Happy Monday and new week, all!
I won’t be doing any dilly-dallying this week, so I’m going to get right into it.
Hope you have your morning beverage ready and your seat belt buckled because…
Here. We. Go.
I’m not going to lie…it is has been quite some time since I have cried at something that I’ve seen on the news. But on Wednesday, January 6th, that changed.
After seeing the news, pictures, and videos of the riots on our Capitol, I lost myself.
I cried.
I cried tears of emotion as I saw an image of an America that I never thought I would see. It was a climax of hatred and bigotry that I’ve witnessed on the rise for quite some time now as we moved throughout the past several days, weeks, months, years.
I was angry.
I was saddened.
I was angry and saddened as I looked at where our Country was standing–just a mere 6 days after a new year had just started.
For someone who sees himself as an enteral optimist, it was a moment in time where I just couldn’t see the light.
But then, the very light I couldn’t find and needed in my life came to me just when I needed it most.
Exactly one week ago, I launched my biggest endeavor and task to date entitled “Miles4Smiles.” For those who might not be familiar, this endeavor is going to involve running the equivalent of 50 full marathons (1,310 miles), raising $20,000 for The Conner M. Holland Foundation, and sending 2,000 cards to pediatric cancer patients to local hospitals across the Country. (You can find more information at http://www.miles-4-smiles.com).
These are quite the ambitious goals to accomplish this year, especially after the time frame we call 2020.
In the first week of what some might call an insanely, crazy project for Mr. Sunshine to undertake, I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of support from individuals all around me.
And I truly mean ALL around me.
I went from crying tears of sadness on Wednesday to ending the weekend crying tears of joy and happiness.
It was beautiful.
The amount of people that have already reached out about both making and donating cards to send to the pediatric cancer patients is incredible. I already received a first batch that were creatively created by my Cousin Pam that I will work on getting mailed out within the next couple of weeks. In addition, I received an email from an individual who had just started following my journey and asked if she could support me in the way of making packs of cards for me to send since she has been mastering her craft abilities during the times of the pandemic.
The amount of financial support I’ve experienced in this first week is also insane. On Saturday, at 4:30pm, I posted a video with a message about wanting to hit $250.00 by end of weekend on Sunday.
And in less than 24 hours, we had almost tripled that to a total of $775.00.
As I sit here writing this on my bed, we are officially at $800 raised!
In addition to both the financial and card support, I was approached by a brand-new, local Lancaster business to work on a collaboration that will support both the launch and selling of their product while also supporting the mission of Miles4Smiles.
Like, WHAT?! I can’t even deal.
To add to this, I was also approached by a very dear friend to collaborate on a Bingo event collaboration to get even more additional financial support, which made me smile from ear to ear.
And separate from all of this was a moment on Friday night when I received a message on Facebook from a friend of mine who wrote the following that I had to share because it moved me so much. They were words that came at a perfect time to keep me pushing forward toward the light.
“Well I am so proud of you. And I know that is so redundant but I fail more unique things to say without being cheesy. I feel like I could write you yourself an entire letter of love and appreciation. Can I express why? No. But I’ve always held this truly truly shiny sparkly special place in my heart for you. I think of you very often and truly cherish your soul. I feel blessed that I ever was able to call you an acquaintance let alone a friend. You inspire me. You always have, from day 1, and I’m not sure I know a single person who would say otherwise. I’ve had some dark times in my life that you weren’t even aware of, throughout really our entire existence of knowing each other–which has been, what? 25 years give or take a few? But you’ve always been just that: Mr. Sunshine.”
My Miles4Smiles campaign this year is more than just running, raising money, and sending cards. It is a journey for ALL of us to come together, inspire others, and to lift each other up.
It is about creating light where the darkness tries to overshadow and to ignite fires that are full of passion in the souls of everyone to make a difference in a world that needs our help.
The light that found its way to me in my life this week magically seemed to appear exactly when it was needed most. And I can only hope that the same light will find itself into your life this week, the next week, and the weeks after.
Sprinkle sunshine always,
JP!
Mr. Sunshine Smiles 