This morning I woke up, got ready, and already felt a little crabby before I got to my car to drive to work. This isn’t normally like me. I try to start my day off on the best foot possible. I really do believe you choose your mood. And I did choose my mood—a snarky one. Ever have one of those days? I wasn’t in a bad mood. I wasn’t having a bad day. I just was a bit of a complainer.

You know…I complained about it feeling like it should be Friday even though it really is just Thursday. I complained about not having what I wanted for lunch. I complained and griped about work stuff. Bottom line…I complained. But then I got in my car after work. I rolled the windows down. I cranked the radio, and I looked at the beautiful trees leafing out on my entire drive home (don’t worry, I did pay attention as I was driving). What good did complaining do? It didn’t. It did nothing, except make me upset and irritated, and I’m sure it didn’t lighten the mood of those around me.

Recently I’ve learned a super valuable lesson. I love knowledge. I consider myself a seeker of knowledge. I love learning new things and gaining wisdom. However, knowledge is meaningless and worthless unless you put that knowledge into action. I know that complaining isn’t all that helpful. I know that it doesn’t get me anywhere, yet I still did it anyway. I didn’t take that knowledge and put it into action.

I really am a person of action. I do believe that what I do, what you do, what we do has a long lasting impact. I believe in this almost more than I’ve ever believed in anything. On the road of adoption it looks pretty damn tough and bleak if you don’t think that your knowledge put into action makes a difference. Please know I’m not talking about being “chosen” to adopt a child. I’m not talking about the pace at which I am placed with a child or children.   What I’m talking about is that I know that there are populations of people in this country that are discriminated against. I know that it is tough to be a woman and even tougher if you are a woman of color. I know that love is just not the only thing that matters when you’re raising a child. I know that knowledge is power. So, if I know these things I have to take action. Because, the fact of the matter is, this does all relate to adoption. This does all relate to my future child. And I know that by me taking action to better and change these things, my child or my future children will have that much better of a life.

So seeking out knowledge is easy; however, putting what you know into action…it’s a bit simplex.  But like most simplex things–worth it.

~Chelsea