Resolve to Be a Force for Good in This World

New Year’s Day. Did you make a New Year’s resolution for this year? Throw that word resolution out the window, It’s not strong enough to hold people to their goals—or at least that is true for me and everyone I know! If you want to eat healthier, spend more time with your family, or finally volunteer at your church’s soup kitchen, go ahead and make these things happen. Tell people about your mission and maybe they will join forces with you. I had so much fun at Glide Memorial Church serving lunch that my friends asked to come along with me! Or, if you want to jump-start your New Year’s with a major act of kindness, head on down to LA for the New Year’s Race for A Place Called Home (apch.org). They are a safe haven in South Central Los Angeles where underserved youth are empowered to take ownership of the quality and direction of their lives through programs in education, arts, and well-being. These young people are inspired to make a meaningful difference in their community and world.

Grant Someone a Wish

Grant someone a wish through Wish Upon a Hero, a network dedicated to people helping people. Anyone can be a hero by sending a donation or offering a service. Explore heronetwork.com to browse through wishes and see if you can help with any. It is a really good reminder of what others are going through and that you are needed in this world.

Make Merry

Santa Claus came early to a Pennsylvania retailer recently. In December 2014, an anonymous man walked into a store and told the manager he wanted to donate $50,000 to help pay off customer layaway accounts. “We made him say it twice,” said store manager Steve Meyers. “When we started telling customers, they thought it might be a joke.” The donor, who asked to be known as Santa B.,arrived just in time, as unfulfilled layaway orders were set to be cancelled that day. “He just wanted to bring Christmas cheer to everyone,” Meyers said. “He was in and out, kind of like Santa Claus.”

Good Neighbor

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!

The Good Neighbor Policy

Bring your neighbor’s newspaper to their front door and leave a plate of homemade muffins next to it. 

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.

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!

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 mind off their challenges, if only for a moment.

Have a Good Neighbor Policy

If you live next to an elderly couple or someone who is disabled, volunteer to help them around their yard by raking their leaves or mowing their lawn. Consider it good exercise and a good deed.

Be a Compassionate Clipper

Leave extra coupons on the shelf next to the item they are for. Easy peasy!

Be a Good on Your Own Block

Make a list of small things you can do around your house and place of work to conserve energy and water, stop waste, and increase the recycling. Then start doing them!

Develop More Patience

I love the old-fashioned ideas of virtues, such as kindness and generosity, a lot. I am determined to develop my patience muscle so it gets stronger all the time. Here is a big one for me: to learn to have patience with difficult people. (And realize I may be one myself and not know it!) This is not only a good deed for the person you are exhibiting patience towards, but it is also a good deed for yourself. Imagine that, a good deed for yourself!

For example, when someone pushes your buttons by doing something or saying something rude, you can choose to act with patience and understanding instead of anger. This will benefit you by keeping your blood pressure and stress levels low-which we know are two health issues that many people are suffering from today. My wise woman friend BJ Gallagher ays, “Difficult people are the ones we learn the most from.”

Make Sure Our Elders Are Well Fed

One in six Americans over age 60 faces the threat of hunger, and Meals On Wheels is there to help. A total of 2.5 million seniors in all 50 states, many of whom have chronic health conditions, rely on the service. Go to mowaa.org to make a one-time donation ($35 provides 5 meals), or join the Next Meal Club to donate monthly.

Gaggles For Good

    Plan an outing with a group of friends that will positively impact society. Instead of just going to the movies again, gang up for the good of all. Together, plant a community garden, help clean up a schoolyard, or volunteer for a nonprofit organization. In the San Francisco Bay Area, there are regular beach clean-up efforts and it is enormously rewarding to see the unmarred beauty beneath the trash. Find your local chapter of “Heal The Bay,” and get a little sun, sand and healing for you, your friends, and your closest coast.

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.

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!

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.

Games That Give

Even online gaming can be philanthropic- try out Games That Give, at gamesthatgive.net/play. This website donates approximately 70% of their advertising revenue to charitable causes. Everyone wins here.

A Book Can Change Your Life

    Give someone a copy of a book that has helped or influenced you- it may have a similar effect on them. I actually keep a stock of books that I love on hand to do just that and have recently gifted a few copies of The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Give it a read.

World AIDS Day

    HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has become one of the world’s most serious health and developmental challenges. In the United States alone, 1.7 million people are estimated to have the HIV virus. According to aids.gov, 33.4 million people are living with the HIV/AIDS virus globally and more than 25 million deaths resulted in the virus worldwide since the first reported cases in 1981. Educate yourself and your family about this epidemic, promote safe behaviour, and consider volunteering some of your time toward helping those infected. AmfAR’s “Countdown to a Cure for AIDS” is a research initiative aimed at finding a broadly applicable cure for HIV by 2020. “Countdown to a Cure” is designed to intensify amfAR’s (amFar.org) cure-focused HIV research program with plans to strategically invest $100 million in cure research over the next six years.