The Next Challenge

I get the urge to sort and surrender about every other month.  When it seems our house is overrun by “stuff,” I grab a box and get to work.  Then the kids discover the collected past-treasures and realize they can’t live without the coloring book or stuffed animal or two-sizes-too-small t-shirt I have deemed for donation.  They haven’t given those items a mere thought in months but a newfound awareness of their presence makes these things dearer than life itself.

Awareness is powerful.  The recent “Ice Bucket Challenge” for ALS is a recent prime example of how knowledge can make things happen.  As of this writing, ALS has raised $40 million-plus since social media was flooded with clips of people dousing themselves in icy water in the name of  Lou Gehrig’s disease.  As a result, a staggering number of people now know about this devastating hereditary condition.

So what’s next?  We have awareness (and a windfall amount of funding), and if awareness is knowledge and knowledge is power, where now should this newfound power take us?  Our children are heading back school; they are ready to learn and discover.  Primed to be challenged.

So let’s shift our focus from buckets of ice water and Facebook posts to fostering our children’s curiosity of science.  Watch Bill Nye (Iin his episode on skin Bill sweats it out with an NBA star).  Do home experiments (Who doesn’t love vinegar and baking soda explosions?  Or the Mentos-and-diet-cola geyser?).  Ask and observe.  Observe and ask.  Encourage our kids to do the same.

ALS (and other devastating medical conditions) needs awareness and funding.  Better treatments and a potential cure won’t find themselves.  The next challenge is cultivating the brainpower and developing inquisitive, analytical minds to make these discoveries a reality.

Let’s use our grassroots momentum to spark the “Brain Bucket Challenge.”