent the last ten+ years building a successful sales business in the largely male dominated industry of industrial coatings and hydrographic finishing. Don’t worry – nobody else knows what that means either!

Married 22 years with no kids but one great dog. The husband is pretty great too! I was born, raised and still live in Rockford, Michigan (claim to fame: home of Hush Puppy shoes). Most of my family lives within 20 minutes of my home and several are just walking distance away. At 40-something, I am fortunate to have three grandparents who are active and in good health both mentally and physically. Gotta love those genes!

Favorite color:

All of them

Favorite food you associate with Winter:

Homemade soups.

Pet Peeve?

Mean people.

What is something that no one knows about you? (that you want to tell the whole internet world)

I talk to my dog even though he is totally deaf. Is it weirder that I talk to my dog, or that I talk to a dog that can’t hear a thing I say??

One word that describes you:

I took a poll among friends – they came up with ‘nuts’. I need new friends.

What’s your motto or mantra:

Be in gratitude

What are the top three things you that are most important to you — the things you love to do and you are passionate about?

I love to hang out with family and friends.
I love walking with my dog.
I love to laugh and make others laugh.

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Focus

When Sherra asked me to be a guest writer on the subject of FOCUS I had to chuckle. I am one of those people who trips through life, but by the grace of God, always lands on her feet. So ‘focus’ is not something used in any description you will ever hear about me. Luckily, Sherra was kind enough to give me some direction for the post…she asked what my focus was going to be for 2009.

The New Year brings thoughts of not only reflection on the past 12 months, but a look forward and those nasty resolutions that everyone seems to think you HAVE to make. I gave up on the “eat less”, “workout more”, “be more productive”, type resolutions that, for me, are done and over almost before the disco ball drops in Times Square. What I try to focus on throughout the year is to just be a better person. Seriously, my “resolution” for the past several years has simply been ‘be better’.

Short and sweet. Easy to remember. And if you fall off the wagon now and again, it’s much easier to recover from than eating too many double cheeseburgers. Trust me on that one.

I know this sounds silly, but if you wake up every day and tell yourself that you are going to be better today than yesterday – and you are a pretty good person to begin with – imagine what you can accomplish in just one year! I began this quest for betterness (yes, I made up the word) because I read a quote in a magazine that said “when in doubt do the NICE thing”. Such a simple concept but it was a revelation for me.

My husband and I have been blessed with great families, wonderful friends, jobs we love, and the aforementioned dog that we both adore. So why not be grateful for those things and try to make somebody’s life just a tad brighter if you have the chance? A phone call, a card, some flowers or fresh vegetables from my garden, or a home-cooked meal – these things cost very little or nothing at all yet they can make all the difference in the world to someone who is struggling emotionally or financially.

With all of the bad news we see every day on the news, all of us need a pick-me-up now and then. I would like to use this opportunity to challenge all of you to ‘be better’ in 2009. Make it a conscious choice throughout the year and see what happens. You will be rewarded with smiles, hugs, and best of all the knowledge that you have the power to bring some joy into this crazy and sometimes ugly world.

Wishing you all a happy 2009!