Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Hope, Help & Heart

As we enter October—aka: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month—be sure to schedule an appointment with your doctor to have an exam. 

Men need to remind their doctors, as well as it is not longer only a women’s issue. Remind your close friends to do the same and maybe schedule appointments for the same time so you can go together and have moral support. It is important for us to be educated about all forms of cancer and to take the necessary steps to stay healthy. Visit www.breastcancer.org to answer any questions you may have. I am a breast cancer survivor and deeply grateful. I remember getting the diagnosis and just going completely numb. I was like a zombie going through motions of my life, getting up and going to work, cooking dinner, trying to focus but all I could think was “I have cancer.” My friends and family got me through it also a genius doctor who “got me” and understood that for me, it would be a physical, emotions and also spiritual journey and had deep discussions about all that. I am lucky in so many way, being “free and clear” for over a decade now and also that I bonded with my female physician and she asked me to stay involved in her practice as a counselor for the newly diagnosed. I am honored and each time I work with someone who has just found out they have cancer, I offer my story and all the success stories I have witnessed while listening to their fears, dishing out lots of hugs and helping them in any way I can. This is one of the best things I do with my life- using my wisdom to help another.

Friend a Family: The Box Project

We all hear about people going hungy; what can you do to help? Turns out, a lot!

Sponsor a Low-Income Family via www.boxproject.org The Box Project joins struggling families in depressed regions of rural America with individuals or groups. The idea is not just to provide financial support (volunteers send about $50 worth of food, clothing and medical supplies monthly), but emotional support as well; most participants develop long-term relationships over many years, cemented through letters. In addition, the organization encourages volunteers to learn about where the family they help lives, so they can impact public services and local policy. I know this is helping a lot of people in my home state of West Virginia where hard times remain.

Give Someone’s Grandfather or Great Aunt What They Always Wanted

I was talking to a Swedish gentleman the other day and he mentioned, "America has forgotten about the old people. There is so much to be learned from our elders. That is a big mistake." He is right!

 

So, start learning and spend time with these wise ones. Also, what can you offer them in return?

Grant a Wish to a Senior Citizen. Volunteers for the Twilight Wish Foundation grant wishes by donating items (like a home computer requested by a grandmother who wanted to e-mail her grandkids) or by contributing their time. Learn all about it at www.twilightwish.org  Some wishes—like one from a retired postman who wanted to go over his old route one last time—require planning instead of money, and volunteers tend to choose items or actions that most speak to them.

Take Action Against Hunger: Gift a Fishing Kit

How can you help people to help themselves? Action Against Hunger makes it easy!

 

We all remember the Biblical parable about teaching a man to fish so he can provide for himself and his family. Two thousand years later, we can do exactly this. My dad taught me how to fish in a pond back home on the farm in West Virginia and, even as a 7 year-old, I could not help but notice that we not only got a couple day’s worth of yummy trout for our efforts but my papa, a former Marine with many battle scars to show for it, seemed so relaxed after an afternoon at the pond. You can gift in a loved one’s name a $49 fishing kit or up to $100 for a daily goat to Action against Hunger (www, ActionAgainstHunger.org), which feeds over 7 million, people each year. Go fish!

Kindness is Love Made Visible

The world can seem so crazy now that we should be even kinder to each other.  

When life gets you down, remember to look on the bright side (and there is always a bright side). Be strong not just for yourself but for those around you as well. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “It is better to light a single candle than it is to curse the darkness.” Look into the meaning of this quote: focus on the light in your life—and if there is none, try to be that light.

“Attitudes are contagious. Make yours worth catching.” –David Mezzapelle

Life Is Your Choices: Make Good Ones:

This is your life, only you can truly control your choices, and choosing happiness is the best way to achieve being a good to yourself as well as the world. 

Here are some suggestions for how you can ensure simple joy in your life:

·  Be the best you can be by your own standards

·  Surround yourself with people who inspire you and make you feel good

·  Focus on what you have, not what you lack

·  Optimism trumps pessimism every time!

·  Smile often and genuinely

·  Be honest, to yourself and to others

·  Help others

·  Embrace your past, live in the present, and look forward for what is yet to come

Give Away Your Old Stuff: Keep Only What You Love

Said it before and I’ll say it again, we have too much stuff which might be  useful to others

Do a favor for those in need and give away some of the things you no longer need or use or wear.  Others would be happy to have it and it will help you simplify your life and enjoy your time more.  Find a few locations that you can drop off your stuff or call an organization that collects your goods to redistribute to those in need. There are Goodwill’s or Salvation Amy centers in every town, large or small so you can donate there to help others and quickly.

ation Amy centers in every town, large or small so you can donate there to help others and quickly.

You should only have possessions you really love; don’t let your things possess you. I have a neat-looking “outbox” on my front porch I fill during the week with items I can take to the Reuse Center at my neighborhood recycling center. As the days go by, magazines, extra pots and pans, odd cups and dishes, old electronics and anything that no longer has a place in my home goes there.  My partner and I go there at least twice a month and it simply feels wonderful.  The center has a lot of regulars and we are now recognized as purveyors of 100% discount bounty such as scented candles, barely-worn scarves, office supplies, crockery and superb magazines as we are a household of voracious readers. I have seen amazing trades at the Reuse Center and witnessed a musician sit down and play a free sitar  with virtuosity while a family with young children got a sorely needed washing machine and dryer. Moments like this remind me of the visionary pagan teacher and writer, Starhawk’s novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing,  depicting a future where people return to a barter system and live harmoniously in community.

