Share Your Toys Joys
Description
Giving may beat receiving, but sharing trumps them both!
You have been working on yourself and your new lifestyle for over a month now. It may very well be time to let yourself run on autopilot and look outward
Giving Back and Spreading Joy - Make the World a Better Place
(from: http://www.squidoo.com/altruism)
"One way of bringing joy is to give back to others, to give back a little from your heart. Try performing a random act of kindness, giving some of your time, volunteering to a worthwhile cause and experiencing genuine altruism.
See the joy in someone's face, a smile on a child's or an elderly person's face and experience feelings of warmth, contentment and gratitude in your heart as you bring joy to others. You will be making the world a better place by bringing joy. Only then will you begin to understand why people give back.
When you give back, you are spreading joy like a perfume, which cannot be poured on someone without getting some on yourself. When you freely give of yourself there is little room left for feeling depressed, sad or lonely."
To Do
Ways of Giving Back and Volunteering - How Can I Give Back?
(also from: http://www.squidoo.com/altruism)
There are many ways of giving back and volunteering. Just keep your ears and eyes open for ways you can give back. The list below gives you some ideas and may inspire others.- Share your expertise at a local school, Volunteer your knowledge, time, or energy.
- Clean out your closets and bring your extra clothes to the Goodwill, Salvation Army or local church thrift shop. Bless someone else with your excesses.
- Contact your local hospice for ways of helping care for those on their final journey.
- Check with your local hospital(s) for their volunteer programs.
- Pick up your knitting or sewing needles, or crochet hook and create some kindness to warm the heart of a child, a cancer patient, a homeless person or an animal.
- Many senior citizen centers have volunteer programs to provide companionship and community activities to senior citizens.
- Contact a State or National Park to see what volunteer opportunities are available. Become a park (VIP) Volunteer in the Park.
- Become a Reading is Fundamental or Children's literacy Program volunteer and help others learn how to read.
- Animal Shelters often need volunteers to help take care of animals and keep facilities clean.
- Donate cans, non-perishables and your time to organize food your local food bank.
- Contact Volunteer Match for ways you can give back to your community in person or even an online community
- Become a volunteer baby cuddler at your local children's hospital.
Nourish Yourself
 |
| "No one has ever become poor by giving." - Anne Frank |
My personal nonprofit of choice (and annual Christmas gift to loved ones) is Heifer International where recipients learn to cultivate and share what they have received: http://www.heifer.org/site/c.edJRKQNiFiG/b.183217/
Get Up & Go!
"There is no better exercise for your heart Than reaching down and helping to lift someone up." - Bernard Meltzer
Don’t wait for opportunities to share to fall in your lap. Be aware of them and go after them. Believe me, no one will accuse you of being too forward!
Tools
Most likely you have far more to offer than you realize. Share your talents and your joy with those who seem to be lacking in either. Consider reading reading to someone stuck in the hospital, or taking your beloved pet to share some joy at a nursing home, or simply volunteering to do some heartwarming grunt work at the local soup kitchen
Tip
Don’t think that only huge save-the-world organizations need your help, your local high school’s arts and athletic programs may be in sore need of your particular brand of TLC.
And if you have kids, get them involved! (Rumor has it it’s a great way to make teenagers more pleasant)
Tweak
Make altruism a part of your regular lifestyle, not just a holiday activity
Question
How do you feel when you unselfishly and unconditionally help others? When was the last time you did so?
Thoughts
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” - Buddha
“There is no delight in owning anything unshared.” - Seneca
“Sharing is loving.” - Anon
Tidbits
“Pre-Poll Commentary: In this tenth poll of the Daily Dozen Disciplines, we will discuss how sharing with others can make one a happier individual and improve their quality of life.
