Where'd all the good people go?

I was reading a friends blog today and became both inspired and ashamed at the same time. I should start out by saying that I am not a good friend. I believe there are a lot of people that are like me. They require the assistance and support of a spouse, or a really good friend to keep relationships alive. These are the type of people that scrapbook and make quilts. They write hand written notes and make pancakes from scratch. I'll give you an example: My parents-in-law are difficult to shop for, they have everything they need or want. My sister-in-law, Missy is one of these really good people I referred to earlier. This last Christmas she took all the pictures from our family trips during the summer and had a story book made out of them. It was great! Everyone loved it, my mother in law couldn't get enough of it. What you may ask, did we get them? An iTunes gift card.

I am not this way on purpose, I just tend to let the rest of our life get in the way. I rely too much on work and church associations to create social environments for me to interact with people. If your ward splits off of mine, or you move further away than across the street, it gets more difficult for me to maintain a good contact and strong friendship. I want to be a thoughtful, good friend, its just really hard to fit it all in, its exhausting sometimes! That is where my ashamed feelings came from. As far as my inspiration? I am not one to try and fool myself into believing that overnight I am going to become one of these good people, however I am content to sit back and feel good about what others can do, until I get enough motivation to change.

What does all of this have to do with the blog I was reading? Well check it out for yourself: http://allred-clan.blogspot.com/ Melinda is one of the best people I know. I'm not talking about one trait or one skill or one quality, I am talking about the whole person. She and her husband are a couple of those good friends I don't deserve to have. I give them Christmas treats around the holidays (mostly because their house is on the way out of the neighborhood), When my wife tells me we are having pork chops for dinner, I sometimes stop at their trash can on my way home to throw away the Wendy's bag I don't want my wife to find (you know you've all done it), and I read her blog.

As you read her stories you begin to see, she has an amazing gift of taking what to most, are difficult and back breaking situations and turning them into funny, inspirational, and emotion-provoking stories that help me realize I am not the only one with a crazy, sometimes out of control life. You also see through the content, that she is a pretty impressive and talented person. Probably the best thing I get is that through her open and honest sharing of feelings, I realize that I'm not the only one who gets frustrated, and wants to in her words "...drop kick [insert kid name here] out the window..."

I know its cheesy, but Melinda is an inspiration and I often find myself shedding a tear either from laughter or emotion while reading her posts. So for the other four of you that read this blog now have another source for great stories. You're Welcome!

All of us know someone who inspires us to be better, I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by many. I get relief knowing that someone I admire so greatly struggles with the same things i do and is still a great person, I get hope I have a chance! So thank you to all of you that are such good people, living extraordinary lives, and providing the inspiration you do. I enccourage all of you to take a minute and share with someone how they have impacted and inspired you, and I'd love to hear how that went!

P.S.

It should be noted that Melinda was the one who one my New Year's Resolution contest last year, and as far as I am concerned, a mention in my blog counts as an Amazing Prize of Great Value! Just reward or extortion? You be the judge.

Comments

[Melinda]

Dave, you rock! I now have something nice to read about myself on those days when I've seen one too many eyes roll from my older kids, wiped the same poopy bum (not mine) one too many times, and repeatedly tripped over the cords of the two broken vacuums hanging out in my living room that has popcorn and smashed cereal all over the floor and really needs to be vacuumed. I wonder if this is how Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn felt as they witnessed their own funeral and heard so many nice things said about them. I'm, oh, so flattered.

And p.s. Despite what you may think, I have actually been at my kitchen window watching when you dumped your Wendy's sack in our garbage. ;) Saw it with my own eyes.