Do Good For Others, Do Good For Yourself

Hi friends! Hope things are stellar in your world today. No matter what the state of things, I know of something that can usher good in immediately!! Ready for it? Helping someone else. I know it may seem hard to even think of this if you are very busy, have limited resources, or find yourself not feeling very well. If that is the case for you, I'm sending you a BIG digital hug right now! But I assure you, that I have compiled a list of ways you can do good for someone else no matter what your situation may be. So take a look and see if anything here strikes your fancy...

Give a free mammogram with a click of your mouse

Play multiple choice crossword games online for charity

Shop online through this site & a percentage gets donated to your charity of choice. Some stores offer coupons too!

Sign up, register and volunteer in Los Angeles

Sign up, register, and find a place to volunteer in the United States

Be a video mentor to a child in Africa

Already a volunteer? Give your charity kudos and share your experience with others here

Come up with ways to give and see what transforms for you, by taking a 29 Day Giving Challenge

Doing good for others can bring immediate feelings of joy and can help to bring the blessings you wish for. For what we give, we also receive. Multiplied abundantly. I hope you liked the offerings listed above. 

Here is one more idea for giving back.... 

In a previous post, I mentioned my love for magazines. Then I got a great idea! A couple months ago while driving I noticed a Dialysis Center. I realized that the people that go there do so regularly and for extended periods of time. So I figured, I could go and drop off my magazines once I'd read them and spice up the experience a bit for people with fun and current things to read. I have been doing this once a month for the past two months and have actually compiled a small stack for January. 

I just pop in with my stack of magazines and put them in the magazine rack in the lobby. The reception is always thankful and it only takes a minute to do. 

Let's go get our give on! Cheers to giving and receiving life's treasures. xo xo xo 

Today I Signed Up To Work For FREE & No, I'm Not A Sucker...

On this day I decided to step out and take action on a feeling I had a couple weeks ago. It started when hubby and I went for lunch and I noticed a thrift shop. That chance encounter had me going in the place, meeting the owner, and discussing philanthropy with him. I was invited to join their team. Three weeks later, I was back and ready to speak about this opportunity further.

This meeting went nothing like I expected. To be honest this whole encounter has been unexpected and yet, that is part of it's charm. I went in there ready to present. To show. To handle sh*t. What can I say? That's how I work.... Then I discovered a laid back approach and flow that I wasn't used to. There was an openness, a trust that is lovely. I was asked questions. I was listened to. I was presented with a lot of information and not very much at all. It was a whirlwind. I feel invigorated, excited, and challenged a bit. This is something completely different for me.

I am faced with the task of generating a website, marketing, online presence, and fund generation for them. I plan to do it in a week's time.

Merriam Webster defines philanthropist as "a wealthy person who gives money and time to help make life better for other people." 

This is what I see myself as. This is how I live my life. Right now my bank account disagrees with my new title. I say my bank account is a liar. Actually, I just think my bank account is taking some time to catch up to me... things move fast in my world. :D

No matter what I know I have more than enough. This notion is so powerful sometimes it's hard to believe even when it's happening right in front of me! I'm not going to say living this truth happens mindlessly for me yet but I will say that I recognize it and do my best to foster those feelings every day. It is no coincidence that blessings surround me and touch me. I had been so wrapped up in the how it recently dawned on me that I enjoy unexpected money and favor all over the place! Perhaps it's coming to me indirectly because there is something else I have to learn in the area of giving and receiving. Either way, I'm a wiling student.

Is there something you are wanting to do but taking your time on? What are some of the ways you feel you better the world?

Losing All of My Weight.

Take it.
Take it all....

I find myself saying that more and more to my previous ways of being. I've opened a Pandora's Box. I didn't realize it but it's been done and now I'm left shedding all of my extra weight. Everything.

The life I once knew, the direction I was going in, the things I deemed important. They have all been and continue to be challenged. From weight I carried in my body, to weight-y relationships. From endless lists of digital items, to material possessions I once cherished. It's all just going, going, GONE. Most of it feels natural, thank God. After all, I have chosen this. Granted I didn't know how far it would go but I have chosen this. Yet, there are moments I discover ties to things I didn't know I had and relationships fall away that I didn't intend to lose.

Last week, I donated 85% of my possessions.

