Blogging Your Blessings

"Only connect." - E.M. Forster Put down your smart phone and make eye contact. Person to person.  Nowadays, I consider that a major acts of kindness and courtesy.

  Be a Good in the World Take stock of your day-to-day life. Are you giving to others or is a little out of balance where your work, your immediately family gets 99% of what you offer the world?  You can change that in one day. Donate more of your time or money to a charity. Supporting a cause will help keep you informed about social issues and can strengthen your sense of well being while benefitting others in the process 

Think about how you can create little moments of happiness for others. Helping a friend plant her garden, buying an extra coffee for your coworker, paying the toll for the car behind you on the bridge, even taking your kids to a movie.  All those little things can add up to BIG joy

The holidays can be a difficult time for many people who don’t have family nearby, a home to sleep in, or food to eat. A great way to be a good in the world is to do good for the world and the people who inhabit it. Volunteer a few hours of your time to work in a soup kitchen and help serve those who are in need of a hot meal. You can also use this time to get your family involved and impart good moral values on your children. For many years running, I have volunteers at Glide Memorial Church in downtown San Francisco and enjoyed each and every minute of it.   I bet your community has a place like Glide that can be your “happy place” meaning that you make other people happy and that alone filled YOU with joy.   But if you find yourself in the San Francisco Bay Area around Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years, come on down and we’ll have fun together serving up some love: -           GLIDE on over and Serve a Meal! The Volunteer ...

Think about the things that motivate and inspire you and how you can inspire others. What lifts you up? Who fills you with hope and happiness? Cultivate these qualities in yourself and pay attention to who provides your “day lifters.” You may be surprised!

Buy an artificial Christmas tree. People love my blue and silver “disco tree” which I got at yard sale a few years ago. It is VERY festive!  On average, over 30 million Christmas trees are sold in the United States each year—that’s over 30 million trees cut down each year, trees we could be saving and using for oxygen, housing material, and paper products instead of decoration for a small amount of time. Consider buying an artificial tree—you will save money within the first few years and they look just as nice without the mess of pine needles! http://urbanext.illinois.edu/trees/facts.cfm

Don’t want or need anything for Christmas? Have a friend or loved one that wants something unique? Visit www.heifer.org to view and purchase some of the most helpful and generous gifts that can be given—but they’re not for you or anyone you know. Heifer International is an organization that works with communities to end hunger and poverty by providing sustainable agriculture and animals to families in need. You can “purchase” a goat for $120, a flock of geese for $20, a hope basket for $50, and browse the website for other options. These gifts are priceless (figuratively) and won’t go unappreciated or unused. Think about the positive impact you can make on family-a world of difference, actually!

Make your Christmas presents this year. It’s more personal and will save you money. From a tin of homemade fudge to a colorful knitted scarf, your family and friends are sure to appreciate your hard work and thoughtfulness. You can also think bigger! I have a favorite resource that lists many ways to knit, sew and quilt your way to a better world. www.handcraftedwithlove.net :       Socks For Soldiers knits socks for soldiers serving in the Middle East.       Stitch for a Cause knits, crochets, sews, and quilts blankets and infant apparel for local children's agencies. Based in Louisville, KY, USA.       Stitches From the Heart sends handmade clothing and blankets to premature babies across the nation. Based in Santa Monica, CA, USA.       Stitching Up The World knits, crochets and sews items to donate to a variety of organizations. Their main effort is items for chemothe...

What People Really Need Much of the time, kindness is good common sense. Just think about what people really need. In low-income families with no other options, an infant can spend the entire day wearing the same diaper. Due to a lack of funds, some parents cannot afford to change their baby’s diaper more than once a day and most laundromats do not allow cloth diapers to be washed in the machines. Help out a family in need to cover the basics by donating diapers through http://www.diaperbanknetwork.org/

Muchas Gracias I learned from my globetrotting friend, Santosh that one of the nicest things a traveller can do is to learn how to say the basics in the language of the locals. He stressed that saying THANK YOU is the MOST important word of all.  His guide to global gratitude is below: Czech: Děkuji Danish: Tak Dutch: Dank u Estonian: Tänan teid Filipino: Salamat Finnish: Kiitos French: Merci Gaelic: Go raibh maith agat German: Danke Hungarian: Köszönöm Indonesian: Terima kasih Italian: Grazie Japanese: Arigato Latvian: Paldies Norwegian: Takk Polish: Dziękuję Portuguese: Obrigado Romanian: Mulţumesc Spanish: Gracias Swahili: Asante Swedish: Tack Vietnamese: Cảm ơn bạn Welsh: Diolch yn fawr

NFL player James Jones knows it’s better to give than to receive “Being homeless made me a better man,” says James Jones, wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders since 2014. “And while I wouldn’t wish anyone to go through that, I wouldn’t change anything as far as how I grew up.” Having slept in shelters and on park benches for the first fifteen years of his life, Jones’ success as an athlete defies stereotypes about homelessness and poverty. He has taken his challenging experiences to heart. Since being drafted to the NFL in 2007, he has volunteered for many community organizations, and in 2008, started his own with his wife Tamika. The LoveJones4Kids foundation provides funding for school supplies, football camps, and pep talks to underprivileged children, many of them living in the same conditions that Jones did growing up. “People are used to hearing about a homeless person or kid and don’t think it’s possible to be a professional football player. But down on your lu...

