Tag Archives: Giving

Create Your Own Holiday Traditons

16 Friday Nov 2012

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Bring the magic and meaning to your holidays this season.  Involve your family, especially your children or grandchildren, and YOUR inner-child. Incorporate traditions that you are fond of, special foods, readings, stories, games, decorations, music, etc. or start your own!

If you haven’t experienced the excitement of the holiday season in a while, now is the time to think about how you would like it to be different. Doing an activity together may be fun. An easy one would be to trace your hands and color them to make turkeys for Thanksgiving.  You could make ornaments or candles for Christmas or Hanukkah.  Everyone could write on a large poster board, good things that happened for them this year or what they are grateful for.

Your family’s focus could be on giving and doing for others by gathering food to donate or serving food to those in need.  Another way of giving is to adopt a family through a shelter or religious organization, and providing a holiday for them, that they wouldn’t otherwise have, with food and gifts.

Get creative and MAKE this holiday season meaningful and special!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

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If You Could Be One Thing For The Next Seven Days, What Would You Be?

09 Friday Nov 2012

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If You Could Be One Thing For The Next Seven Days, What Would You Be?Here’s a fun way for family members or friends, to support each other in “trying on” being a different way in one area of your life for the next seven days.

Select one of the following or come up with your own:

Be an athlete – Do some form of physical activity each day. It can be the same thing each day or something different. You might challenge yourself to improve over the week by seeing if you can increase the amount of steps you take daily using a pedometer, or the amount of time or distance you walk or run.  Or get a friend or two together and shoot hoops, play tennis, kick a soccer ball, play catch, etc.

Be peace – Do things that create inner peace.  Meditate daily, do breathing exercises, take a warm bath by candlelight, listen to calming music, do yoga, etc.

Be a healthy eater – Select some healthy recipes to prepare and eat throughout the week.  Choose to eat an extra serving of fruits and/or vegetables each day, eat whole grains, try a new vegetable, eat one or two servings of raw vegetables a day, have a salad each day, etc.

Be giving – Do something for others each day.  It could be as simple as writing a note of appreciation to someone, picking a flower to give someone, making and giving a fruit or vegetable basket to someone, volunteering, etc.

Be beauty – Each day do something to take care of your outward appearance.  Your smile (brush and floss your teeth daily), your hair (deep condition and style it), your face (give yourself a facial or at least wash and moisturize your face daily), your skin (put lotion on you arms and legs), your feet (soak your feet then rub lotion on them).

Be happy – Focus on being happy and cultivating happiness by keeping a happiest moment of the day journal (write 3-5 happy moments from your day), or share your happiest moments of the day with someone, and each day look for things that make you happy.

Keep it fun, positive and supportive!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Spread Some Kindness Today and Everyday

31 Friday Aug 2012

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Spread Some Kindness Today and EverydayThe other day I was in a store and had a $10 off coupon that I wasn’t going to use, so I gave it to a girl who looked to be about 17 or 18 years old. She was very appreciative and I felt good giving it to her.

Today I’m sharing with you and your family, a partial list of acts of kindness that my friend Maria at SpreadKindness.org, gave me permission to use (a few have been modified).  She is going to do these acts of kindness this Sunday for her birthday. What a great gift to give herself!

1. Take change to Laundromat

2. Take crayons and coloring books to the waiting room at the hospital

3. Give someone a compliment

4. Pay for someone in line behind me at ______________.

5. Open doors for people all day

6. Leave pennies on the sidewalk heads up for good luck

7. Put $5 in an envelope with a kind note and leave it somewhere

8. Pray for each person I see on the road

9. Give flowers to my neighbor with a note “to brighten your day”

10. Buy scratchers tickets – give to random people in envelopes that say “Is today your lucky day?”

11. Give a small “gift” to someone

12. Open the phone book, pick a name, and send them something (movie tickets, book, etc.) anonymously.

13. Drop a few coins in an area where children play, where they can easily find them.

14. Write anonymous, loving post-its for strangers to find.

15. Leave a thank you note and a small gift for a teacher

16. Buy some fruits and make a gift basket for a friend, neighbor or teacher

17. Buy a meal for someone at a restaurant

18. Tip the waiter generously

19. Give away individual flowers to strangers

20. Send a text to a friend I haven’t talked to for a while and say I’m thinking of you.

21. Write a letter to some family & friends and mail it

22. Give away some children’s DVD movies to the kids in my neighborhood

23. Leave a book for someone

24. Leave a small gift on a windshield wiper

25. Buy balloons and give them away.

Go make someone’s day!

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Pamper Each Other

03 Friday Aug 2012

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Pamper Each OtherThere’s no reason why we have to wait until it’s someone’s birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or when a family member or friend is sick or injured, in order to pamper ourselves or someone else.

There are a lot of ways for men, women and children to be pampered and to pamper each other. You can find “recipes” on-line for homemade facial masks, or buy one.  Any kind of lotion can be used for a foot or hand massage. After sun lotion can be used for a back rub. These can be lots of fun to do at home. Remember that boys and men have skin too, and they will probably enjoy the pampering as much as you do.

When families offer to pamper each other, the benefits go beyond the moments spent. We can teach and model good self-care and the importance of taking time to give to each other.  This can be done where everyone participates or where one person gives and the other receives, then at another time the roles are switched.

It can also be nice to offer a foot massage or other form of pampering to a family member or friend, when they don’t expect it, and the one giving is not expecting anything in return.

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

The Holidays are 6 Months Away!

25 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Healthy Mind

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You might be wondering why, here in June, I would be writing about the holidays we celebrate in December. 

While we are many months away from the holiday season of family traditions and gift giving, there are many individuals and families who could use our assistance year round.

There is the gift of time, a short visit, a cooked meal, offering to clean or do laundry, or providing a ride.  Think of people who are ill, injured or elderly. 

There are also many families that could use a gift of necessities such as clothing, footwear, toiletries, and food. If you aren’t sure what to get, gift cards work well. You can “adopt” a family in your community, or you can get a group of people together at work, your religious organization, or in your neighborhood and spread out the giving.  Contact local religious organizations or donation organizations to find out if they have families to “adopt.” 

Once you have your family, then provide a “care package” of new or gently used items throughout the year.  Think about the needs you have for each season; summer, fall, winter and spring, as well as at holidays and on birthdays.  Donations can be big or small, something for the whole family, for each member or each child.  During the summer months, a donation of summer clothing, school supplies, books and toys would be useful. 

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis

Allowing Others to Give

11 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Healthy Mind

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GivingDo you dare ask for something? If I asked you to do a small favor for me, what’s the first thought that comes to your mind? 

It’s been my experience lately, that if I just ask, most people say “yes.”  It wasn’t always that way.  In fact, I was so used to doing most everything myself, that it didn’t occur to me to ask.

Is it easier for you to give than to receive? Do you allow others to give to you and do for you?  Is there a part of you that believes that you have to do it all on your own?  Or believes that if you receive from someone then you will owe them something in return? Or that you aren’t worthy of receiving?

Giving and receiving go together, you can’t have one without the other.  In order to receive, someone has to give.  If we don’t allow others to be giving, we block the possibility of receiving, and we actually cheat others out of the opportunity of being giving.

If there is something specific that you would like to be open to receiving, you could write them as an affirmation.  Here are some examples:

I allow and receive well-being.

I allow and receive love.

I allow and receive peace.

I allow and receive help with ______ (fill in the blank).

You may not get everything you ask for, but if you don’t ask, you will never know the answer.  And when someone offers to do something for you, it may feel awkward at first, but with practice saying “yes” will become more comfortable. 

Love, Health & Happiness,

Phyllis