When I first started morningswithron.com, I had had no idea where it was going to go. I knew I liked to write. I knew I had something to say. I knew that I wanted to reach people. The question was did people want to listen? Months later, you have all answered those questions for me and I thank you for your support.

We are all given gifts and talents. Whether we choose to use them is completely up to us. Yet, when we do beautiful things happen, many times without us even realizing it. Sharing our gifts often touch people in unimaginable ways and sometimes in ways that will never be known to us. We say something that gives someone that extra strength that they need to get through the day. We share a talent that becomes that person’s inspiration to nurture their own. Or we may share a gift in a way that touches a person’s soul so much that their thought of giving up dissipates and they find the strength to go on and not give up.

I have received comments from many of you that something I have said in one of my writings resonated with you on that particular day. Or it gave you a reason to look at something differently, or act in a way that you may not have otherwise acted. It gave you courage to face a problem or a situation head on and and avert what could have made the situation even worse. That is what sharing your gifts and talents is all about.

Sharing with others isn’t about fame and fortune for ourselves. It is about using what has been bestowed on us to touch lives, nurture souls and leave the world a little better off than we found it. It is about sharing, caring and loving our fellow person enough to want to provide them a little assistance to help get through their every day lives. It is about spreading kindness in the world in hopes that it will take root and inspire others to do the same.

Every act that you perform today has the opportunity to change the world in some small or large way. Something you may say, some talent or gift you may share or something you may do has the potential to be someone’s strength, inspiration or reason not to give up. Sharing also provides us the opportunity to nurture our own souls and make us the people that we really want to be.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron

#inspirationalmessages #morningwithron morningswithron.com

Earlier this week I mentioned that our in person deliveries certainly gave us some stories to tell. Because we have so many communities that receive our deliveries now, we are no longer able to deliver in person. We rely on the activities directors in the communities to deliver the cards for us. That means that we have an ever increasing need for funds to pay for postage for our community deliveries. However, we have fond memories of our times in the communities and I wanted to share a couple of them with you.

One memory that stands out was when we were delivering to one our Tampa communities. As we were going into a room to deliver a card with the activities director, she told us that the woman we were delivering to did not speak. She said that we would most likely have to take the card out of the envelope and read it to her, which Linda did on many occasions. Linda read the sentiment from the student who had decorated the card and you could see a light come in the woman’s eye as she heard the words. When Linda was finished the lady looked up at us and said “Thank You” with a smile. The activities director was floored as she had never head the woman speak and the power of a card immediately became evident.

In a similar situation, we were in another community where we were with the activities director and approached a man in a wheelchair. The activities director told us that he no longer had mobility, so he would not be able to take the card from us and again we would have to take the card out of the envelope and read it to him, which Linda did. As soon as she finished reading the card, the man reached up and took the card from her hand. We thought the activities director was going to fall over. Another card miracle.

While there is one story I would like to tell, I am sure that it would not be appropriate for this site yet is still burned in our memory. But one other encounter reminded us that our cards do not always cause miracles. We again approached a resident in tow with the activities director that was sitting on a sofa in his room. In her usual bright cheery disposition, Linda entered with the director and looked at the man asked how he was doing and told him that she hoped that he was having a good day. The man glared at her and before we knew it shouted out, “how do you think I’m doing you A-hole, I’m dying”. If you could have seen the look on mine and the activities director’s face. It was then that we learned that there is a certain point in your life where you have the earned the license to say whatever you want.

There are many other stories, but these are the ones that stand out the most. The Bring Smiles journey has been one of the most amazing experiences in my life. It has filled that hole in my heart and given me the answer to the question, “why am I here”? I hope that you too will find that one thing that nurtures your soul and answers the same question for you.

Have a good rest of the weekend and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

Lightning Community Hero Video

The first two years of the Bring Smiles program saw tremendous growth. We had connected to more communities than we ever thought imaginable. We had built a card donor base, added school and civic group partners and staffed our program with volunteers that would help our program be successful. We met every hardship with the will to press on. There were times that we ran out of cards, ran out of money and wondered if it was all sustainable. However, just when things seemed most bleak, amazing things would happen and we were able to go on to live another day.

In 2017 we delivered 18,810 cards. I was worried that the card supply would not grow and that keeping up with those kinds of numbers was not sustainable. Therefore, I set our goal for 2018 at 20,000 cards in hopes that we would be able to deliver. As we entered 2018 I felt something special going on. We were making connections in the card community that was spreading the word faster than advertising ever could. Miraculously, a few dollars here and there started to appear. By mid year it became obvious that our 2018 goal was going to be blown out of the water. That is the power of “we”.

