A Litter of Love

    June is the ASPCA’s Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat month. Millions of cats roam our streets. Some are looking for a kind person to take them in and give them a new home. This population swells at this time of year since shelters are overflowing with all the kittens born during the springtime. Shelter cats make excellent companions. However, just as cats give people love and companionship, humans need to care for their cat and provide her with an appropriate loving home. Careful research and planning is the key to adopting the right cat for your family, since adopting one should never be an impulse decision and indoor felines can live up to 20 years.

Your Goals Will Grow You

    Make a list of short-term goals you would like to achieve by the end of the year, month, or even week. As you accomplish your goals, give gratitude for the effort, inspiration, people, and other factors that helped you along the way. My goal is to see how I can give more to those around me, near and far. I would love to hear your inspirations!

Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Heart

    Because the world we exist in today is very much about staying in your head, many of us have to make a concentrated effort to become grounded and in touch with our bodies and the natural world around us. Grounding is a technique for centering yourself within your being. Grounding is the way we can reconnect and balance ourselves through the power of the element of earth. When you see someone driving past talking on their cell phone, you know that they are not grounded. For deep grounding, we recommend a creative visualization or, better yet, a group guided meditation.

Service

    “To Be of Use,” Marge Piercy’s marvelous poem, suggests something of the human condition- that we all long to be useful, to help, to work together toward a common goal. This is surely the best part of the human spirit. Meditate upon this: 

    What is my true purpose? What am I here to do in this life?

    I recommend that you contemplate this question deeply and for a very long time-days, weeks, months, and years, even. Let the answer speak through your service to others.

Don’t Go Through It, Grow Through It

    An attitude of gratitude can make a profound difference in our day-to-day lives. Yet, as we all come to know, not every day is filled with good things. We each endure difficult passages: illnesses, money trouble, work woes, relationship issues, the loss of a loved one, and countless others. These are the vicissitudes of life. However, it is the attitude you bring to each situation that makes all the difference. Share what you learned from others during these life lessons and offer help to a fellow traveler who is walking a hard path.

Be the Light in Dark Days

    Sometimes we all feel deflated or overwhelmed, someone hurts us or disappoints us, or we hear bad news about a loved one’s medical condition. On those days, when you feel your light has gone out, remember there is always a glimmer of hope and something to be thankful for. Alberty Schweitzer said it well: “Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”

Simple Acts of Goodness

    Get acquainted with the power of simple human kindness and easy acts of goodness every day. When at the grocery store, return the shopping cart or help the elderly man struggling with his bags. Open doors for people. Say “Hello” with a smile. Every day and in every way choose to take the high road in your travels. The view is much more beautiful from up top!

The Gift of Listening

    Listening is one of the greatest gifts you can give anyone. As humans we all want to be heard, so start by listening a little more each day. Listen to your children, your spouse, your friends, even the Chitty Cathy in your office. You, in turn, will be repaid by being listened to with far more attention and care.

The Helpful Hand

    Every Sunday night, when you go to take out your own garbage and recycling, knock on your neighbor’s door and offer to take hers out, too. You might even be invited in for tea and cookies, as I was!

Be More Thoughtful

    You know your coworker works really hard and can come in a bit bedraggled at the end of an arduous week. Why not walk up to her, say, “Good Morning!” and hand her a vitamin-rich protein smoothie or fresh hand-pressed juice? Or if it's virtual, send a funny GIF for encouragement?

Dad's Big Day

    On June 19, 1910, the governor of the state of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first Father’s Day. However, it was not until 1972, 58 years after President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day official, that the day became a nationwide holiday in the United States. Celebrate your father today by making him feel special and loved with a homemade gift or meal. For your friends who may have lost their father, check in with them as this day may be difficult. Perhaps you can connect them with the many “rad dads” at senior centers who are elders with wonderful stories and few family members.

Teach Your Children Well

    Sit down with your child and ask them to start a discussion about thankfulness. Provide a simple starting point: "Thank you for..." Then ask your child to draw a picture to go with the concept and get started writing the first of many thank-you notes for years to come!

The Good Old Days and the Good New Days

Share happy memories. Keep in touch with a friend by sending an old photo to them via snail mail and write a short note about the day it was taken on the back of the photo.

Love the Ones You’re With

    We're now starting to enter a post-covid world, and we're all getting back together. Which is why I have seen this excellent exercise put into practice at work, family reunions, and dinner parties, and think there is to better time to try it out at your next gathering. It never fails to bring a group of people closer, and it brings out the best in anyone. Call everyone to attention and say you want to acknowledge your appreciation for the group. Time your moment well- whenever there is a lull in conversation would be best and never at the beginning of a get-together.

