%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R 34 0 R ] /Count 3 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 13 0 R /I2 15 0 R /I3 16 0 R /I4 32 0 R /I5 33 0 R /I6 38 0 R /I7 39 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R /GS5 25 0 R /GS6 26 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20241205043022+00'00') /ModDate (D:20241205043022+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1437 >> stream xWM6W̱ZvnIRdr-JfV"Z{5?o(`+Kf{|C.Vj]y 7zkt!SN[e#ohtVь/ ^?qmUYRr&i1_Xe!_ERltf$T#v ^w|_{~&~&y9PcO&=5LJ4$tMz;IN6٬HG$}0^Vv@X) XEXUdYkSB Fi:.9t꺓\ЈB"*)Y$NIJMnC^(/3V&Ŭd|xytuW]HR?+kt;dUAh2 -nO(O{ӣܹhpHJ<Y a֞~(Ts-MDC&*F[?jzIfhmF4Fdc,SzTU)P,:o\qԁޡya} SQƨFF?K=Q\JA^ƨBZXE/\URH)U])W1UA);NL&ze $G<.<)34spH2+^kP} ۹k'Kw~0;o=/lϪ4)4 L`0РDA4&~~iɁ9>7CWdѹ= \sɕUQcau%e0gniw*r185UtY);3s +-&t.DPօlQ'MFױ`V>㽜M=(\KNvVLޟ͑);NGgN>c:TSl#ksrܾk¥kj>p'gF>fltwŵUCuۚNbuӎo_@l>̄D,m_cs{|~p@z@&ƶ7iqN|Zʋ(s[UtvS!ǔZ׌mCWY*SzJ URфg/Q׶ endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 13 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 125 /Height 125 /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /Filter /DCTDecode /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 4864>> stream JFIFC    !'"#%%%),($+!$%$C   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$}}" 1 aR([2{ZPg0P7uuTrW;fVaxw}G_.?[}PЈ3zѡ}>}JWgW-se^07a.+ss'K<: ?#y:_UN|;[ 8;ˇJ .Q4@]ܛlA8 _2ԎѲ-G!.4'%W)W\X|*/v-35&!"#123ABXCMCQՀݐ:=& x ۭIIfvi(/s?i]xʼn1vu64LWŞsO8l``ǯX3=Q &uQAg3T: Uу['(;Ҫ9ϩNbHJ0òe,ٿmp%ݯ&y[}klsͣr2?kgM6-XzbV7HvvU)Rbr 0||拼:;u˿osa>B! #02@?d-5=kP(נgP[0c;.h]?& !10a"#AQ?ԡJsToW=fMeson]YF2a{ln)56F =:{QR'BV(GPP1;?,!1"AQq2a# B3r?Qr²iРiI+Mlܵ^JQVTb>e*:lj1"ӱQy6*l_ Ѱr) ][҇*ȝgS[]4cpLz*fZw/U}19,*ܹQp1J DiVzuW?ᴳo쓝h\eYXL{t~ |m~Ga^ēan`uݔS]&J'MW˸MaבXrZ+'Ut(x6Y$,gak섥49W|!q?*z,?Sm3bowks]-I|9˯(K;jJ UR^(*+i:PS5[WN98aw*1r&ҿ %w1×5J.5ܒmAХ?o 2&PW4BF1Qoz.Ku^&)k$eNd3]T`|N"d]Hx2i)~dru=_.U۞{3~ޏ5,sctIzfl6׏O.1\n2;-_^9#s97/$!1AQaq?!,yĵ>ϗ UO ́dN=~綶^x'EX ڜJl5"G-sl$w8Ffl҉kh-DJFS:"k*^,0p.Q){AL;cU{몸o:,G4q`HKY_FK\ BTD>be8 9[?%Sѽe%"+1X]w-@n-IZpcaT3 PR*rmU.Vf%z7&Usi*]9Y]Q})nR:]N'O0F/gӈP(-ۃgODy |'Qm'(q9hX"nтHcP_N"鈫z  Z,M5q1k׽c yTJ72MVL|c֒GfS6M7[Nwl]`E^:! /6[zPk*ۤ>>EҐq/3qLO6.+PP|ᅡ_ZZ7 b?~gDapuב kA ]\Ɇu|JFqIJuۻ!B|Do1g샸qʚ'5/RJZϨq{sخpoAWm:n[uהPN2w/Q+|F!r}:aX]/:KE(5نR#km d!$e2bY1)̗%Q6X;..M>52YY+!Uߟ8 p8'12->Pwnt0JogxO #L4 huDƜ*908!ޠ@p!1A Q?.'1} b1OR7R/D zb6&JB)n.HDqR ~ !!1AQaq?+XS ME\ K.^ voY$10%_^Gı;0TB]bi(@F!PL\دc^)DչM@r"˲ˆ1$!1AQaq?ZM7UMbp ATurQk |zf$:4eкeC 7s*j2RlHv4A<`S%R\(ϩ@jQaO"!W\Vb>j.ïd xh,RN_hӮ2\ 8.;5f&o9O]ī(lkDOP٪!QZ"M!3m4dl[8A,]>l ` d[XLp?*wuwtbHe{Ų64F0bz6򠺬qLVJRYoj|ϲ)^)&m}ԬTU[<=3 V`.L-@~\~Z.Uni~Tʛ[5b7@t>L`Fhk CQ c@BѨO|-U58@84`8pIdI^,T/ jK*c:v%Xxk̲ Qtᰡ3T@8etTEM㿈Eo״aphd"bC !:0T؝(l;e<)O)G_p,1;TeU `@CBBr/j !la-1W#l1 v/LV~]#m,A+d>AQ;iQ7bSKk( P2RhܩU1^TnT)O//wZ:m!{ZS'X) +jvXsEiLZ gF@1P`\ŘFK;w*$DhKTTTV0!bT*4C;Py 4,b.2̒}Elv;&+(' endstream endobj 14 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 28 0 R 30 0 R ] /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 2021 >> stream xXK6ϯ.0qcY8[;(Ktz/+RVۜHĪzo޼i?5A︿.Q^CMw_F"{}PِzVH4骑-un$Nzzu9;mzEIp1ʐR-o談-"Yy8}DỏIݒږ"~mPzh)JcSl}3Z9 FՁVV!