Is your glass full or is it empty?

A recent comment made me stop and think a little harder than normal on this idea, but before that, I want to share some of my recent week.

Recently, I wore green at the request of a friend. She asked me to wear green for International Dwarfism Awareness Day. Achondroplasia means “without cartilage formation” and occurs in one out of every 15,000 to 40,000 live births.

In 1957, actor Billy Barty, along with some of his friends, founded Little People of America. The organization now has more than 6,500 members across the United States. In 2021, the organization wanted to honor Barty and chose his birthday, Oct. 25, as the date for International Dwarfism Awareness Day. Thank you, Jana Gray, for sharing information during the month of October.

The downtown streets were hopping recently with Downtown Trick or Treat being back for 2021. Seymour Main Street had plenty of help from local businesses and brought out the crowds to enjoy a few hours in beautiful downtown Seymour.

The event was capped with a parade featuring the Seymour Marching Owls and color guard that had toes tapping and people dancing in the streets. Thank you to everyone who came out with their little ones, all of businesses and all who were involved with the fun during this event.

Jackson County United Way, Anchor House Family Assistance Center and Pantry and Community Foundation of Jackson County recently held a few meetings related to the Bridges Out of Poverty program. The legwork on this dates back several years and with community support could very easily change the face of our community as a whole.

With more than 20 years of resources already tested and proven, why can’t Jackson County be the next to put these methods into place? With many different areas that can be approached, I look forward to seeing where we head for the future and how various items are implemented from groups that had a chance to attend.

If you didn’t have a chance to attend, I hope you will reach out to Maci Baurle with United Way, Megan Cherry with Anchor House or Dan Davis with the Community Foundation to see when they are presenting to a group near you to learn more.

As Jim Ott from Jackson County, Iowa, spoke during the Bridges Out of Poverty program, he made the statement that it wasn’t if your cup is full or empty or if someone else’s is full or empty, but that we are all somewhere in the middle, and it is your perspective that sets the tone.

Many people, especially those who haven’t known me my whole life, would probably argue that I look at everything with a positive perspective. That hasn’t been and sometimes still isn’t always the truth. I used to very regularly view everything with a negative light and was often happy to share that view with anyone that would listen.

Over the years, I have learned it really didn’t help me to share those viewpoints with the world, and it did even less for my mood when I did. I would often forget to appreciate the great things in my life due to the little things that in hindsight didn’t add up to much at all.

In the world of blessings, I have more than I deserve. I have three wonderful daughters, a beautiful wife and I get to wake up every day and serve the community that I love as mayor.

I believe Willie Nelson said it right when he said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” I hope you will remember all the positives that you have in your everyday life and keep them in mind when the negatives come along.

Matt Nicholson is the mayor of Seymour. Send comments to [email protected].