Because our card donors were from all over the country, we decided that we had a responsibility to give back to their states as well. Mid year we started the first of our “Random Acts” campaigns and delivered cards to a senior community in all 50 states. We were so successful with that campaign that we decided to start with the alphabet and go backwards and deliver to all 50 states again, in reverse order. We completed that campaign just before the fall. By late November we had delivered over 34,000 cards and we knew that this year was going to be something special.

While the final numbers are not in, we know that we will have delivered to over 200 Seniors communities in all 50 states by the time we close out 2018. We will have provided cards to senior communities, elderly nutrition programs and seniors at home. We will have involved schools, civic organizations and now corporate entities in our decorating programs. We started a home decorating program where individuals can get involved that might not otherwise have the means to contribute. We have some amazing decorators that have become an integral part of what we do. Finally, while we don’t know what the final number is going to be for 2018, we know that it is going to be pretty darn close to 40,000.

The picture above says it all. While I was honored with the Tampa Bay Lightning Community hero award this year, I knew it was not about me. It was about our volunteers, card artists, decorators, students, teachers, principals, civic group leaders, donors and corporate participants that believe in what we do. It was about every senior that needed a smile and every person willing to help deliver it. It was about a little dream that definitely turned into a very big reality.

Have a great weekend and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

We were starting to grow our senior communities. We had made the connections to school and civic groups. Could there be other areas in the senior population that we could reach? That question led to a meeting with the Pasco County Elderly Nutrition program. We wanted to see if we could provide cards to be delivered with the seniors meals and possibly work with their congregate dining centers to have seniors decorate cards for us. Our ask was met with a resounding yes and our connection to senior meal programs was born. We now provide cards to senior meal programs all over the country.

A not-for-profit can not be successful without volunteers to serve as it’s backbone. We had Linda, Renee, Diane and I, but we needed more. The most logical place to look was within our card donor base. Those that had been loyal to us in our first year and had provided so many cards. It was obvious that those people were the ones that shared the same passion that we did.

We set up a coffee date with one of our local donors in the Tampa Bay Area. We knew from the moment we met that Becky was also going to be something special. Not only had she made thousands of cards for us, but her ability to ask for things and make them happen made her a logical choice for our Manager of Special Events. She could help with fundraising, card decorating events and other needs that may arise. Check that one off the list.

Our final volunteer was another gut decision that did not let us down. Again, we had been receiving box loads of cards from a donor in Virginia. We had started to expand outside Florida and Michigan and we knew we were going to need someone to handle those mailings. Liane would go on to make and send cards to communities all over the country as the Manager of Special Mailings. Our volunteer organization was finally formed and I could not ask for a more amazing group of people.

We had the communities, we were starting to expand outside our two core states and cards were coming in from all over. We had schools and civic groups decorating for us. Word was starting to get out about our program and soon we realized that this little dream was starting to become a very big reality. Year one, 7,719 cards delivered. Year two, 18,810 cards delivered. What would year three bring?

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

Not only did we need a lot of cards, but we needed a lot of cards decorated. That presented two problems. We had to have a source for cards, but once we received them we also needed to get them decorated on the inside. A dual issue that had to be solved. However, the first issue was getting more cards. We had built a Facebook presence with a few followers, but we needed more. I decided to go out on a limb and spend a considerable amount of my own money using Facebook to advertise the program and it paid off in a big way. Networks of people across the country got wind of what we were doing and many card artists, we call them card angels, started supplying us with some of the most beautiful handmade cards that you have ever seen. They started showing up from all over the country and we knew we had made the connection we needed. But how would we get them all decorated?

One of the things that we decided early on in the program was that for this to be successful we had to have others involved. We wanted children to understand the importance of remembering those that paved the way for us and we wanted Seniors to remember that they were loved and not forgotten. We had to find a way to connect this circle of life and the most logical place was to start with schools and civic groups. Schools came on board, then came groups like the Girl and Boy Scouts and soon others. We were able to get the blank cards that we were receiving into these groups and in turn had a supply of cards to deliver to our list of senior communities that was rapidly expanding. Our mantra of “connecting the circle of life” was born.

Never one to rest on our laurels and always wanting more, we knew we needed to expand. The need was too great to just work in our community. Since almost the beginning of the program we had been receiving cards weekly from one of our donors that lived north of us in Florida. It was obvious she liked to write cards, happy mail she called it. We knew we needed to meet with her. We set up a lunch, made the connection with Renee and it was not long before she became the manager of our home delivery program that would send cards to seniors at home through another arm of our ever growing program. However, could there be more? Well of course.

Also in our first year we made a connection with a previous client/friend of mine who had a sister in Michigan that was interested in being a part of our journey. I had a call with her and explained our program. She quickly signed on to what we were doing. As hard as it was to let go of control, I saw something in Diane that I knew was special and that she was going to be a major asset to our program. Before we knew it, the Bring Smiles to Seniors Michigan program was born and has gone on to be something wonderful under Diane’s guidance. But were senior communities the only one’s in need?