@᳢ʍ"ǀ{ z{.bkz-ܶ'{Ӵto5PA깙[K+Qy"O(p׺գM3$S86uqoIw MZrY1 ۩4DCoًJgֳl!ѐD`ꕣyYfT4C3LTͭi9X^6Y{fIJ 6 d6;bj"L|D*OMm;i(J%mؓ w'ki`ڵЄHJM61F>~{B8 $rU7vj->II" PɘҰ]Iu\+ECkB#RpC2Hk8Y?^,s%gj?P-H5M0˱YJ#=}QSc KQf>Loj9I‡ xy'yL1 o g/Ѥ 9"FC[^th9rfiTBԯ6l&-wY pk5ξ[ W(~'mHFccx S.^5Kp3E;\}6.Jn u%[Z>PYm-.ڵH N4K̓MǡӓÁ{i:m|mv.?7;Gdg#CK/Bކ:fb#0W6BsڹVr[mw]c|1Pls[<2%G]qm{kFxޖ A_X {r^^>ަ s3K0vmNtB_l ]/`m̓*۠/0WΖoz|rs fDn}C4뀸ç]ƖsxPc4<΃=eC+q $Oguxցm5U[]bQ}P(-wX$"6e5X6Q[6g>[hf s.aDr8}FY)@1( O?ufpU&"M3(;RމEW;XZ3w7 ΧBIxC?0Sܹ0}h_jz3, ,t}-Gg]UE7 endstream endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj [19 0 R /Fit] endobj 24 0 obj [19 0 R /Fit] endobj 25 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.67 >> endobj 26 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.67 >> endobj 27 0 obj [19 0 R /Fit] endobj 28 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 29 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 91.0040 94.2740 250.3880 106.4840 ] >> endobj 29 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://westernusa.salvationarmy.org/usw_thq/location_search/) >> endobj 30 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 31 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 65.0000 79.6220 146.3720 91.8320 ] >> endobj 31 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://give-usw.salvationarmy.org/give/229662/#!/donation/checkout) >> endobj 32 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 34 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Annots [ 36 0 R ] /Contents 35 0 R >> endobj 35 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 573 >> stream xTn0sl6˪Q#.RUE98iѥcQF|Us׿[ J>FimsnjYDD2,,Q ݽ>d|hx5bJG_q:72^ŋWP; endstream endobj 36 0 obj << /Type /Annot /Subtype /Link /A 37 0 R /Border [0 0 0] /H /I /Rect [ 219.0560 694.5164 244.4000 706.7264 ] >> endobj 37 0 obj << /Type /Action /S /URI /URI (https://caringmagazine.org/quiz) >> endobj 38 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 40 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000503 00000 n 0000000540 00000 n 0000000689 00000 n 0000000792 00000 n 0000002302 00000 n 0000002409 00000 n 0000002517 00000 n 0000002627 00000 n 0000002740 00000 n 0000002769 00000 n 0000007801 00000 n 0000007830 00000 n 0000013405 00000 n 0000014536 00000 n 0000014595 00000 n 0000014654 00000 n 0000014785 00000 n 0000016880 00000 n 0000016937 00000 n 0000016994 00000 n 0000017024 00000 n 0000017054 00000 n 0000017114 00000 n 0000017174 00000 n 0000017204 00000 n 0000017330 00000 n 0000017443 00000 n 0000017568 00000 n 0000017687 00000 n 0000023262 00000 n 0000024393 00000 n 0000024517 00000 n 0000025163 00000 n 0000025291 00000 n 0000025374 00000 n 0000030949 00000 n trailer << /Size 40 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 32080 %%EOF 3 strategies to bloom where you’re planted | Caring Magazine
Flower blooming alone

