Bit #4: Give Back

Little Life Lesson and Bit of Grace 4: Be a philanthropist any time you can!

"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it." ~Albert Einstein

Give back! Just as the title of this site suggests, help spread good will and grace as much as possible! We all have so many blessings in our lives and we can always give back to other in need. Life is like dominoes and we are all intertwined...if someone needs help, lend the helping hand and it will come back to you in the end.

This does't always mean by giving money, although it is a fantastic way to give. Charities need funds to run and can put financial donations in to the places within their community that can be most helpful.

Phi*lan*thro*py (n.): altruistic concern for human welfare and advancement, usually manifested by donations of money, property, or work to needy persons, by endowment of institutions of learning and hospitals, and by generosity to other socially useful purposes.

There are thousands of ways for you to give back to others: volunteer at a soup kitchen helping to serve meals and get to know some of the people eating their meals there, teach someone to read, read to children, help someone pick up packages, groceries, or books that were dropped, help someone cross the street, write encouraging and supportive cards and letters to patients and soldiers, donate goods both new and used, listen to a stranger that might need a friend, reconnect with a loved one, adopt a family or person during the holidays, coordinate your own food drive or similar charity and help get others involved, pick up trash along the road or in town, take a volunteercation where you go away domestically or abroad to help others by building, teaching or working, and the list goes on and on.

There are fantastic charities out there for you to get involved in. Like I said before, before I became a mother, I knew that I wanted my children to grow up to be loving compassionate, caring, and giving people. A charity that I LOVE is Spirit Jump. This is a fantastic charity that teams up "spirit jumpers" with cancer patients and sometimes their family members. This charity can certainly use monetary donations, but this one is one that you can solely give back with your time and perhaps a stamp or two.

It is never too early or too late to get started giving back in various ways. What are you waiting for? Get out there and see what the big world has to offer.

"No one ever became poor from giving." ~Anne Frank

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." ~Winston Churchill

"Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege." ~John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

(thanks to Reader's Digest for the photos)