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

Having made the decision to start the Bring Smiles journey, we now had cards and supplies and a little money, but to what communities were we going to deliver all these new found cards? How would we get senior communities to realize that we were legitimate and let us into their communities to deliver cards to their residents? I knew the first thing we were going to have to do was create a real non-profit. A tax exempt corporate entity with a real name that would hopefully open doors for us. That was when Bring Smiles to Forgotten Seniors was born. We would eventually go on to drop “forgotten” from our official name as we knew that there were many seniors we would be serving that were not forgotten, but that is how it started.

I suspected that the places with the most need were likely not-for-profit communities. Those with less money, but with residents who had just as much need. So, I took a chance and set up a meeting with The Senior Care Group Foundation who had a network of senior communities in the Tampa Bay Area. We told them our story and they believed in our mission so much that they let us go into their communities around the area and deliver cards to their residents. We worked on decorating cards and eventually visited every one of their communities in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. The response from the residents and the staff was heartwarming and wonderful and we knew we were on to something.

Because we had a limited number of communities and were delivering once a quarter, we were able to hand deliver cards to the communities and visit the residents individually. That in itself provided more stories than you could imagine. Seeing the power that one small card could bring to a senior’s face was amazing. You may as well have handed them a million dollars because that is exactly what the card meant to them. The smiles, the tears and the joy from that little piece of paper. We quickly knew that we were not going to be satisfied with just the communities we were serving, we needed more. It was also about this time that the local Bay News 9 got wind of what we were doing and did a story on our program.

Fortunately our connection with The Senior Care Group provided us credibility to approach other communities who started to let us in to see their residents as well. Linda was not working at the time and I was spending my lunch and after work hours delivering cards. Were we going to be able to do it all alone? Probably not. Plus, we needed more cards decorated and how in the world were we going to find the time to do that? We knew we had to put the need out into the universe. We did and it delivered in a big way.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles.

Ron

On Friday of last week, I began the series about the Bring Smiles journey. For the next few days I will be sharing with you some of the stories of how we got to where we are today in the Bring Smiles program. I hope that you enjoy.

As I spoke with the nurses in my grandmother’s nursing home, I quickly realized that there were many in her community that were not as lucky as she. My mom and aunt were great about decorating the board in her room for the holidays, posting pictures of family and friends and hanging all the cards that she received from well wishers. However, as I went through the community, I noticed that there were many that had blank walls, no decorations or cards, and also many that needed a little cheering up. I told myself that there had to be something that I could do.

My first idea was to put a post on my personal Facebook page and ask all my friends and family to send me cards that I could then deliver to the residents in my grandmother’s community. The response was overwhelming. In true style, many people contributed and I was able to collect enough cards to ensure that every resident would receive a card. The day came to pass out the cards and I was quite excited. When I saw the look on the residents faces when they were handed a card I knew that I was on to something. There had to be more that I could do. I also knew I could not do it alone and enlisted my friend Linda to go on the journey with me.

My second idea was to put up a Go Fund Me page and see if I could collect money to buy cards and supplies. We would decorate these cards ourselves so that we could deliver cards regularly to my grandmother’s community. The response was again overwhelming. Not only did my friends and family chip in big time, but Go Fund Me recognized what we were doing and made a $1,000 donation through their grant program. The pictures here were Linda and I going on our first card buying adventure. With all we purchased, we quickly realized that this was going to be bigger than my Grandmother’s community and that we were going to have to find more communities in need.

I always like to say I had this little idea. One small gesture that would become a seed that we planted that once nurtured with love began to grow into something much greater than we could have ever expected. If you believe it you can do it and do it we did.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron

Do you ever feel like there is a hole in your heart and you can’t quite figure out how to fill it? There are many good things in your life like family, job, living situation and friends. However, you just don’t feel quite complete and you know that there has to be a little bit more out there to give your heart the food that it needs. That was me a little more than three years ago.

When you are suddenly faced with an unexpected life occurrence that throws your very being off kilter, you have to make adjustments mentally and emotionally that you never thought you would have to make. Even when my grandmother was diagnosed with dementia, we still got to enjoy her at home for quite a long period of time. Unfortunately, my mom and dad had to deal with her worsening condition as she lived with them. When it got to the point that she was hurting herself and potentially others, the decision everyone dreads had to be made and thankfully my aunt and my mom, together with the doctor, made the right choice to place her in a place where she could get the professional care she needed. That was when my life changed.

I remember my first visit like it was yesterday. I didn’t know what to expect, how I would react and most of all how she would react to me. As I entered the doors the place was nice, clean, smelled wonderful and the staff was friendly. So far so good. As I walked down the hall and into the dementia ward I was met with a myriad of faces. I remember distinctly the woman holding her dolls, the man and woman sitting side by side and the lady constantly crying out. There were faces that knew you were looking at them and faces that no matter how hard you looked and said hello there were only blank stares in return. Some were walking, some were in wheelchairs and others were confined to their bed. I knew there were some that had entered those walls and would never see outside again and my heart was sad.

