Hello Actionists®!

It’s Monday and the first new day of month – and you know what that means….it can be a TRIGGER for anybody who is used to a diet mentality. I don’t know why, but for some reason diets always seem to start on Monday’s.

One of the most common resolutions when we start a new year is to improve one’s health. And most of the time that improvement takes the form of a diet. But what if we all began to dig a little bit deeper to expand our definition of health. What if we looked at weight loss not as a quick fix result but rather a concentrated effort over time. Would we all be healthier? Happier? Making less Monday morning resolutions to diet? I think so. And not only would this attitude shift make us happier – it could make our kids healthier. Check out our friend Dr. Divya Kakaiya who wrote a great article for CNN.com about how promising not to diet may actually have a great impact on your child’s self-esteem.

FINALLY. We’ve been talking about the commercials all week – the ones we loved, the ones that made us cringe, the ones that made us sit up and say, “enough” and take action.  Like a certain car commercial that proposes its car will release a beaten down and put upon husband or boyfriend or lover from his humdrum everyday reality of being a man (who knew it was so rough??).   This certain car commercial stirred young filmmaker MacKenzie Fegan to write and produce a spoof* which we find spot-on, engaging, funny and a super Actionist® way to end the week.  Enjoy!

*Please note there is R-rated language

G.E.M.S & Jewels Empowerment Group. This organization truly embodies the qualities of Actionists® and we were proud to support (by donating books) to their annual Kickoff 2010 Celebration/Meet and Greet.

From co-founder Kara Norman: “This event launched our 2010 season and our theme is “Be the change you wish to see in the world” a popular quote by Mahatma Ghandi. Founder Adriane Simmons and I want to inspire our girls to be the leaders of tomorrow and to make a difference in their world! We want our girls to learn how to take the steps to put their passion to action. We are also focusing on introducing social change to our members and we are partnering with Girls For A Change to be the 1st Girl Action team in the Georgia area. I feel that by working with girls in our group and empowering them in many areas, we are tackling the root cause of low self esteem – of which I personally suffered from as a young teen girl.

During our event we also had a special ‘girl power guest’ – the 13 year old co-founder of sunkissedgirlz.com and online community for African-American girls. Alana Jones and her mom created this organization to help increase the self-esteem of African-American girls as a lot of images that Alana and her mom found in the popular teen magazines didn’t look like her. They decided to ‘be the change’!”  

To continue reading about more change-makers make sure to sign up for our Actionist® Newsletter – you’ll automatically be enrolled in the Actionist® Network – a global online community dedicated to helping themselves and others by taking action.

Although the event is sold out, we promise to share highlights (including photos and videos) with you of Jess giving her signature keynote: “How to become an Actionist®” to over 1500 Girl Scouts and their parents at the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Believe in Girls Expo!

Make sure you are sign up with our Twitter for highlights. Jessica Lawrence, CEO, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council has put together a great line up of additional guests including Ben Barry (The Ben Barry Agency), Parry Aftab (Leader Expert in Cybercrime) and Lorrie Thomas (CEO, Web Marketing Therapy). Jess will also be selling and signing her two best-selling books “A Very Hungry Girl” and “Life Doesn’t Begin Five Pounds from Now”.  If you’re an Actionist® planning to attend the event – please make sure to come up and say hello!

Haiti.  The humanitarian disaster in Haiti has consumed our attention, hearts and spirits this past week.  I personally know many people who have donated up to three times; are organizing fundraisers or attending them; are remembering to be thankful for the little things we have…In the weeks and months to come, when the media attention has trickled off, the large NGOs and government organizations, the charities and aid workers and the people of Haiti will still be working hard to fix a country that was in a desperate condition to begin with.  For some of you, this disaster may have stirred a calling to arms – this may have been the first time you felt REALLY compelled to do something, to take action, in a long time.  Hold onto that stirring.  It is a powerful thing to identify an issue and resolve to fix it – whether your own issue, your friend’s or your neighborhood’s.  If you want to continue to help the people of Haiti as they rebuild, stay in touch with the charities and see what you can do locally.  If you have always thought about doing something about an issue or something that concerns you, do it today. An Actionist® is someone who texts a donation or organizes a fundraiser. That is you.

Ms. Wheelchair America provides opportunities for women of achievement who happen to be wheelchair users to successfully educate and advocate for the more than 52 million Americans living with disabilities. Director Alexis Ostrander, Executive Producer Manuela Ikenze and Producers Molly Kasch and Meagan Keane are the team behind the inspiring documentary “Defining Beauty: Ms. Wheelchair America”  a feature length documentary focusing on the lives of five women as they compete in the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America pageant. These women must use a wheelchair for mobility. Over the course of their journey, these remarkable contestants—as well as the reigning Ms. Wheelchair America—will tackle challenges few “able-bodied” people have the courage to attempt as they surf, race sports cars and even go skydiving! And in conquering these challenges, our six women demonstrate what real beauty truly is: a desire to succeed, a deep dedication to serve others and—most importantly—the will to live life on their own terms.  DEFINING BEAUTY is a celebration of women who determine their own beauty and proudly put it on display for the whole world to see and are Actionists(R) not only in their own lives, but are directly impacting the lives of others.

If you are in LA, the producers are holding a fundraiser event for the documentary! Please click here for more information.
http://definingbeautydoc.blogspot.com/