Sunshine and WOO in the ACB Community!

by Patty L. Fletcher

Happy Superb Saturn’s Day to my awesome friends. I hope you’re all doing well. This morning, though Seeing Eye® dog Chief Blue, senior cat Prince Edward and I had a late night and didn’t wake up until 8:00, I attended the ACB Presents the Daily Schedule Call. This call happens each morning at 9 a.m. Eastern, and if anyone had told me a month ago that I’d be making time in my morning routine to attend a call each day, I’d have said, “Are you serious? You want me to hold a conversation at 9 in the morning when I’m barely human?” I used to be a real morning person. I mean, I got in bed by 9 almost every night and would sometimes be up at 3 in the morning, making coffee, taking King Campbell A.K.A. Bubba Seeing Eye® dog out and getting down to the business of the day. But over time, my life has changed. I’m a different person and, due to the various demands on my time now, I find I like to be up later in the evening to do my own thing and unwind a bit after everyone else who depends upon me each day is served.

But one morning, as I was reading the ACB Community daily schedule, I saw the call, looked to see what time it was, and I thought, “Why not? I mean I’m here at the computer having my coffee, let’s see what it’s about.” With that thought and the click of a link, a new and wondrous thing began happening in my life. Suddenly, I was connecting to people in a way I’d not done in any other setting before. Oh, I attend other calls and even facilitate a couple of my own, but somehow this one is different, and it has forever changed my life.

“What is Sunshine and WOO?” you ask. Well, grab another cup of your favorite brew and settle in and let me tell you.

I don’t know how it happened, not sure now of the conversation which took place but somehow, one morning I found myself singing… “Let the sun shine in. Let the sun shine in. Open up your heart and let the sun shine in. Smilers never lose and frowners never win. So, open up your heart and let the sun shine in.” Then I added, “Even if it’s cloudy, let the sun shine in.”

Not quite the same words as the original, but people loved that so much they began asking me to do it each time I was there. It seemed to mean so much to them, I decided it was my duty to spread sunshine throughout the community. Why? Well, certainly not because I want any fame or fortune. No, it’s simply that if we develop a positive mindset and start each day with it, then no matter how terrible things might get during the rest of the day, that feeling of warmth and positivity lingers, and believe me when I say it has influence.

Continuing to listen as the others chimed in with their events, a joke or prayer request, I heard someone say, “WOO!” “What does this mean?” I wondered, then I heard them say, “WOO – Window of Opportunity.” And I realized that’s what this 9 a.m. call was for me. It’s a Window of Opportunity for me to spread sunshine throughout the community, thus spreading it throughout the world.

“Spreading it through the world? Really, you think it can go that far?”

I do indeed think it can spread throughout the world. The people in that call carry the positivity with them as they go throughout their day. They spread it to those around them, those around them carry it forward, and on it goes.

We are ripples. Enough ripples create a wave. We can choose to be ripples of warm sunshine or we can choose to be ripples of clouds. I’ve chosen to be a ripple of sunshine, and I invite you to join in. Become a ripple of sunshine today and help create a wave which can spread around the world!

If you’d like to find out how you can be a part of this amazing movement, send an email to Community@acb.org. Ask for a daily schedule to be sent to you. You need not be a member of the American Council of the Blind to join. There are so many wonderful things happening, I cannot describe them all.

There’s no need to feel alone. No need to be bored. No need to feel disconnected. Join the ACB Community today and let the sunshine in.

About Patty L. Fletcher

Patty L. Fletcher lives in Kingsport, Tennessee, where she works full time as a writer, with the goal of bridging the great chasm which separates the disAbled from the non-disAbled. She is also a Social Media Marketing Assistant. To learn more, visit www.pattysworlds.com.

This post was originally published at www.pattysworlds.com/sunshine-and-woo-in-the-acb-community-americancounciloftheblind.

To learn more, visit www.acb.org.

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Celebrate the ACB Community

On December 31, starting at 3pm ET, bring in 2022 with your ACB Family at the second annual Community-Athon on ACB Media 5 and Zoom! Join us as we celebrate all we’ve accomplished in 2021 and look ahead to a new year of endless possibilities. For every $25 donated at https://tinyurl.com/2021-community-athon, your name will be placed in a prize drawing which will take place toward the end of each hour throughout this Community-Athon, and you don’t have to be in attendance to win! To receive the Zoom information for this event and other community events, please subscribe to our ACB Community Events email list by sending an email to: ACB-Community-Events+subscribe@acblists.org.