Make a Difference

In the last few months, I have thought LONG and HARD about the kind of person I aspire to be. I try to think… what am I good at? What defines me? What can I use to benefit other people?

I began a bit of a list… I am good with music, singing, writing, being a people-person, selling items, having LOTS of energy, reading, DDR, and being myself. Alright, so I have a random list of things I’m good at. So where does that bring me? Must think more!!!!

And then, it hit me! I figure if that last question is important to the type of person I want to be, I want to help others. I want to use my God-given talents to benefit other people, in any way possible. I talked to some friends for a while about what sort of things I could do to make a difference for others.

Finding a cause to work with was a bit difficult, because there are SO many problems in the world. It is nearly impossible to work for every single one. I wish at one point to be a Christian motivational speaker for teenagers, but I have a lot to figure out before I can start. I will call that a ‘long-term goal’. However, one problem that is dear to my heart is Mitochondrial Disease. I follow a few blogs about families who have a member (generally a young child) that suffers from the disease. If you do some research, it is absolutely heartbreaking. In very young children, it is often fatal. There is no cure.

I found UMDF soon after, which is the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. They have an option to donate, but I don’t really have a lot of money to spare because I only work part time. Trying to save on top of my bills is a bit tricky, but it’s important. There was a link there regarding hosting a fundraiser, so I looked through the different ideas for fundraising activities. Because of my love for DDR (Dance Dance Revolution), I thought hosting a video game tournament would be really awesome. I got a lot of friends to support the idea and actually add a few other things that would make for a successful fundraiser.

So my hope is to get a Mitochondrial Disease Research fundraiser going in my area. There are still a ton of details to work out, but I submitted a form to UMDF and had a representative contact me. I am waiting for a chance to get to speak with her over the phone. I want these kids to have a cure someday so they don’t have to suffer. I will update you on how the process is going!