During our prior polls we have used the phrase "Quality of Life" many times. This phrase can be interpreted in numerous ways by different individuals. It's kind of a customized phrase that takes on a special meaning according to who and where you are in your life. It means something different to a college student verses a retired individual. It means something different to an American verses a citizen of a third world country with an oppressive government. But for our poll purposes, let's define "Quality of Life" in the following general terms as:
- Achieving a sense of Inner Peace
- Achieving higher self esteem
- Achieving loving and caring relationships
- Achieving a feeling of financial security
- Feeling good about who you are and what you do
We could extend this list further, but it's not necessary for this discussion.
I believe that sharing what you know and what you have with others can help you realize the definitions above. However, the process is not always easy.
The process of sharing is not something you do once. It's something you do every single day without realizing it. Sharing is something you continue to do for others even after you have been disappointed by the reactions of many recipients. Sharing is something you do unconditionally, without the expectation of receiving anything in return from the recipients. However, you will probably find that the more you share, the more abundance somehow comes back to you in some other way. Sharing can neatly be summed up by the mantra coined by Zig Zigler:
"You Can Get Whatever You Want In Life, If You Help Enough Other People Get What They Want."
Let us know how you feel in this week's poll. This poll will end on Sunday 12/22/02. Watch for the results and summary by Monday morning 12/23/02.
Results:
1. 54% voted-Absolutely Yes - can improve QOL by sharing daily
2. 45% voted-Probably Yes - can improve QOL by sharing daily
3. 01% voted-Not Really - can't improve QOL by sharing daily
4. 00% voted-Absolutely Not - can't improve QOL by sharing daily
Post-Poll Commentary:
Once again we have a near unanimous vote that sharing daily can improve your Quality of Life as described above in the commentary. 54% answered Absolutely Yes while 45% answered Probably Yes. Only 1% even had any doubt that sharing works.
Once again we have a near unanimous vote that sharing daily can improve your Quality of Life as described above in the commentary. 54% answered Absolutely Yes while 45% answered Probably Yes. Only 1% even had any doubt that sharing works.
I believe that it's almost instinctive for people to "want to share." However, I also believe that too few people do so. Talk and action can reside miles apart from each other. An individual may spend $45 on a carton of cigarettes or $50 on lottery tickets, yet give a dollar in the church collection basket. Sharing involves some sacrifice. Percentages count. Sharing involves giving up some of your valuable time, resources, material objects or money to help benefit others unconditionally. There's can be lots of personal satisfaction gained from a sincere act of sharing with others.
Sharing is also a very personal act. Everyone can do it in their own way. The object is to do it often, daily if possible and make it part of your mission in life. Only then can you truly grow and improve your Quality of Life.”
Treat
Altruism is Good for the Body, Mind and Spirit - Some of the many health benefits of altruism (yet again from: http://www.squidoo.com/altruism)
Altruism or Volunteering, giving back or reaching out to help, eases the stress in the body, which results in these beneficial health factors:
- Possibly strengthening the immune-system.
- A decrease in both the intensity and the awareness of physical pain.
- Activation of the emotions that are vital to the maintaining good health.
- Reduction of the incidence of attitudes, such as chronic hostility, that negatively arouse and damage the body.
- The multiple benefits to the body's systems provided by stress relief.
- Experiencing a "helper's high," a rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act.
- This initial rush from the "Helper's High" is followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being.
- Release of the body's natural painkillers, the endorphins as part of the "Helper's High."
Blogs & Articles
7 Ways Sharing Can Make You Happy: http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4315
The Many Benefits of Sharing - Share your resources and enjoy social, financial and environmental benefits: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/many-benefits-of-sharing-30175.html
Articles on the health benefits of being charitable. (from, where else: http://www.squidoo.com/altruism)
A transcript from a broadcast by Indiana University School of Medicine's Sound Medicine on What is "Helper's High"?
From ABC News and article on Doing Good, and Feeling Better: Why Giving Back Could Make You Happier...and Healthier.
Researchers look at how volunteering or giving helps ease stress in the body, which can then lead to many beneficial health factors.
A number of scientific studies show that Acts of Kindness result in significant health benefits, both physical and mental, for those who perform them.
In Sum
"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill
No comments:
Post a Comment