My grandmother was one of the active ones and at this point still knew me. We were lucky, she was one of the ones that did not put up a fight and only asked occasionally when she would be able to go home. She settled pretty well. Visiting her I had the opportunity to speak with nurses about their experience in the community. That is where it all changed.

I learned that there were many not as lucky as my grandmother. Many who were alone and forgotten. Some that never got visitors or contact from the outside. Others that just needed a loving touch from someone other than the daily professional care that they were receiving. I knew that there was something that I had to do and realized that there had to be a difference that I could make. It was during this time that this program was born and the hole in my heart began to close.

Starting Monday and over the next week I will take you on that journey to where we are today and share the experiences that helped me nurture my soul and thousands of others. I will share with you some of the insights from the beginning and give you a view into the Bring Smiles world we all are now a part of. Until then, have a great weekend and remember to be the reason someone smiles!

Ron

I love this quote! One of the beautiful things about giving, especially in the Bring Smiles program, is that we touch thousands of lives regularly. These are lives of people that we don’t even know. During several of our campaigns this year we delivered to senior communities in all 50 states, twice. These are all seniors who we have never met, seniors we have no personal information on and seniors that all deserve a little reminder that they are special. We do what we do with absolutely no expectation of repayment as all our services are funded by your donations. Unconditional giving is one of the most beautiful things in life and an integral part of how we operate.

Many people give expecting to receive. I have always been one of those people that has always enjoyed the act of giving so much that it makes me socially awkward during the holidays and birthdays. I am so excited to see others open the gifts that I have picked out for them, that when it comes to my turn it is a bit anticlimactic, at least for me. I also enjoy paying for the car behind me in the coffee line as I am able to drive away without them ever knowing who I was.

Giving is good for the soul. When it becomes an integral part of our life, it is what helps to make us well rounded people. When I first started this program we had to purchase all our cards that were delivered to seniors. Slowly as we advertised through Facebook and started to get followers, we began to receive handmade cards from some of the most generous people on the planet. In our third year of operation we have not bought a single card in 2018, yet will deliver just shy of 40,000. Think about it. All these people work tirelessly on boxes of cards that they put in the mail and trust that we are going to get them delivered to seniors. Most have never met us, but believe in what we do so much that they want to be a part of something special. Others donate their time or money to help keeping us going, all to help seniors that they have never met and who will never be able to repay them.

That is the beautiful thing about the generosity of the human spirit. The desire to do for those that paved the way for all of us is strong, bright and alive. Everyone has (or has had) a mother, grandmother, father or grandfather. We all feel that connection with the need to take care of them in those times when they can no longer take care of themselves. We feel the genuineness of doing something for those that will never repay us and that is a beautiful thing.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron

How much of our life do we spend trying to change the things that we have absolutely no control over? This can apply to people, situations or even unexpected events that happen in our lives. We spend so much time trying to change someone or something that ultimately we have no control to affect, that we often waste precious time in our own lives that we could use focusing on nurturing our own souls.

In reality, we have the ultimate control. If we are in a bad relationship we can get out. If we are in a bad work situation we can change jobs. If we are in a bad living arrangement we can move. However staying in those situations and trying to change the person, work or place to suit our needs usually only leads to a lot of wasted years of our own lives.

Does that mean that we just walk away from anything that makes us uncomfortable? Absolutely not. We do owe it to ourselves to work together to make situations and relationships better to determine if there is a chance for change. However, we all know that at some point the realization comes that change is impossible and it is those situations where we have to be honest with ourselves, know that we have exhausted our options and move on to a better life.

Years ago I was in a bad job situation. I had tried to change positions to another area of the company, tried different work hours and even tried counseling to try and figure out if I was the problem. Nothing seemed to work. How did I know I was in a no win situation? I was taking anxiety pills to go to work. I was taking sleeping pills to go to sleep at night. I did not want to go anywhere or do anything. The situation I was in was not going to change. I had only one choice to maintain my sanity and that was to leave and know that my ability to control the situation was gone. It was no longer the place for me and I left 15 years behind and started over. The best move I ever made in my career.

Letting go is not easy. We invest our time, energy, resources and love in people, places and things. They become a part of the fabric of who we are and tearing that fabric is no easy task. But sometimes it takes tearing that fabric completely to be able to put on a whole new garment to see just how good change can feel. It takes courage, perseverance and dedication, but it is possible. The moment you break free of that which is holding you back is the instant that life begins again. Oh what a beautiful life it can be.

Have a great day and remember to be the reason someone smiles today.

Ron