3 strategies to bloom where you’re planted

Listen to this article

Life leads you to places you would never expect to step foot. I went from growing up and living in a big city in the Los Angeles area, to a small town in Louisiana and, finally, on to a middle ground between city and mountains in Colorado.

I’ve had to adjust to many environments over the span of four years, and while it comes with its challenges, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Each place brought me something I’ll treasure forever.

In California, I found love and was able to start pursuing my career dreams. Louisiana brought me my daughter and amazing friends. While our time in Colorado has only just begun, I have a feeling the family memories we’ll create here will be special.

Blooming where you are planted is hard, but not impossible. It’ll make you stronger, more open-minded and appreciative of each place you’ve lived in.

If you’re going through a life transition,  adjusting to your new reality, in a place you are just beginning to know, it takes time. Here are some things to keep in mind for a smooth transition:

Step out of your comfort zone. 

An easy way to get to know your new community, is to get out and explore it and see what it has to offer. Go to community events, meet people who live in the area and really make it a point to soak in everything your new home has to offer.

When we were in Louisiana, there was a steady stream of opportunities to really be able to get to know the town, its culture and its people—from community gumbo cook-offs to fairs and parades. We jumped right in and attended a few events to see what it was all about. It was different, but it helped us adjust.

Be open to trying new things and immerse yourself in the culture of your community. You won’t be able to appreciate a place if you don’t go out of your way to really get to know it.

Check out events on social media or your local newspaper or magazine and attend to get a feel for what your new community is like, as well as meet new people.

Learn to appreciate each place you live in.

I never appreciated California fully until I lived in Louisiana, and I never appreciated Louisiana more until we moved to Colorado. I’m sure this is a cycle that will continue—each place has something unique to offer.

From California, I learned to value how full of life it is. In Louisiana, it was the people and relationships cultivated. And in Colorado, it’s the natural beauty of the state and all there is to do outside to soak in nature. Each place had its own thing that made it special.

So, appreciate and take advantage of it as much as you can, before life takes you on a new adventure in another direction and it’s too late.

Keep an open mind.

Moving to a new place can be daunting, but it’s essential that you keep an open mind to transition smoothly—especially when you are coming from a completely different setting.

As the land became more and more rural the closer we got to Louisiana, I had to keep an open mind—especially as a city girl. It was unfamiliar territory for me, but I was willing to give it a chance and I’m so glad I did.

We have some amazing memories to reflect on from Louisiana because we made the most of our time living there, even though it was a completely different environment than what we were used to. Now I long for a balance between city and nature. Colorado is the perfect fit.

It would have been easy to question the move in the first place. But I didn’t. I gave it a chance, and spent some very happy years in a place completely different to what I was used to.

Adjusting to a new environment can be tough. But if you put in the work, and are willing to get out there and explore, you’ll learn to love wherever you end up and have a hard time saying goodbye when it’s time to head somewhere new.

Once you truly integrate into your new community, you’ll be better for it and you’ll thrive. You just have to be willing to try.


Do Good: 

  • Visit westernusa.salvationarmy.org to find The Salvation Army nearest you. 
  • Give to support the fight for good in your community.
  • Are you best suited to join the fight for good in disaster relief? Mental health? Social justice? Take our What’s Your Cause quiz and discover where you can make the biggest impact today. 

Comments are closed.

You May Also Like