One of my most memorable Valentine’s Days involved no chocolates, cocktails, roses, perfume or jewelry.
It involved meat, chopped meat to be exact… read more
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=893444&category=LifeAtHome&BCCode=&newsdate=1/29/2010

Donate money.
While donating money may seem impersonal, it is the best way to help victims because it guarantees that aid can get there immediately and emergency personnel can provide the supplies that are most needed. Money has no transportation or storage costs, and does not require space or work to sort, clean, or distribute. You can find a list of reputable disaster relief organizations that accept donations at www.nvoad.org

If you don’t have millions or even hundreds what do have? Great time to count your blessings and consider making a small sacrifice to help another person. Have a yard or bake sale. Skip the expensive coffee, pack a lunch one day a week, skip Bingo, the lottery ticket, the car was, the cigarettes, the movie. In a month’s time that can really add up!

Reach out and help those closest to you.
It’s been said that the best way to heal grief, or hurt is to help someone else heal theirs. Choose a stranger or a relative but make a decision to help them in some small way. When you consider how you may be able to help others, don’t simply think about what you may be good at, think about what you have been through. People in tough circumstances often need to talk to others who will listen with real understanding and speak to their concerns with conviction and authority.  Your failures and negative experiences may hold the key to your effectiveness in helping others.

Use the power of reflection, prayer or prana!
No matter how you do it, it helps. Focus, intention and energy directed on behalf of another can not only calm you and put your anxiety at ease there is something about the way energy and intention spreads that is unquestionably beneficial. Why else would people of all faiths and no faith at all through out all time continue to do this?

Most New Year’s Resolutions aren’t worth the paper they’re written on – forgotten before January is over. This January consider dreaming, planning and positive thinking instead!

Think positive. Most resolutions are made in response to something negative — a habit or situation that we want to change or stop. But it’s nearly impossible to get enthused and excited about loss, to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something we want than away from something we don’t. Have a goal and state it in positive terms. Lose weight becomes more energy, quit smoking becomes breathe easier and smell sweeter. You get the idea…

Dream big. Dream often. If there’s one thing I learned the hard way, losing weight and maintaining the loss must be motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than just losing weight. I saw myself living a long and healthy life with my family. I began to act and think like someone who is in good physical shape. I took walks. Joined Yoga. Chose fruits and vegetables. There was a radical change in my thinking and then my actions. My success would not be possible without the motivation of my big dream.

Go for the sure thing. If you’re going to make a New Year’s Resolution this year, make one with a high probability for success. Make a Resolution to develop a life plan or vision. Most people are in a free-fall through life, careening from one crisis to the next. They wake up one day and 10, 20, 30 or more years have passed. With a vision or life plan you’re more apt to be excited by what the future brings even if you succeed at attaining only a small part of your plan.

A life plan must address every aspect of your life including finances, health, relationships, career, spiritual and even recreational. While we tend to focus on increasing income or decreasing debt, or losing weight or quitting smoking, the undeniable truth is that a balance of all things leads to a quality life.

If you were going to build a new house and you had this idea for an amazing master bedroom suite, you start with building the master bedroom. You’d have a complete plan before you started. When you approach resolutions and goals in the same manner, you end up with a much better chance of achieving success.