I am participating in a campaign hosted by Emergen-C®. As always, all opinions are my own and I am in no way affiliated with Emergen-C and I make no claims about Emergen-C as a product or its effectiveness. Thanks for supporting the brands that make Charmingly Styled possible!

This year I’ve been making a more concerted effort to be more appreciative of living in the moment, whether it’s being grateful for the little things, or just working to be more present about where I am and the world around me. But ultimately I’m not perfect by any means, and it’s amazing when certain things happen that make you even more grateful for the things you accidentally take for granted.  There are so many things that may seem small, but make such a big difference in my life every day. I totally take for granted that I have a roof over my head, can always afford to have food on my table (even if I can pretty much only cook mac and cheese!) and always have access to clean water. And while I’ve always known that I’m incredibly fortunate to have these things, I don’t think I ever really realized (in a tangible way) how difficult it can be for people to bring something like water home to their families every day.I teamed up with Emergen-C and charity: water to participate in the #40Pounds Challenge, which represents the amount of water many women and children around the world have to carry from a water-source to their home every day (which can often mean miles of walking back and forth). Sure, 40 pounds doesn’t see like all that much, but carrying that much for miles? Let’s just say that it’s definitely not as easy as one might think…I decided to try the challenge myself, attempting to carry two 24 packs of bottled water that equated to a little over 40 pounds. My ultimate goal was to carry it out of my apartment and around the block to get a sense of what it would be like to carry that much weight around for a longer period of time, but as you can see from the photos below – I made it about 5 feet from my front door…barely.Conclusion: It’s really freaking heavy, and I’ve once again discovered that I’m super out of shape. But ultimately, I can’t even begin to imagine the reality of carrying that much water every day for miles out of necessity to do basic things like cooking, cleaning and staying hydrated. Those women are total badasses, and I’m the biggest weakling in comparison – I seriously don’t know how they do it, but I have the upmost respect for them!

 

To bring further awareness to charity: water, Emergen-C is asking for people to participate in the #40Pounds Challenge all, and after giving it a try – it’s definitely something you should do too (and it couldn’t be easier!) All you have to do is lift an everyday object (a piece of furniture, water, a suitcase, etc.) that’s equivalent to 40 pounds and share with your followers on Instagram or Twitter using [#40Pounds] and tag @EmergenC. For every photo uploaded, Emergen-C will donate $5 to charity: water. To make the message reach even farther, tag a friend and challenge them to participate too, keeping the chain going and bringing even more awareness to the plight of these amazing women who do this every day for clean water. I’m challenging a few of my other amazing blogger friends, and I encourage you to do the same!And of course – if you’re looking to donate to a worthwhile cause, please consider donating to charity: water (I did right after I participated in the challenge!) They do an incredible job making water accessible for communities all around the world because water is a basic, human right we should all have access to. Give them some love and help to sponsor an upcoming water project – 100% of your donations go to clean water initiatives!

Lastly, visit www.emergenctransforms.com to learn more about how to help lift the burden. All the cool kids are doing it – so you should too!