Pay it Forward in Celebration of YOU!

A Pay it Forward Birthday

 

 

Please enjoy this blog by Jessica Cohen posted at the Pay it Forward Experience website last week. Don't have a birthday approaching? How about a Pay it Forward Thanksgiving, or Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza?

This past weekend I celebrated turning 40 this past weekend with family and friends, as well as by pledging this birthday to others.  By taking Birthday Pledge through the Pay It Forward foundation, I vowed to donate one act of kindness for each year being celebrated.

Truth be told, I was having quite a bit of difficulty accepting this birthday.  Forty just sounds… well, older.  Donating this birthday as a way to celebrate the years made moving into a new age demographic a little easier pill to swallow.

Though 40 acts of kindness may sound like a lot for one day, it is absolutely doable.  Over 40 suggestions are listed below, many of which were done last weekend. Sometimes we have the time or resources that go a long way, yet it is important to keep in mind that often a smile is enough to brighten someone elses day.  Once you have taken the birthday pledge, here is how to donate your birthday by paying it forward:

Pay it Forward with Common Courtesy

Hold the door for someone.
Call your grandmother.
Say an extra thank you.
Give a compliment.
Let someone go in front of you in line.
Give someone a hug.
Treat a friend to a cup of coffee.
Wish someone a great day or a wonderful weekend.
Check on elderly neighbors.
Help someone with their cart at the supermarket.
Thank a police officer or firefighter.

Pay it Forward by Using your Time

Volunteer with an organization.
Pick up litter.
Send an email to someone to show your appreciation or thanks.
Donate a Facebook status.
Donate a tweet at: http://justcoz.org/.
Help serve food at a food pantry.
Connect two people in business.
Endorse a colleague on Linkedin.
Collect items for victims of hurricane Sandy.
Walk or run a 5k for charity.
Donate books to a local library.
Play games for change online at: http://gamesforchange.org/.
Donate toys to a local women’s shelter.
Donate magazines to a hospital.
Bake some cookies or pastries and take them to a local senior center or fire house.
Donate your next birthday at: http://mycharitywater.org/p/birthdays.

Pay it Forward with a Few Extra Bucks

Pay for the person behind you at the drive-thru.
Make a monetary charitable donation.
Adopt a military family through Coupons to Troops at: http://www.couponstotroops.com/sign-up-to-adopt-a-family/.
Pay off someone’s lay away.
Purchase non-perishables or household items for people in need.
Hand a stranger a $2 bill and tell them that you hope it will bring luck to them or their children.
When you shop, buy items that donate proceeds to charitable organizations.
Bring a tray of pastries to your child’s school for the teacher’s lounge.
Buy pet food or supplies and take it to an animal shelter.
Send a care package to a soldier.
Make a symbolic wildlife animal adoption at http://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/gifts/Species-Adoptions.aspx.
Take flowers to a cemetery.
Buy diapers or baby supplies for a women’s shelter.
Purchase an extra toy and donate it to for Toys for Tots.
Donate a tree to be planted in someone’s honor or memory at http://arborday.org.

So tell me, would you consider donating a birthday? In which ways would you pay it forward?

To a Child, Love is Spelled T I M E

"To the world you may just be someone,

but to someone you be the whole world."

We hope you are enjoying the change of seasons, wherever you may be.  Here in the Mountains the leaves have already peaked and are rustling to the ground on the breeze.  The squirrels and moose have been frequent visitors to our neighborhoods, and the geese sing their farewell at dusk and dawn.  It's time to consider the darker days ahead. For us it's a time of pulling in, recollecting the events and travels of the lovely summer we both enjoyed, stacking the "to be read" books near our favorite chair and filling the pantry with the rich, soothing ingredients that will become just the comfort we need on that first stormy day. The days ahead will be filled with holiday preparations and gatherings with family and friends, and snowshoeing through the meadows when the snow begins to fly.  It will be a time of quiet contemplation, too.  "Nesting" days to consider where we've been and where we're going, what's working and what needs adjusting, opening ourselves to the deepest stirrings in our soul with the time to see and hear them. It's a good time to be present to ourselves, and others.

The film we included in this post touched us.  We hope you will enjoy it too, and perhaps will find a quiet fireside to consider your place in someone's world.

Autumn Blessings!

Dorothy and Susan

Little Changes - Big Rewards

 10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy

By: Jen Angel - Yes! Magazine - December 9, 2008  

In the last few years, psychologists and researchers have been digging up hard data on a question previously left to philosophers: What makes us happy? Researchers like the father-son team Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world to find out how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect our well-being. The emerging field of positive psychology is bursting with new findings that suggest your actions can have a significant effect on your happiness and satisfaction with life. Here are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy.

