Tag: Helping Others

3 Questions for Finding Purpose and Fulfillment

For many of us, we grow up and the most important thing is who we are going to be when we grow up. Then we focus on doing all these things in order to have the stuff that someone who is like who we want to be would have. Unfortunately for many of us, we focus more on the having than the being. We are designed as human beings, and when we lose sight of that and begin to do things in order to have things, we lose sight of why we are here. Don't wait to find your purpose...define…

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How Do I Take The Next Step in My Career?

"As a medical professional, I feel that I have reached a plateau at my job. I love the job with all of my heart (patients). I work hard on a daily basis. I feel that I could use a pay increase. It has been 6 years since I last had an increase in pay. At the same time, I feel with all of my heart that I was put on earth to do something really great as far as serving people. How do I find out what my next step is in life? I feel stuck." ~ Brenda, Georgia Hi Brenda,…

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What we can learn from the ice bucket challenge and Robin Williams’ death

The life and death of two prominent and beloved figures were brought into our national consciousness recently: Lou Gehrig and Robin Williams. They brought joy to the lives of others through their respective careers in the limelight—one a professional athlete and the other an entertainer. They died in different ways. Gehrig died slowly and methodically from an illness that now bears his name. Williams took his own life after a long struggle with depression, addiction, and perhaps a different chronic illness looming in his future. Williams’ death brought surprise and sadness. We still ride the ripples as the media presents…

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School of Human Potential: How Can I Serve You?

One simple question can literally change your life: "How can I serve you?" I am using the word literally very specifically, so please allow me to explain. It all started with Neale Donald Walsch at the Celebrate Your Life conference sharing his belief that "your life is not about you...but who you touch and in how you touch them...." Whether you agree with that statement and to what extent is beyond this particular post. What is, on the other hand, is an interesting perspective and a question that occurred to me while thinking through Neale's speech. In our lives, we most…

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Become Your Inner Grinch this Holiday Season

After one too many Black Friday Sales, the Grinch ended up with his heart two sizes too small. Luckily, you don’t have to. Because even Mr. Grinch… the mean one, the one as cuddly as a cactus… was able to change. Even Grinch, during the holidays, was able to open his heart—so big that it busted right out of his chest. The secret? He started giving. He started practicing seva, or service to others—and in the end, he returned the tree, the toys, why… even the roast beast to all the lovely Who’s of Whoville, as they sang their Who…

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Share Your Light In the World Even if You’re Retired

A lot of my girlfriends are retired after many years of service in the workplace. Some play golf, others engage in card games, still others sit on boards of charities and have lofty goals. Some of them were teachers, saleswomen. doctors; still others held significant positions in corporations. And there are those whose jobs were to care for their families and those particular friends or relatives did not work outside the home. But it seems I get the same chorus from most of them, “so when are you going to retire?”  And there are times when I waffle back and…

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How Helping Others Helps You

For anyone to be inspired, all that it takes is a little shove in the right direction. In this day and age there are many problems... especially with the economy. Millions of people have lost jobs, lost homes, and lost hope. We need to help them out and try to make it better in the future. You may be thinking that you're just one person and that you can't make a difference but that's the thing, you haven't even started and you already are doubting your ability! What you need to be thinking is: whom you can help, what you…

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Reaching Within To Reach Out To Help Others

Bullying is a huge problem that affects a lot of people. Every kind of bullying is as bad as the rest. Adults get bullied too. One out of four kids get bullied and 85% of the time no one intervenes. School should be a safe place for all but has become a battle ground of intolerance. One of the nicest and smartest girls in my class gets bullied. The kids call her a teacher's pet and she doesn't do anything wrong. She has even been a victim of cyber bullying. I was being bullied in first grade, I just moved…

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Harvesting Happiness: 6 Tips To Volunteering

Volunteering can give you an opportunity to recenter and reconnect with your own happiness while at the same making the world a better place. Do you want to help others by giving back? You may be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" Here are some tips to get you started on finding a volunteer opportunity. Research the issue or cause that is most important to you and find a group that works with those issues. Look at the skills you could offer and use them to find the opportunity that suits you. If you enjoy being around children or want…

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Today’s Brilliance from Dane Pavlik

I became a church Altar Server at age nine and was occasionally paired to serve with a young man with Down's Syndrome. I was nervous at first because he was "different". I learned at that young age that what made him different was his honesty, sincerity, lack of hypocrisy and his smile came from the heart. I no longer feared altar serving with him but looked forward to it. I've been privileged to be counselor at a camp where children and adults with mental and physical disabilities have a summer they will never forget, and I won't either. Each counselor…

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Today’s Brilliance from Stefan Lyon

I started raising money to help those in great need after September 11. I sold cookies, but realized that I wasn't making as big a difference as I wanted to, so I decided to start a project to help orphans in Africa. I wrote a book about my pet rats to raise money for a school for kids in Kenya, but the donations from one book weren't enough, so over the past two years I've written two more books. Starting this foundation has taught me many lessons. I've learned how to spend my time helping other people. I have learned…

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Using Music To Serve Others

I learned at an early age that everyone has a gift from God and it's important to use that gift for good. You have to give back. For me, the gift of music is something that I was born with. My mom says I sang before I talked, even humming as a tiny infant! At first music was something that I did because it made me feel good, but I began to realize that I made others feel better with my music and that makes it important to share. My grandpa died when I was younger and my mom was…

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Missing

By B. Lynn Goodwin. "Jay's run away," his mom told me over the phone. It was 2 a.m. and I didn't know what to say. I know that running away is something many 12-year-olds do, but Jay is not an average 12-year-old. He and his younger brother both have autism.  At 12 he’s energetic and determined. He’s also as vulnerable and stubborn as a five-year old, and I imagined the same questions were running through his mom’s head and mine: What if he can’t articulate his name or his phone number? What if he walks up to a homeless encampment…

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The Power of Listening

By B. Lynn Goodwin. "There are two ways of spreading light - to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." -- Edith Wharton Do you write or blog? Do you get tired of receiving little feedback, no feedback, or negative feedback? Do you need something to pull you back up? You’re in need of inspiration. Aren’t we all sometimes? Whenever I offer a journaling or writing workshop, I always explain that everyone in the room is a writer and everyone has a unique voice and stories worth telling. Recently, I gave a journaling workshop at the Sherwood Forest…

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Turn Your Anger Into Passion

I'm Dallas Jessup and I'm Calling All Heroes Ages 7 to 24: your country and the world need you. I used to think I was unique as a kid who created a non-profit which grew into 43 countries. My photo was on Doritos bags, the big screen at Times Square in New York, and I get to hang out with celebrities but it turns out I'm just one of a thousand kids who are saving the world in a hundred ways and we're seeing thousands of other kids join us on the frontlines of youth activism every month. Have you…

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A Conversation With God?

About a month ago I sat in front of my laptop with some heavy thoughts on my mind. In trying to figure out a difficult situation, I gave up and just started typing the first statement below. Rarely do I get to a place where I momentarily crash, but I was tired and was venting in frustration. From there my fingers kept typing and here are the  responses that I "heard" in reply to my questions. I'm not sure this came from the Universe, God, my higher self, my imagination or whatever else. What I do know is that I…

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