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Giving Tuesday

11/27/2018

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You have probably been bombarded by shopping ads and sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but today is all about helping others. Today is #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to helping charities help people in need and that is something way more exciting to me! 

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has been tagged as the global day of giving. Bringing people together around the values of service and giving back and to encourage and amplify small acts of kindness. Giving Tuesday unites people and countries around the world by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another. 

Today people and countries are coming together to celebrate kindness and generosity. Practicing gratitude for what we have in our lives, as well as what we can do to help and be of service to others. I love the concept of a global day of giving for many reasons, two of which are proven to be key pillars of happiness...gratitude and generosity...service and kindness. 

The Dalai Lama in his book, The Book of Joy, says, "As one of the seven billion human beings, I believe everyone has the responsibility to develop a happier world. We need, ultimately, to have a greater concern for others' well-being." He goes on to say, "Too much self-centered thinking is the source of suffering. A compassionate concern for others' well-being is the source of happiness. We have to take care of ourselves without selfishly taking care of ourselves. If we don't take care of ourselves, we cannot survive. We need to do that. We should have wise selfishness, rather than foolish selfishness. Foolish selfishness means you just think only of yourself, don't care about others, bully others, exploit others. In fact, taking care of others, helping others, ultimately is the way to discover your own joy and to have a happy life. So that is what I call wise selfishness."

The Dalai Lama starts each day by setting his intention for the day. His intention is for the day to be meaningful. For him, meaningful means, if possible, serve and help others. If not possible, then at least not to harm others. He believes that, "Everybody wants a happy life...and our individual happy life depends on a happy humanity. So we have to think about humanity, discover a sense of oneness of all seven billion human beings." The path of joy is connection and the path of sorrow is separation. 

Bringing people and countries together to celebrate our oneness, our kindness, our gratitude, our generosity to care for, empower and lift each other up, creating a happy humanity. 

Science supports that when we see someone perform an act of kindness or of generosity it warms our heart. This warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you have witnessed human goodness is called moral elevation. Studies have found that the natural high of moral elevation makes people want to behave more altruistically toward others, causing kindness to be contagious. Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity...something I think we could all use a bit more of these days!

Let's finish out this year of 2018 by intentionally practicing giving, being of service, acts of kindness and of generosity. Let's create  moral elevation, so we can all feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity and our future together.

What can you do over this next month to create moral 
elevation? What small act of kindness, service or generosity can you perform? What act of compassion will make someone else's day brighter and lighter? Let's practice wise selfishness instead of foolish selfishness during this holiday season. I invite you to join me in creating ripples of moral elevation.

If you are wondering how you can be of service, I have a wonderful opportunity for you to consider. A group of compassionate individuals at Perennial - Yoga, Wisdom, Community are helping to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness by sponsoring holiday gifts and raising money this holiday season to help support families in need. 
Gifts provide emergency shelter, supportive case management services, and stable housing. Your donation can make a difference for families with children experiencing homelessness.

If you are interested in making a donation, please follow this link.
donatenow.networkforgood.org/theroadhomedanecounty 


To sponsor a family for the holiday, please stop into Perennial - Yoga, Wisdom, Community and take a crane off the Giving Tree.
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World Kindness Day

11/13/2018

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Did you know that today is World Kindness Day? I am a huge proponent of intentional acts of kindness. Kindness is not only a nice thing to do, but it's been proven as instrumental in creating a life of happiness, positivity and wellness.

Kindness not only makes us and the recipient feel good, but it's contagious, it causes moral elevation. That warm and fuzzy uplifting feeling you get when you have witnessed human goodness, kindness, courage and compassion is called moral elevation.

​Studies have found that the natural high of moral elevation makes people want to behave more altruistically toward others, causing compassion and kindness to be contagious. Elevation makes people optimistic about humanity. So, ripples of kindness not only cause a ripple in the direction of the person receiving it, but also casts out ripples in the direction of the giver and all of who witness the act.


This ripple effect can extend out to 2 and 3 degrees of separation. Experiments with large numbers of people show that if you are kind and compassionate, your friends, your friends’ friends, and even your friends’ friends’ friends are more likely to become kind and compassionate. A powerful ripple of kindness!

Here's the thing, most people don't want to hurt others. What we really want is to live in a moral world where people treat each other well, and where we can satisfy our need for love, productive work, and a sense of belonging. 

We get the sense that we do not live in such a moral world when we see people behave in petty, cruel, or in other unkind or selfish ways. But when we see a stranger perform a simple act of kindness for another stranger, it gives us hope that maybe we do live in a good world. It restores our sense of hope and 
goodness in humanity. 

I love this quote by Scott Adams, ​"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." Today and every day I invite you to ripple out  intentional acts of kindness into the world.
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My Hope For Today

11/6/2018

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Today is election day here in the United States. Agendas, opinions and ideas have been shared and debated and it's time to vote. For some, it’s a date where there is hope for change, however that is defined by each of us. Here is my definition of and my hope for today. 

My hope for today is that we set aside labels and divisiveness. We are not red, we are not blue, we are one. 

My hope for today is that everyone will take action from their heart, from a place of love, compassion, kindness and the recognition that we are all one.

My hope for today is that we can set aside the ego’s fear. Fear of scarcity, fear of relinquishing power and control, fear of judgment, fear of failure. That we set aside fear and ego-based mentalities like the ideas of a zero-sum world and of survival of the fittest.

My hope for today is that we can see the world through the lens of abundance instead of the lens of lack, and with that recognize that there’s enough abundance for everyone.

My hope for today is that we exercise reverence for all that is. Reverence for each other, for the earth and for all living creatures.

My hope for today is for peace and harmony that comes from a place of love, care and connection. 

My hope for today is for people to feel seen, heard and respected. No matter your status in life, race, gender, beliefs, opinions that you feel seen, heard and respected. 

My hope for today is that we can each be a non-judgmental witness to our own judgments and that we work toward healing the wounds that caused the judgment. That we replace our fear-based judgmental thoughts with love. 

My hope for today is for healing, joy, health and happiness. 
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