Column

One woman's vow to complain less, act more

By C.T. BOWEN, Editor of Editorials
Published January 6, 2008

The message on the television set didn't jibe with the message in the front yard.

The voice coming over the airwaves talked of losing weight and getting fit for 2008, perhaps the most common of New Year's resolutions.

But outside Mark and Ginny Stevans' Golden Acres home in west Pasco some prankster repositioned a pair of deer-shaped holiday light decorations to simulate mating animals. This came after someone - youths, no doubt - had smashed other Christmas lights on their property.

The waist line suddenly didn't seem as important.

"Why are we focusing how pretty we look when the world is falling apart?" Virginia Stevans recalls thinking.

"I just don't get the point of destroying someone's Christmas. I don't understand having that much hate in you to do malicious things. A lot of our youth are doing mean, malicious things."

So with a mix of passion and aggravation, the 40-year-old antique dealer sat at the home computer and pounded out prose. It became a Jan. 1 letter to the Times in which she challenged people to focus on the positive and to try to make a difference in their communities. The full text is available online at tampabay.com, but here is her conclusion:

For my resolutions this year, I want to teach by example, be a positive role model, help someone in need, and make one person each day smile! I hope to be a positive member of my community in hopes that others will do the same. Spreading cheer and love could not possibly be as hard as spreading hate and anger. I challenge you to do the same.

It is an inspiring challenge even though Stevans, some might recognize, already is a positive member of the community. She is head of HAC, Having Affordable Coverage, a group, once known as Homeowners Against Citizens, that lobbies for lower property insurance rates. She has been to Tallahassee. She sat on a community forum panel with the head of Citizens Insurance. Shes butted heads with legislators over sinkhole coverage.

The experiences with HAC and the New Year's challenge are unrelated, but it is easy to see how her role as a grass roots lobbyist might shape her plea for greater public involvement. Just the other day she opened an insurance-related e-mail that read, "I really don't want to get involved, but I want your advice."

It's akin to saying, won't you fix this mess for me?

"I've never been politically inclined, but this (insurance issue) opened my eyes for the need for more people getting involved. Everyone is first to complain but people are the last to act."

She doesn't want to be the last to act. She said she and her husband have helped children and families over the years. They've bought groceries for neighbors having trouble feeding their children. They bought an old beat-up car from a co-worker who needed money, fixed it then gave it to another acquaintance who needed transportation. Her husband just paid for the transmission repairs for someone he knew from work. It's more hands-on than just cutting a check to a charity.

Stevans grew up in west Pasco. She remembers being young, anxious to get a job and eager to assert independence. A lot of the youth she encounters today are unmotivated, seeking iPods, Wiis and other electronic toys "and they just want somebody to give it to them."

It is why she wants to mentor children. The Stevanses are continuing their now 15-month-long effort to adopt a baby from China, but, in the meantime, she wants to become involved with kids perhaps through foster care or Big Brothers Big Sisters.

She hopes others will do likewise knowing small amounts of time, effort or love can make a difference. Besides, changing a personal outlook is therapeutic.

"People forget how fortunate they are. If they just took the time to look at the positive things they would feel so much better."

A worthwhile resolution, indeed. And you don't even have to join a gym.

[Last modified January 5, 2008, 21:19:27]