Most people who know me, know that goals are an important part of my life. I need something in my sight to work towards, with milestone check-ins along the way. It gives me an opportunity to change course when I am faltering and extend the goal when I am overachieving. It is the way my brain works and what allows me to drive to success. However, it took me a long time to figure out that it really wasn’t about the goal, it was the person that I was to become along that goal journey that really mattered. Nowhere has that been more evident in my life than my journey in the Bring Smiles to Seniors program.

Starting out, I was just a guy visiting his grandmother, who recognized a need in her senior community. My visits gave me a glimpse into an unfamiliar world, where people became part of a community in their later years. During my visits I would see family and friends sitting and talking with their loved ones. Of course, I also saw those that were sad and lonely, who were longing for that human touch. Initially, I was achieving my goal, to visit my grandmother and remind her that she was loved. It wasn’t long before that goal became so much larger.

The idea that I would make a Facebook post and ask all my friends and family to send cards that I could deliver to the residents in my grandmother’s community, came to me in a visit early on. It was to be a one time thing and the response that I got was overwhelming. I received enough cards to make sure that every resident in her community received that reminder that they were remembered and loved. With that act, my goal was complete. Or was it?

That one act lit a fire inside me that would begin a journey that has been going for almost five years. I felt that the need for compassion for our seniors to remind them that they were loved and still mattered soon filled my mind. It was then that the idea for Bring Smiles to Seniors came to life. It was then that I started to discover the person that I needed to be, to fulfill this goal that I had created for myself.

Along this journey, people came into my life that supported, loved and encouraged me to be the kind of person that used a passion for others, to fill a void that had long been present. The program grew beyond any expectation, including my own, as we went from delivering over 7,000 cards our first year to over 200,000 in 2020. Along the way, I learned to do things I previously thought impossible. I found inner strength on the days of potential collapse, to find what I needed to muster through. I used the collective energy of all those involved to mold and shape the person I wanted to be, I needed to be, to achieve success.

While goals are important, it isn’t always just about the goal. On the journey of success we have to shape and mold ourselves to become the person necessary to make the achievement of that goal a reality. It is the strength that we gain, and the knowledge of our inner selves, that provide us the tools to tackle anything that our minds decide is possible.

#morningswithron