You're seen those bumper stickers, the ones encouraging you to commit “random acts of kindness?”  What they can’t tell you in that little space is how performing those acts can be a way of transforming yourself. When you begin to focus on extending kindness toward others, you’ll feel more kindness coming toward you. Not only will you make someone else’s day better, you’ll be surprised at how well yours improves. It’s rather like the “secret Santa” gift exchange that many offices and families adopt during the weeks leading up to Christmas. There is delight when you do something for another while keeping your identity a secret. When you watch a person receiving a surprise gift, you see their face change, the eyes open wide with delight, a smile bursting into a grin, and laughter erupting. They appear to feel sheer joy at the unexpected. The old adage is true: “It is in giving that we receive.” The other part of the quote, which is by a San Francisco writer named Anne Herbert, is oft...

Write Letters and Send Postcards The things that make me the happiest have an emotional and physical effect.  And even more so when you do something for someone else.  One of the most lasting of these things is a personal letter. Being born in the transitional time between letters and computers, many people in my generation have already shunned snail mail as a way to communicate. This makes them rare, but a very inexpensive surprise. My grandmother was one of seven children, and they communicated with a round-robin letter. From mailbox to mailbox, they would add an update on their life and send it around to the next sibling. She taught me that letters are a valuable form of communication, something she’s emphasized as her memory slowly fades. I got into the habit of writing letters and during the times where I was most stressed, a paper due, a newspaper deadline, or turmoil, I would write a letter. Letters live somewhere between thoughts and stories. They are a confid...

Keep a compact reusable bag in your purse for those spur-of-the-moment purchases Refuse a plastic bag for five items or less Fit purchases from different stores into the same bag wherever possible. There’s no reason to have eight shopping bags with only one item in each. Put your cloth bags back in your car as soon as you’re done unloading groceries. There’s less chance of forgetting them at home that way (and you’ll be one step closer to using them!). Keep them on the front seat, rather than in the trunk. If you see them, you’ll be far less likely to forget them.

Teaching others is hard word and can be a thankless job. Whether you are a student or have kids in school, approach your/their teacher and tell them what a great job they are doing.  Adopt A Classroom goes to the head of the class in my book for the good work they do: AdoptAClassroom.org gives teachers a hand by providing needed classroom materials so that students can succeed. It is estimated that more than 15 million children don’t have the resources they need to succeed in school and that teachers spend more than $1 billion a year stocking their own classrooms due to a lack of funding in schools. Supporting K-12th grade students, including public, private, and charter school classrooms, AdoptAClassroom.org makes it easy for donors to provide funding and support to classrooms throughout America. Teachers register their classrooms and needs online; donors discover classrooms through simple search tools, and make targeted contributions.    Their goal is to connect dono...

Operation Gratitude I learned about his from my mom whose church regularly sends cards,letters and care packages overseas to the armed forces. My mom and her fellow church ladies bake some of the best cookies in the world so they gather up all kinds of goodies and treats and send them overseas where the taste of “down home” surely brings many smiles of satisfaction. Those who are less gifted in the baking department, such as ME, can make $15 donation to Operation Gratitude, which pays for one care package for one serviceperson. Operation Gratitude has end over a million of these kindness kits around the world!

Help Those Who Help Themselves Empower an entrepreneur with a loan through Kiva . You can give as little at $25 dollars to entrepreneurs in developing countries to help eliminate poverty. Throughout the life of the loan, you will receive updates on the progress of the project and will be repaid by the borrower with Kiva Credit—which you can use to fund another project or withdraw. http://www.kiva.org/ I have bought some really lovely pillows baskets and bangle bracelets made in India by women whose creativity was sent soaring by Kiva!

True generosity, with no strings attached, expecting nothing in return, and without scorekeeping, is a direct expression of abundance. Be generous with your time and skills by volunteering for something you believe in; leave an extra tip for the wait staff; give away thank-you’s. Go through your closet and gather up things you don’t wear or use and donate them to a homeless shelter or people in need. Medieval scribe and exalted thinker St. Augustine taught that “Charity is the virtue that brings us closest to God.”

Give Away Your Old Stuff Do a favor for people in need and give away some of the things you no longer need or use or wear.  Others would be happy to have it and it will help you simplify your life and enjoy your time more.  Find a few locations that you can drop off your stuff or call an organization that collects your goods to redistribute to those in need. There are Goodwill’s or Salvation Amy centers in every town, large or small so you can donate there to help others and quickly.  Nowadays, it might be best to take an old suitcase you don't use anymore and and pack extra clothes, towels, blankets and very practical items anyone woiuld need to be able to donate it to the victims of the recent California wildfires. Some of my friends lost their homes, pets, cars and jobs to the fires of the last few days so I am packing up care packages to deliver. You might not love your old suitcase or last year's comforter anymore but someone you love who lost everything in ...

Now is about the best time ever to take a volunteer vacation.  Learn a new language. Or become more fluent in your less dominant language if you are already bilingual. The more people you can communicate with, the more valuable you are to working opportunities as well as opening yourself up to new people and cultures.  A friend of mine recently took a volunteer vacation where he taught English to orphans and abandoned children in Liberia. He said he enjoyed every minute and wants to do this every year, as he loved working with the kids. As he told me this story, his smile was at least a mile wide! This same friend, Brad, gathered up money from all of us and took it to in person where he went to help however he could,  to the aftermath of the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and now in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. What can we do? Volunteer vacations make the best memories, too.