1. Savor Everyday Moments

Pause now and then to smell a rose or watch children at play. Study participants who took time to “savor” ordinary events that they normally hurried through, or to think back on pleasant moments from their day, “showed significant increases in happiness and reductions in depression,” says psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.

2. Avoid Comparisons

While keeping up with the Joneses is part of American culture, comparing ourselves with others can be damaging to happiness and self-esteem. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, focusing on our own personal achievement leads to greater satisfaction, according to Lyubomirsky.

3. Put Money Low on the List

People who put money high on their priority list are more at risk for depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, according to researchers Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan. Their findings hold true across nations and cultures. “The more we seek satisfactions in material goods, the less we find them there,” Ryan says. “The satisfaction has a short half-life -- it’s very fleeting.” Money-seekers also score lower on tests of vitality and self-actualization.

4. Have Meaningful Goals

“People who strive for something significant, whether it’s learning a new craft or raising moral children, are far happier than those who don’t have strong dreams or aspirations,” say Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener. “As humans, we actually require a sense of meaning to thrive.” Harvard’s resident happiness professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, agrees, “Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable.”

5. Take Initiative at Work

How happy you are at work depends in part on how much initiative you take. Researcher Amy Wrzesniewski says that when we express creativity, help others, suggest improvements, or do additional tasks on the job, we make our work more rewarding and feel more in control.

6. Make Friends, Treasure Family

Happier people tend to have good families, friends, and supportive relationships, say Diener and Biswas-Diener. But it’s not enough to be the life of the party if you’re surrounded by shallow acquaintances. “We don’t just need relationships, we need close ones” that involve understanding and caring.

7. Smile Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

It sounds simple, but it works. “Happy people…see possibilities, opportunities, and success. When they think of the future, they are optimistic, and when they review the past, they tend to savor the high points,” say Diener and Biswas-Diener. Even if you weren’t born looking at the glass as half-full, with practice, a positive outlook can become a habit.

8. Say Thank You Like You Mean It

People who keep gratitude journals on a weekly basis are healthier, more optimistic, and more likely to make progress toward achieving personal goals, according to author Robert Emmons. Research by Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology, revealed that people who write “gratitude letters” to someone who made a difference in their lives score higher on happiness, and lower on depression -- and the effect lasts for weeks.

9. Get Out and Exercise

A Duke University study shows that exercise may be just as effective as drugs in treating depression, without all the side effects and expense. Other research shows that in addition to health benefits, regular exercise offers a sense of accomplishment and opportunity for social interaction, releases feel-good endorphins, and boosts self-esteem.

10. Give It Away, Give It Away Now!

Make altruism and giving part of your life, and be purposeful about it. Researcher Stephen Post says helping a neighbor, volunteering, or donating goods and services results in a “helper’s high,” and you get more health benefits than you would from exercise or quitting smoking. Listening to a friend, passing on your skills, celebrating others’ successes, and forgiveness also contribute to happiness, he says. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn found that those who spend money on others reported much greater happiness than those who spend it on themselves.

Summertime, and the Living is Easy

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild 

flowers in our hair...”  

~Susan Polis Schutz

Susan and Dorothy will be off gathering up every sight, sound and smell of summer for the next few weeks. We hope you'll be doing the same!

See you in September!

My Wish

http://www.flickspire.com/m/guidance/MyWish

I hope you enjoy this wonderful video, don't forget to turn up the volume!

Wishing you a brilliant week,

Susan

Your Inner Light - Let it Shine!

Ahhh, Summer Time ...

Summer afternoon -- summer afternoon; 

to me those have always been the two 

most beautiful words in the English language

-Henry James

For me, summer seems like the most magical of seasons.  Summertime reminds me that anything is possible and that even long forgotten dreams can flower once again.   

The cold, dark season of winter sparked dreams of bountiful gardens and cool, green lawns calling to us to play.  Perennial flowers, that were struggling to poke through the frozen ground only a few weeks ago, are now lush and showing off their bountiful blooms.  Vegetable and herb gardens are bursting with tasty treats to spark culinary creativity and grace summer tables.  Family and friends are more relaxed and eager to join in spur of the moment get togethers.  The long days of sunshine spark thoughts of leisure and laughter and encourage us to make time for simple pleasures and passion.

Gather those you love, enjoy their laughter and joy.   Pursue your passions.  Make memories to last a lifetime.

Susan