I Can...I Will...¡DO!

Have you ever had good intentions to make a positive change in your life, but you just never get around to actually doing it.  Rarely is it because of lack of inspiration or will.  It has to do with fulfillment and sustainability. Every goal has a reason and motivation behind it, but we sometimes have trouble applying the actions to achieve it. Instead of looking at the huge goal or mission as a whole, we must break down the journey into several smaller goals that are achievable on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  You just have to go from "I Can," and "I Will" to "I Do!"

The phrase "i Do!" was first used after the founder of Shawn's Anomaly, Matthew Murphy, completed his first Ironman triathlon in honor of his son's recovery from three surgeries to repair several congenital anomalies in a statement posted on his blog: 

"I DO" is such a simple phrase but it is so powerful in so many ways. It is powerful enough to confirm the commitment to marriage and powerful enough confirm truth in a court of law. We live in a world of I Can't and I Don't. Some of us get inspired enough to go from the "I Can't" to "I Can", but never get around to doing anything to make that phrase "I DO!" The 1% of the world that has finished an Ironman triathlon, understands the phrase better than most. They don't just not say there were going to do something, they do it. You don't have to finish an Ironman to use this phrase.  You can use it to follow through with any commitment whether to be to finish a race, lose a few pounds, volunteer to help the less fortunate, or just be a better person. I challenge you to change your life mantra to "I DO!  Take the pledge with me:

iDO better myself

iDO better those around me

iDO encourage others that say iDO

iDO help those that are less fortunate

iDO test my boundaries

Shawn's Anomaly's goals are a huge undertaking, but it can be accomplished if we apply this strategy to the ultimate mission: Education, Hope, & Help!

Mahatma Gandhi once said, "We must be the change we want to see in the world," but we can't do it alone.  It takes a collected effort from everyone focused on the same goal. Starting in 2013, we are asking all supporters of Shawn's Anomaly to take a pledge of "iDo!" The pledge is to give $5 to Shawn's Anomaly and share our mission with 5 people asking them to do the same on the 5th of every month for one year.  It is not a large individual commitment, but if we combine all the efforts together the change is HUGE!  At the end of the year you would have given $60 and 60 new people became aware of the mission just because of your commitment. Can you sacrifice $5 and 5 minutes a month to help us achieve the Shawn's Anomaly mission?

Take the one year pledge today by filling out the information below and hitting the "Subscribe!" button.  Don't do it just to help other's, but do it for yourself.  There is nothing to lose, but everything to gain. As appreciation to your commitment, Shawn's Anomaly will send you a reminder email every month and a commitment bracelet to wear proudly as a daily reminder and that shows your commitment to others. Can you take the pledge with us?

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Shawn's Anomaly Mission Towards Integrity

In the recent days we have all been witness to the tragic events that have taken place in Connecticut.  As parents and friends, we at Shawn's Anomaly have become way too familiar of how much tragedy can increase venerability of the families that are affected.  We want to send our condolences to those families that have suffered loss. 

Because some people moved give to reputable charities because it is their human nature, there are also predators and con artist that are so willing to take advantage of those who are willing to lend a helping hand. Here is a recent example of a con artist trying to profit from the Connecticut School Shooting as NBC's Jeff Rosen reports:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2012/12/21/16051227-rossen-reports-scammers-try-to-exploit-connecticut-shooting?lite

Sadly this has even hit way to close to home with certain families that we have tried to support through Shawn's Anomaly in 2012.  When the family of Liam Lyon was mourning the loss of their "Little Lion", they were generous enough to allow all of those that were touched by Liam's journey to take part in the memorial service.  Shawn's Anomaly helped broadcast the memorial service online to thousands of homes online live, and we left a recording service up for others to watch that could not watch during the time of the service. Sadly, another predator used that service to take screen shots and solicit donations to the point that we were forced to take down the recording because it was upsetting the family.  The family also had other con artist profiting from the sale of shirts that the family gave to someone who said they would help raise money for and they they never received of the contributions.

During this time of giving and generosity, we felt that it was imperative to reiterate our commitment to integrity and transparency of Shawn's Anomaly.  100% of all donations that are given through our partners Ironman Foundation & Reason2Race are given directly to the Shawn's Anomaly Research Fund that is set up with Texas Children's Hospital to aid with the advancement of medical research and the standardization of an international birth defect registry.  Any Indiegogo pages that are set up by myself, Matthew Murphy, or other verified representatives of Shawn's Anomaly, will from this point will always be fixed funding campaigns that will provide reimbursement back to the original donor if the goals are not met.  An example of this type of campaign is the 2013 Pratt Pack Family Campaign.

We also want to reiterate that we do not push any type of religious agenda.  Congenital anomalies don't see a difference of religion, denomination, creed, color, or origin, they affect everyone without prejudice.  Even though most of the leaders are Christian, Shawn's Anomaly does not have any any religious or political affiliations in efforts to avoid not being able to help all deserving families. 

We understand the skepticism that you may have regarding non-profit organizations, and Shawn's Anomaly will do everything we can to provide you with adequate evidence that our mission is not to profit from your giving.  You have our promise that our mission is help those families are affected by the 1 in 30 children born with congenital anomalies and change how the world views the leading cause of infant deaths.

Happy holidays from all of us at Shawn's Anomaly to all of you!