“Challenge Yourself to Give”

By Melissa Aullman-Bechaver

With Labor Day Weekend just around

the corner I thought it would be a great time to blog about giving through being active -  and how that giving can be just as beneficial for us as for others.  I posted a picture of one of my close friends and I from a bike ride that we did last year in June.  I scared her out of her skin when I suggested that we put our heads, and legs, to the test by signing up for a 35 miles bike ride.  The ride is called “Little Red Riding Hood” and is an Annual Ride in Utah that raises money for women’s cancer research.  It took us months to train, but the pay off was worth even single drop of sweat we poured out. 

When we signed up we had hoped to do a few things:

• set a goal and achieve it
• raise awareness of cancer research
• become more active through the training

In the end we had accomplished so much more than the goals we set for ourselves.  We completed the ride (which was a feet in itself considering the longest ride I had done up to the day that we signed up was a 5 mile loop around the house where I grew up), raised awareness of the ride itself (generating more interest in the research and the ride for the following year), became more fit in body, and as a wonderful side note- we become  more “fit” in my mind.  Being a part of this ride gave me the strength to look in the mirror and feel my own strength.  My strength as an individual, as a daughter, as a sister, a wife, a mother…just my strength…in a way I had never noticed it before.  I felt blessed for every single thing I have and am capable of doing and it made me want to push myself for my own benefit and the benefit of others. 

My friend and I have made this ride an annual event for us. We both developed a deep love of biking that we will take with us where ever we go.  Events like this are a great way to develop a skill you would like to learn more about, or to show off a skill that you already have.  

Now, what can you challenge yourself to do?  

All of us have the ability to challenge ourselves in big and little ways.  Is your challenge helping someone in your neighbor hood walk their dog?  Is it helping to relieve some of your family chores by taking a little more on yourself?  Is it making time for yourself and sticking to it? Is it a 35 mile bike ride? 

When you complete your challenge will you have benefited yourself? Others? Both?  Do you have ideas to help all of us challenge ourselves? Please send in your challenge ideas, completed challenges, or any information on the topic that you would like.  I can’t wait to see what you come up with. 

Enjoy your long weekend!

This is my reason for being the best I can be, what is yours?

Written by: Melissa Aullman-Bechaver

No matter what “our” story is, it is ours and ours alone.  The paths we take, decisions we make, the triumphs and even the failures are ours to share and endure.  Our family and friends are there to lift us through it and carry us to the other side, but ultimately it is the choices we make everyday as individuals that get us one step closer to being the very best that we can be.  I think it is important to note that was makes me my best isn’t the same thing that makes someone else their best.  We are all here with different routes to take in life, and different lessons to learn.  The best I can be is going to look totally different than the best that you can be.

When I was a little girl I believe that what made me my best was how the color of my eyes matched my Mom’s perfectly, or that I could draw and draw for hours and still come up with something else to draw.  Now that I have grown into motherhood I believe the very best of me is my ability to mother.  My son wakes up my heart in ways I never knew existed.  He makes we want to be the best that I can be.  In his presence I can tackle broken toys with ease, fix stubbed toes, make the best pizza ever, and…as he says, I am “Pretty Mommy”.  Because I know that I am one of his strongest role models I work even harder to make sure that I give him the very best of me.

What is it in your life that makes you want to be better than you were yesterday?  How do you see yourself getting there? What steps can you take today to make that happen?

Whatever you do, I believe you in and your ability to be the best that you can be.  Remember that even our failures bring us closer to being the very best we can be, and knowing what we are willing to/not willing to offer.

Strengthen yourself. Strengthen your home.