Rewire Your Brain to be More Positive

    Neuropsychiatrist David Amen,MD, posits that thoughts carry physical properties and that the properties of negative thoughts can be detrimental to leading a healthy, happy life. To overturn these negative effects, he prescribes thinking more positively so you can change the way your brain works and in turn change your life for the better.

Pay It Forward

    Stop for a moment and think of someone who needs a gesture of kindness. Perhaps it is something king that someone once said to you. With gratitude for what was given, reach out and give back. It can be a simple gesture, like sending a card, or calling someone who is sick and saying you care. You may well recall the movie or book, but if you want ideas and to connect to other kindly folks, go to payitforwardfoundation.org. Pay It Forward is all about people, from all walks of life, giving to others and making a positive difference. At last count, there were more than 500,000 people in 60 countries around the world participating. 

Mindful Memo

    Write a note of gratitude to the people in your everyday life who make a difference- the mailman, a grocery clerk, or the greeter at the mall. Tell your friends about their great service so their businesses can grow. Just by paying attention to those who can so easily go unnoticed (especially if your smartphone is glued to your hand), you can enrich each other's lives a little each day.

Phoning In for a Good Cause

    Donate your old cell phone to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org). They will donate the proceeds to programs that protect families who have suffered abuse.

The Good Neighbor Policy

    Bring your neighbor's newspaper to their front door and leave a plate of homemade muffins and a bottle of hand sanitizer next to it.

Save Somebody's Life in just One Second

    If you have a driver's license, choose "yes" when you're asked to become an organ donor.

Give Your Old Clothes a Promotion

    Donate your unworn, professional clothing to dressforsuccess.org. This organization promotes economic independence for disadvantaged women by providing them with clothing they can wear to work, thereby advancing their careers and confidence.

Honor Abused Women and Children's Awareness Day

    Collect coupons for life's little essentials, buy the merchandise, and then donate them to a homeless shelter or a home for abused women and children. I donate magazines and books to my shelter of choice, the fantastic Delancey Street (delanceystreetfoundation.org). They have been making a difference in people's lives for decades and turned thousands of lives around.

Birthday Girl

    Give your mom a present on your birthday. She gave you the gift of life, and this is a sweet acknowledgement of her labor.

Be Kind to Yourself, Too

    Make a commitment to refrain from negative self-talk. Be kind to yourself and focus on the traits you like, rather than the ones you don't. The extremely wise Dawna Markova, the author of a favorite book, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life, says, "Your soul remembers when you put yourself down; it imprints upon you. Never do this. Self-compassion is key to a life well-lived."

Catch People Doing Something Right (and Make Sure They Know It)

    During difficult transitions, our natural tendency is often to resist change and grow rigid. In this state, we seem to only be able to focus on the negatives. We think about the despair that follows the death of a loved one, but not the wonderful moments spent together. We think of the heartbreak of a relationship ending, but not the exhilaration and freedom of being unattached. We might even scold our loved ones, or our friends, or coworkers for something minor when we ourselves wallow in similar negativity. But it is in these moments that gratitude can be used to alter this way of thinking.

    Finding positives and accentuating them is the easiest way to turn those proverbial frowns upside down and gray skies back to blue. Try catching someone doing something right for a change, not something wrong. Giving praise for a job well done will lift all parties involved.

It's the Thought that Counts

    Leave something useful in an area where it will be most needed: an umbrella next to a public doorway or a spare bag at the grocery store for those who forgot theirs. Practice tiny acts of kindness!

Agree to Disagree

    Respect the choices of others. We may not always agree with our loved ones, but increase peace by respecting their decisions and being there for them regardless. If everyone thought alike, think how boring it would be. Our differences enrich our lives, and all the more so when handled respectfully.

Friends Let Friends Forage

    Plant a fruit tree. We know trees clean air by absorbing odors and pollutants while also providing oxygen and shade. And if you want to be generous, go ahead and plant a fruit tree near the fence or street. Put up a little sign that says "Help yourself!"

A Bagel and a Hug

    It's easy to feel overwhelmed from everything that life throws your way. If you notice a friend or coworker struggling, be there for them. Bring them a bagel or coffee, or something simple to show them that you care. Take their minds off their challenges, if only for a moment.

Live Aloha

    In the beautiful paradise known as the Hawaiian Islands, there is a tradition of "Living Aloha." In Hawaiian culture, aloha includes the concepts akahai, lokahi, olu ' olu, ha'aha'a, and ahonui- in English, these words translate to kindness, bringing unity, politeness, humility, and enduring. If you live your life with simple acts of goodness every day and follow the tradition of native Hawaiian islanders, you will surely become good in the world.