NOTICE!! NOTICE!!

I’m excited to be a part of a new blogging project – The Noticer Project. What is The Noticer Project?

The concept is based on a new book that will be out in late April called The Noticer by Andy Andrews. The book is about gaining a fresh perspective on life by looking at the small things that make it good. The first step to participating in The Noticer Project is recognizing five people who have made a special impact on your life.

“In times like these, it’s important not to get wrapped up in what we don’t have or what we’re lacking, but instead to focus on the simple things in life that give us hope,” says Andrews, an internationally renowned speaker and author of The Traveler’s Gift. “It is most often our friends, family, teachers, spiritual leaders and heroes who truly inspire us. With The Noticer Project, I want to encourage folks everywhere to give the gift of noticing someone today, and gain perspective on their own lives in the process.”

This task proved to be a challenge for me as I think I’ve been blessed with many amazing people in my life, but this is my list (in no particular order):

My Grandfather. My grandfather was the one person in this world that I knew thought I was wonderfully perfect. You know that one person that thinks you can do no wrong and wants to give you the world? For me that person was my grandfather. This probably sounds petty when I put it in writing, but I don’t mean it that way. With my grandfather, there was never any doubt to anyone just how special I was to him. Yes, I was the favorite grandchild. Yes, he would buy me anything I asked for (luckily I had great parents who kept me grounded so I never asked for much). For 20 years, I literally was the center of my grandfather’s world, and I will always be grateful for that. I think everyone deserves to have that person in their life. That person that you know no matter how bad you mess up, no matter what, will never ever be anything but proud of you. Yes, that largely describles my parents and other grandparents – even aunts and uncles, but it was different with my grandfather. I wasn’t just one of the children, grandchildren, or nieces – I was THE grandchild – the chosen one, and I have missed him more than words can say since his passing 9 years ago.

My Parents. I really didn’t want this to just be a list of 5 of my closest family members so I’m going to group this together. I have 3 wonderful parents – yes 3 (my mom remarried when I was young so I’m lucky enough to have 2 dads). My parents have always been there for me, and I’ve always known (like with my grandfather) that they were proud of me. I can admit this now at the age of 30, that I’m glad they didn’t baby me, didn’t give me everything I asked for, and set high expectations. I was grounded for B’s, had an earlier curfew than most of my friends, I had to work if I wanted a car, and I had to pay for my education. There have been times (of course) that I think it would have been nice to have them relax on a few of those expectations, but ultimately I know I’m a better person because of their love and expectations.

My Children. Yes. I guess they didn’t choose to be a part of my life, but they may have had the biggest impact on my life. Almost nine years ago, my daughter was born and from that moment on, I do feel that I became a different person, a better person. Every day I thank the Lord for her even though the situation was awkward, the Lord did know what he was doing. She was just what I needed and still need to make my life complete. My teenager came into my life just a couple years ago – a young girl who was working hard to make everything of her life that she could, but life wasn’t really working with her. She deserved so much more than the opportunities she had in her present situation and so we invited her into our family. The work was done, we went to court, and I became the guardian of a teenager. In the last two years, she has brought me nothing but happiness. I’ve known her as both her guardian/mother figure, her teacher, and her debate coach, and in each she has proven nothing but superior. I love her as if she’d been with me her entire life.

My “Other” Parents. I’m avoiding names here, but if they were to read this, they would know who they were. At around 10, a couple came into my life. They worked with my dad.  Over the years they became more than coworkers – they became FAMILY.  It is hard to explain this relationship.  As I grew up, they were like a mixture of a parents and grandparents to me. As I’ve grown into adulthood, our relationship has evolved into that of friends also.  When I went to work at my first teaching job, she became my mentor and coworker.  This is such a hard relationship to describe – that of a friend/parent/grandparent, but that’s what they are, which makes them so special.  Though life keeps us from seeing each other too often now, I still think that without their influence for the past 20 years, my life would have not been complete.

My Friends.  Ok, so maybe I’m cheating, but I’m grouping some very important people here into this list and counting them as one.  There are really 5 current friends that I would include in this list.  All of them but one are in education – they all teach high school and a variety of subjects.  There’s a Math teacher, an English teacher, a Speech/Theatre/Health teacher, and a Social Studies teacher, and then there’s one that isn’t in education, but he thinks he may coach baseball one day.  Each in their own ways, play big parts in my life – they each listen when I need to really get something off my chest, if I need to go out for a drink, there’s a couple of them that do that for me. When I just need a distraction from life’s current stresses, these 5 people can always chill me out and put life back into perspective. I love each of them dearly.

Now there you go.  Those are my “5 Important People.”  It would be great if you participated too.  Join in The Noticer Project and find a way to acknowledge 5 Influential People in your life.

Also – Join in the Facebook Group or Follow on Twitter!!!

Coming April 27 – A Review of The Noticer and your own chance to win a copy of The Noticer!!