As the filled truck rolled away I felt a moment of sadness. The memories of the times I had spent with my family and our stuff flashed by in my mind. Actual tears welled up in my eyes. Then with a swallow I was overjoyed. Excited. Grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to be able to do something like that. Grateful to be so blessed. Happy at the thought of what new person or family would benefit and create memories of their own with our things.

This is what housed our stuff before:

Here's the after:

I can't even begin to describe all of the benefits I have received throughout this process. It isn't over yet and there are tough moments. Not to include that would be dishonest. I wonder at times what people will think of my posts, they're all so "Eat Pray Love." I know. I get it. I worry my thoughts aren't mainstream enough to be cool and then I just keep jumping off the cliffs.

So far I have felt lighter, freer, more enlightened and connected with something much bigger and way more important than anything I've ever experienced before. I have felt strength with each passed threshold and so much more grateful for each wondrous person, place, or thing, that makes the cuts.

If you'd like to make a difference with some of your items or if you feel weighed down by stuff, people, places, situations, there is a way out. You too can release. One thing at a time. Whatever your pace and process is, it's perfect. Just take the steps when you're ready. My favorite organization to donate things to is The Salvation Army. They make it easy and really help people. Although, this last time I did want to ship things to Africa as well. I just didn't find out about a place. <--If you know of a place please let me know for future reference. :)

May you realize the blessing in you each moment. Thank you for being a part of my world. <3

Today I Step In To My Newest Title, Philanthropist.

It's sunny outside, the weather is warm, I am energized, refreshed, grateful, excited. This is after over a week of gloom and rain, metaphorically speaking it couldn't be more perfect. This week has brought about a massive amount of change. Consolidated. In your face. The kind of change that even someone like me who loves change, has to pep talk her way through it. Truthfully speaking, like all extremely hard things in my life, God got me through. I've experienced extreme lows and highs. Outpouring of support from fans, friends, and family. I will never be the same.

Amidst this process I have been enlightened to dreams I didn't know I had, to possibilities I hadn't seen before. To things that are now my new life's path. I am alive.

The first section of my life was about survival. The second section about me finding and expressing myself through the arts and my talents. This new phase is about the world.

Listen, I'm not out of the woods yet. I've had major unexpected financial things come up, (a move, parking tickets, ding in my windshield, medical & vet expenses, people I trusted and thought were on my team try to take advantage of me) some of these are still pending.. Sometimes I get scared and it hurts but I've also been extremely blessed. To be honest the only reason I am mentioning this to begin with is because I want you to know I'm a real person. A human being, making my way through this world, trying to be the best I can. Any hints of greatness come from something much higher than me, I call it God.

Please know I am not here to blog about religion, I am not religious. I am simply sharing with you this amazing wonderful metamorphosis I have experienced and the joy I have to be able to step into it TODAY. I dream of being a millionaire on the "Secret Millionaire" show. Until that day comes I will take cues from my mentors Oprah, Neale Donald Walsch, Rhonda Byrne, Robert & Kim Kiyosaki, God... and I will go out and make it happen. It started with making more donations and tonight/tomorrow night I start in deed.

If you are reading this right now, have connected with me at any of the social networks I use, thank you. I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate you. I really do carry you in my heart. This is my longest and my second most personal blog to date. I hope to continue to interest you. May you have a blessed and productive day. You are amazing.

Cheers to all of us, living out our dreams.

In with the new, on to the next

Hip Hop on the radio, I sit and type this blog to you with a full upheaval going on in my world. I have been going through all the items in my home as of late. Passing things on to interested people I love, donating, and throwing things away. I am shocked at how good this feels. Really, I'm finding it quite addicting.

#1. I'm finding things I had forgotten about.
#2. It brings me great joy to pass on items to someone else that could use them.
#3. It feels so much lighter to get rid of things you aren't using and truly cherishing.
#4. Seeing and living with everything so organized afterward is awesome!

If you have the chance to do this, give it a go. It feels so good! I personally like to donate to The Salvation Army but there are plenty of ways you can donate, there are even collection bins for clothes posted in various shopping centers! Believe me when I say you will be surprised to find out how rich you are right now... I'd love to hear if any of you took up this challenge! The good feeling you get is priceless and if that isn't enough for you, you can also get tax write offs. Double bonus!! If you already donate regularly, feel free to let me know how and where you donate to as well. Cheers to full and bountiful lives. You are awesome.

I'll be posting another blog soon... until then, love and light.