{"id":3561,"date":"2012-03-19T11:24:40","date_gmt":"2012-03-19T11:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=3561"},"modified":"2012-03-26T18:46:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-26T18:46:00","slug":"how-to-grasp-what-really-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2012\/03\/19\/how-to-grasp-what-really-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Grasp What Really Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Grasping what really matters is where my heart lies.<\/p><\/div>\n

As I prepared to debut my blog a little over a year ago, I knew it was critical to come up with a powerful tagline. For months, I\u2019d wake up in the middle of the night scrambling for a piece of paper on which to scribble what I thought was the perfect motto for Hands Free Mama<\/em>. It quickly became a daily occurrence to wake up to a barely legible phrase that, once again, wasn\u2019t \u201cthe one.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one momentous day, the following seven words came to fruition on the treadmill tray in front of me as I ran: \u201cLetting go \u2026 to grasp what really matters.\u201d That was it! That was the essence of living \u201cHands Free. \u201c When it comes to distraction and what really matters<\/em>, you can\u2019t have one without letting go of the other.<\/p>\n

You see, when I was living my highly distracted life, my hands were full \u2013 overloaded with electronic devices, excessive commitments, endless tasks, and a constant flow of superficial \u201cstuff.\u201d Yet, my life felt EMPTY. In my unsuccessful attempts to perfectly \u201cdo it all,\u201d I completely lost touch with what really mattered in life. I lost sight of my purpose and became immune to life\u2019s simple joys. There was no longer time to laugh, play, and make beautiful memories. I was missing more than life<\/a> \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t pretty. In fact, it was nearly tragic.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But things are different now. Thank God, things have been different since the day I broke down under the hot Alabama sun and stained my shoes with tears<\/a>. Once I began my \u201cHands Free\u201d journey, I started living again \u2013 which means\u00a0grasping what matters<\/em> in full force.<\/p>\n

So what is \u201cgrasping what matters\u201d to me? If you haven\u2019t checked out my list of what really matters, you can do so here<\/a>. I wrote it over a year ago when I started this blog, and I am comforted by the fact that it hasn\u2019t really changed too much \u2026 it is who I am.<\/p>\n

But if I had to put it in a nutshell, I would say, \u201cGrasping what matters is about making a difference in the world.\u201d But to be honest, I don\u2019t really like the sound of that. It sounds ambiguous, grandiose, challenging — if not down right impossible.<\/p>\n

But I have found that it is not.<\/p>\n

Making a difference in the world can mean making a difference in one life. One life. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

So how do you make a difference? (And to the parents reading, how do you raise children who want to make a difference?)<\/p>\n

It just so happens that someone very special recently asked me that question. And she asked me to write my answer in \u201cHands Free Mama\u201d style to share with the readers of her incredible blog. What an honor to be selected as the guest contributor on the topic of \u201cKindness, Gratitude & Altruism\u201d in Debra Dane\u2019s 52 Weeks To Simplify Your Life Challenge.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for your willingness to make one additional \u201cclick\u201d to read my story today. As always, I am grateful for your support and encouragement along this journey to let go of distraction and grasp what really matters.<\/p>\n

This is my story \u2026<\/p>\n

How to Spread Kindness as a Family: Actions of the Heart<\/a><\/p>\n

********************************************<\/p>\n

*Today\u2019s Hands Free challenge is to select one idea from Debra\u2019s inspirational list of 30 ways to teach children about gratitude and kindness<\/a> and do it this week!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

*Please join the movement! “The Hands Free Revolution<\/a>” on Facebook is a growing community of people striving to let go of daily distraction and grasp what really matters. Receive daily tips and inspiration today by simply clicking “like” on my page.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I prepared to debut my blog a little over a year ago, I knew it was critical to come up with a powerful tagline. For months, I\u2019d wake up in the middle of the night scrambling for a piece of paper on which to scribble what I thought was the perfect motto for Hands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[716,715,712,713,714],"gutentor_comment":5,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2151-e1332106667717.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fUJF-Vr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}