I Do This for You...

At about 2:30pm today my temples started to throb; I started to feel nauseous; and I had a slight tightness in my lungs. I'm not ill, nor am I pregnant (yes, I'm sure). I'm nervous. Tomorrow is a big day for me professionally - it is the Alliance for the Great Lakes' annual September Adopt-a-BeachTM Event, part of the International Coastal Cleanup. I spend the better part of the summer, and really of a whole year working towards this day. Last year I didn't organize the event (in Illinois and Indiana) because I was on maternity leave. This year, however, I'm back; I have fabulous assistance; and I have an inspiration - a reason to do my work well, a reason to be even more passionate about my work; I have Alyssa.

I am a volunteer coordinator at a non-profit and I love my job. My job doesn't rake in tons of money, but it rakes in tons of good will and professional satisfaction. More importantly, I work towards the goal of safeguarding the Great Lakes; of protecting my drinking water - Alyssa's drinking water.

Ok, so as I typed the paragraph above I thought it sounded kind of scripted. It's honest and true, but it's kind of a speech I give. A speech that sounds great, but there is more truth behind it that I've wanted to say out loud for some time now. And that is I work in order to be an inspiration for my daughter. I love my career. It's hard work. It's challenging. And it can be frustrating at times. It's just really exhausting to balance work and home life. It's draining - physically and emotionally. But I've realized that I want to keep doing it so that Alyssa will grow up to hopefully be inspired by me. Much as my mother is an inspiration to me in the choices in life she made, I want to be an inspiration to my daughter someday.

So Alyssa, tomorrow is for you. For your drinking water, for your future. I do this for you... and I do this for me.