2016 on an Inca Trail in Peru.
The beginning of each new year is always overflowing with healthy resolutions and intentions. I am a hiker and a walker and my goal is to spend as much time outdoors as I can, enjoying the beautiful scenery where I live. I am fortunate that my role as Social Media Manager for Roos Orthodontics allows me to work remotely so that I can do this. My fitness and giving goals for the year come together as Striding with a Smile, for Smiles!
For 2017 I committed to walk 1000 INTENTIONAL miles as part of the 1000 Mile Challenge, raising money for charity. (An intentional mile is where I actively head out on a walk or hike, rather than the accumulated daily miles I cover running errands.) I am using two apps – Charity Miles and Donate a Photo. Within these apps are designated charity choices, and I have chosen to raise money for Operation Smile. Every mile I walk will be matched at 25c by Johnson and Johnson, and additionally, every photo I donate (one per day) will be matched at $1 by them. This is a great and simple way to raise money for others without asking your friends, AGAIN!
“Operation Smile is an international medical charity that has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities. It is one of the oldest and largest volunteer-based organizations dedicated to improving the health and lives of children worldwide through access to surgical care. Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children from more than 60 countries.”
It certainly pushes me to walk just a little further each day, knowing that each stride will be helping someone else’s smile – and the joy I get from doing what I love, makes me smile more too! Last year I hiked one of the Inca Trails to Machu Picchu. This year I’m heading to Nepal. Every step I take on this trip will be helping children have healthy happy smiles – how rewarding. What are your goals for the year?
Miranda Roberts
Social Media Manager: Roos Orthodontics