My last post here was a week ago.

I try to share something most days as this is a daily writing/thinking exercise for me. Unfortunately, this hasn’t been possible lately.

We have reached my busy season at work. I’m also in the throes of a busy volunteer life. At home, I’m trying to decorate for Easter, organize my messy craft room, reorganize my books, overcome some health issues and reinvent my life so I can be the best that I can be – all while hobbling along with a bum leg.

It’s going about as well as you might imagine.

I’m physically and mentally tired. I’m overwhelmed by possibility and underwhelmed by my own management of anything more than my bedtime routine.

If only there were a few more hours in the day. The good news is the really bad part will last only another month. The bad news is there’s another month to go.

So back on track, I half heartedly try to go. But honestly, friends, if the choice is between writing and sleeping, I’m probably going to choose the sleep.

I’m sure y’all will overcome the disappointment somehow! Ha!

In case I drop off the map again and I’m not around to remind you to think positive, here’s your assignment. In this ever darkening world, what’s one small thing you can do to make it a brighter place?

It doesn’t have to be expensive or taxing in any way. Chat up your cashier at Aldi, pay a compliment to a stranger, or grab a loose cart so it doesn’t bang into someone’s car. Take donuts to a friend. Offer to babysit your sister’s kids so she can get a haircut in peace.

Maybe you want to take this assignment to the next level and help with a letter writing campaign to your member of Congress, plant a field with sunflowers (those are some happy flowers), or join your town’s beautification effort. Those pretty flowers on Main Street don’t plant and water themselves and could benefit from your green thumb. Tutor a child in a subject you know well or become their Big Brother or Big Sister if you have that program in your area.

My philosophy has long been that when I go to bed at night I should be leaving the world in the same or better condition than I found it in that morning. I’m failing miserably so I need everyone else to try a little harder while I get it together.

Think of the people of your youth who inspired you. What would Woody Guthrie, Steve Irwin, John Lennon or our beloved Mr Rogers have to say?

Woody spent a lifetime standing up against fascists, advocating for workers’ rights, and reminding us that “this land was made for you and me.”

“The Crocodile Hunter” told us that “if we save our wild places, we will ultimately save ourselves.” What would we do without the amazing wild places across the is nation of ours?

The kind and gentle soul we all knew as Mr. Roger’s taught children on television for 33 years to look for the helpers, that we are all special, and that our differences make us better. “It’s the people who feel strong and good about themselves who are best able to accept outside difference—their own and others,” he said.

Maybe we all just need better self esteem and more self respect and we would treat our planet and the people who inhabit it more kindly.

I can tell you that volunteering is a great way to put things into perspective and to understand who your true community leaders are. After a lifetime of being an active community volunteer I can tell you the politicians are rarely the real leaders. In fact, it’s usually what the state and national politicians muck up that the rest of us are trying to fix.

The true leaders are the young professionals, the retirees, and the individuals who have an interest in seeing something be better. Never underestimate the grandmotherly church lady with a freezer full of homemade pies. Those ladies will be in charge if the world ever ends.

Remember, there are plenty of ways to brighten someone else’s day and yours as well. Visit a neighbor or buy yourself a little gift from a small business. That business owner will do a happy dance at your purchase. Visiting a national park is almost a revolutionary act these days. Go take a long hike and do not skip the gift shop!

Find a way, enormous or minuscule every day to make the world just a little better. If we all did one small thing, imagine the difference we could make. I may sound a little hippie dippie but that’s fine by me.

I’ll leave you with the words of John Lennon.

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will live as one