#PimpinJoy

Living in Nashville we are blessed to have one of the very best morning shows in all of Country Radio right here in our city.  I began listening to the Bobby Bones Show in the mornings on Big 98 - WSIX radio from the first day they were on the air here in Nashville.  I really enjoy listening every morning while I am getting ready for my day and on my drive in to work.  Why do I like the show so much?  Because they are REAL.

I have to admit - there is one person on the show that really drives me crazy - Lunchbox!  He is so out of touch with reality - although he seems to think that everyone else are the ones who are out of touch.  I feel sorry for his girlfriend with some of the things that he says and does, but that's just me.

So recently they announced a movement that they are promoting the week of March 3, 2014.  It's call #PimpinJoy.  The whole movement is about celebrating the people in this world who are fighting cancer and going through other serious life struggles - but through adversity they continue to spread hop, happiness - and of course - joy.

The greatest thing about Pimpin Joy Week is that this is not about money.  It's about spreading hope.  It's about making someone else's day - maybe their life - a little brighter.  So how did this even come about?  Well, one of the radio hosts on the show, Amy, has been watching her mother battle cancer for that last two years.  But Amy's mom, Judy, isn't letting cancer get her down.  She is apparently one of those people that just is always happy - always trying to make other's happy.

Have you heard that saying "Just one smile could change a person's life." - well that's what #PimpingJoy is all about - but taking it to the next level.  Though I personally feel that our world needs more joy everyday - Bobby Bones and his cohorts are on the right track choosing to start with one week.  March 3-7, 2014.

During this week they are asking listeners to post tweets & instagram photos using the #PIMPINJOY.  Things that inspire.  Things that spread laughter.  Things that help people smile.

So I am trying to think of things that I can do to "pimp joy" during "Pimpin Joy Week".....or maybe these are things that I can start doing now and strive to do from now on?  I have gone through my share of struggles and I have come through the other side.  I can't say that I was always that happiest person during those struggles and I don't even know that I was even a person who was convinced myself that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

I have struggled with alcoholism & drug addiction - now being clean & sober for 10 years.  I have struggled through domestic violence abuse and was able to escape that potentially deadly cycle and create a better life for my daughter.  I survived Aortic Stenosis and an Aortic Valve Replacement at the age of 33.  I currently live with Congenital Heart Disease.  I could easily give up.  In fact at times I wanted to, but I didn't.  My "joy" was my daughter and my husband.  My family and my friends.  I had to fight - even when I didn't think I had any fight left in me.  Now, having a chronic and potentially fatal heart condition, it is time for me to start looking at the blessings that I have been giving and spread those blessings to the people around me.  Strangers and friends a like.  God gave me a purpose - I haven't figured out what it is, but maybe this is a start.  I know I want to help others.  I want to share my experience, strength and hope with the desire to help enrich other's lives.

If you want to learn more about the #PimpinJoy movement - visit the website: www.pimpinjoy.com You can listen to The Bobby Bones Show - Monday through Friday on Country Music Stations in select cities across the US.  Or catch them on iHeart Radio.  Give them a listen - they will grow on you and you too will become addicted to the show.