I believe that the best place to start inspiring change is within yourself. Books can be truly inspirational. Although I don’t get a chance to read as much as I would like to, I am fortunate to live near a library with an extensive audio book collection.

Lately I have been listening to “Eat that Frog” by Brian Tracy, which is providing me numerous tips, suggestions and tricks to help make my workdays more productive. One of the suggestions that I found especially helpful was to “eat your frogs first thing in the morning,” which means getting the most difficult tasks out of the way first. So this month, as a reminder, an inspiring and bright colored tropical frog graces the cover of Natural Awakenings.

In February, Natural Awakenings participated in the Alternative Health Fair in Northville. It was wonderful to meet readers face to face. Thanks to all the vendors, speakers and visitors that helped to make it a rousing success. We were lucky to have participants with so much relevant information to share, and somehow we managed to skirt a snow storm too. What a blessing that was.

There are a lot of healthy practices that can be a bit of a challenge for me, but every month I make time for massage therapy. I am amazed at some of the benefits that I have read about that can result from massage therapy; hopefully, through fairs and articles, more people will be inspired to find out for themselves.

This past month I was finally able to talk my brother Mike into getting his first massage. I was surprised and delighted by his comment that he is now “a believer.” I gave my dad a gift certificate for his birthday, so we’ll soon see what he thinks about it. I think he will be amazed at how fast an hour can zip by and how relaxing a massage can be.

The Trenton Rotary Club will host its own escape this month. The Winter Beach Blast will be held March 5 at Crystal Gardens in Southgate. The event is a fundraiser for the Rotary and a lot of fun, with beach-style activities, dinner and music.

The Rotary Club is a great example of individuals collectively doing good. Writer Linda Sechrist has gathered an amazing group of individuals for her “Homegrown Hero” story on page 16??. Maybe some of their stories will help to inspire you to action as well. And to learn how to fund your inspiration, read “Inspiring Change: Women and Grants” by Ava R Williams [pg 32]?? to find resources to help get your dream project off the ground. Ava also offers online training and has written a book to help demystify the world of grants.

We all have skills and talents that we can share to benefit others. As a kid my great grandmother taught me how to knit. I can still remember how many times I would be working along on my little project and get it so tight that I could barely move the knitting needles. She would patiently work a couple rows until it loosened up enough that I could get back to the project. The time that we spent together was so special, and I will always cherish it. I still enjoy knitting from time to time, and find it comforting. It has also been fun to share this simple skill with my daughter and nieces. Watching them complete different projects has been both interesting to me and satisfying to know that I have helped to keep this tradition by taking the time to share it with them.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by people that inspire me. I really can’t imagine living any other way, although I know a lot of people that do. It’s my hope that we can all take some time to reflect on who inspires us, and to take opportunities to inspire others. We’re all in this together, after all.