Take only what you need and share anything extra with your own neighbors

Share Your Skills: Be a Mentor

Teach someone a craft or skill you are good at. Sharing a talent with someone may allow them to discover their own potential. Truth be told, you'll receive tenfold what you give!

Whether it’s cooking, archery, or photography, spend some time doing what you love with someone. Teaching people how to do something will help maintain your interest and establish a connection with the person you are with. No doubt, you will learn just as much.

 Be a mentor to someone. Everyone needs help to achieve their dreams and goals in life and mentor ship is an excellent way of providing that needed help, encouragement and guidance required.  Look for opportunities to mentor people and provide that benefit to someone else as a way to serve. http://virtuefirst.org/virtues/service/

Love and Lattes: Easy Acts of Kindness

Leave a tip and a little thank you note in the tip jar at your favorite coffee or ice cream shop.

Many of us remember the days when we had to work retail or hospitality while in high school or college. The staff is working hard so show your appreciation for your latte and their positive attitude with a dollar or two. I have put in little “good job” notes in the tip jar at my local Peets Coffee and Tea as I think good work should be acknowledged and people should know they are appreciated and their boss should know, too! I have make lifelong friends at the two Peets I have frequented and it nice to see a friend across the counter every morning. Those relationships all began with four little words, “How are you today?”

Hi there! (& other simple acts of kindness)

Try something new and check out the Just Say Hello Campaign on Oprah’s website.

The campaign (find it at www.oprah.com) encourages kindness and strives to combat loneliness by reading our and connecting. A howdy-do to a stranger might make your day and a new pal in the process. I read about this excellent friendliness project in Oprah’s O Magazine a few Sundays ago and immediately felt inspired to try it that day. My boyfriend and I went to do our weekend chores, which include fresh flowers from our neighborhood stand. An older gentleman was standing there smelling the roses, always a good idea in my mind. I remembered to say “Hi” as instructed by Oprah and he responded with a big smile and wanted my input on flowers he wanted to buy for a lady friend.  As you might imagine, quite a conversation ensued and my boyfriend joined in, who is even friendlier than I am. Soon the florist was involved and our new gentleman friend turned out to be a fascinating conversationalist. He had been a fighter pilot in the Korean War, very highly decorated and has travelled all over the world before returning back home to El Cerrito. Widowed some years back, he was only beginning to get back out there and date. After landing upon a carefully selected bouquet of red roses and pink lilies, he headed off to the dance at the senior center. I noticed he has a good bit of pep in his step and I remember having a good feeling about his first date. We kept our eyes peeled for Colonel Jarvis when in the vicinity of the flower shop and sure enough we saw him and he had pictures of his lady friend from the dance featuring a corsage he had gotten for her. Things were looking pretty swell all around and he looked pleased as punch.

So, thanks Oprah for another great idea!

Feed an Elephant for a Day

200 Squares a Day 

 

Do you know how much an elephant needs to eat per day? At least 200 pounds of chow! Spring for $30 bucks and you can feed a “retired” elephant all day long. Many of the denizens of Tennessee elephant sanctuary are former showgirls who left the three rings circus behind. Check out www.elephants.com

Be a Pen Pal With a US Soldier

If you are on the other side of the world, think how wonderful it would be get a handwritten letter!

Upon learning about the Veteran’s History Project, I was reminded that our service men and women are doing just that, SERVICE. And they should be thanked for it. Many of these noble souls are very far away and receive little mail to their camp or barrack. Take a few moments to acknowledge their contribution and offer a friendly hello from back home in the USA. You can learn all about Operation Write Home at operationwritehome.gov.  I have heard of great pen pal relationships come out of this gesture of gratitude, too.

Child Trafficking Awareness: How to Help

It is almost hard to believe that this goes on in 2018 but it does more than we know: 

Support Love146, an organization that provides holistic care to children who have survived exploitation, enforced labor, abuse and even slavery. These children have been through so much so think about what you can give and give it.   Join a task force, fundraise for abolition, spread the word, or donate to this cause on http://www.love146.org/

Donate Your Miles to Military Families

If you have frequent flier miles you're not going to use, give them to service members:

There are many in the military who have been injured in the line of duty and need to be flown to get proper medical treatment. This can also enable family members to visit.  As the song goes, "love lifts you up so you can fly." Check out fisherhouse.org to discover all you need to know about Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles Program. Love has an enormous power to heal so sharing your unused miles stretches YOUR love a mighty long way!

Give An Hour: Volunteer to Help Veterans

I think the passing of Senator John McCain has made us all think about our military veterans more.

 

Counselors can contribute enormously to our troops when the return back at the end of their service term. I honestly think my Ex-Marine dad has PTSD but that posttraumatic stress was not even acknowledged until long after the Viet Nam War and only through the activism of many.  Therapists and mental health professionals can really help our military veterans by volunteering their own service through the organization Give an Hour (giveanhour.org) and this is extremely helpful to families of vets. Listening can change lives for the better here in a big way.