29-Day Giving Challenge Part II

So, I am nearing the end of the 29-day giving challenge and, of course, I am going to continue with it once I have finished the 29 days. I realize that I was much more into in at the beginning, starting each day asking how I could serve and that the enthusiasm waned as the days went by. I think it is a conscious choice that has to be made each day to find a way to give back or maybe it is a redefinition of what giving means. Could it be that we give more each day than we think? That maybe we don’t give ourselves enough credit in regards to how much we give? It is definitely something to ponder. It is something I had to look at in order to find what I had given over the last few days when my consciousness in regards to giving had fallen by the wayside. Did I give even when I didn’t set out to intentionally? Well, it ends up I did. 

The following is days 12 through 26 of giving: 

Day 12: Cooked a full breakfast for my kids. Gave the gift of no yelling to my children and replaced negative or angry thoughts with the word “love” (11/7/09).

Day 13: Cooked a full breakfast for my kids. Another day of no yelling at my children and replacing negative or angry thoughts with the word “love”. This resulted in an amazingly peaceful weekend and my change in attitude was reflected in my children’s attitudes. It was one of the best weekends we have had in quite some time (11/8/09).

Day 14: I let someone turn left in front of me at a very busy intersection. When I turned behind them I read their license plate which included the numbers “248” which are my lucky angel numbers (I see them everywhere when I know I am on the right track/path). I also tried to smile at every person I walked past even though I was sick and didn’t feel like it (11/9/09).

Day 15: Allowed myself extra hours of sleep – without guilt – to recover from illness. Did not go to work, did not push myself to go as I used to. This kept me from spreading illness to my co-workers (11/10/09).

Day 16: Let go of fear that has been building over the last couple of weeks and began writing a personal statement that is due soon (11/11/09).

Day 17: Thanked someone for helping me and when she said, “No, I didn’t help you at all,” I explained all the ways that she had indeed helped me out (11/12/09).

Day 18: Even though it was my day off I got up and did my hair and make-up and put on a very nice outfit and I felt terrific all day (11/13/09).

Day 19: I cooked a full breakfast for my kids (11/14/09).

Day 20: I cooked a full breakfast for my kids (11/15/09).

Day 21: Sent an e-mail thanking someone for giving me guidance and advice that helped me break through a major block (11/16/09).

Day 22: Left a $10.00 tip for an $8.00 meal. Set out to do so and let the universe set things in motion so that the right person received it at just the right time (11/17/09).

Day 23: Agreed to take help offered that I really needed rather than letting pride get in the way of accepting help as it usually does (11/18/09).

Day 24: Worked on my “listening to others” skills by letting others speak without my interruptions (11/19/09).

Day 25: Wrote a letter of recommendation for a friend who is applying to a Master’s program (11/20/09).

Day 26: Sent my estranged sister some information I think she will benefit from. Cooked a full breakfast for me kids (11/21/09).

29-Day Giving Challenge

I am on my 12th day of the 29 gifts challenge and it has already transformed how I look at the world. I have made www.29gifts.org my home page so that when I open up the Internet each morning it is the first thing I see and I ask the Universe: How can I serve today? I love that I am in the habit of asking how I can serve each morning and that now I look for ways to serve others, for any opportunity to give to those around me and even some that are not around me in the literal sense. It is bringing me towards the fulfillment of my birth-year goals of peace and connection with others.

So here is what has occurred over the last 11 days:

Day 1: Sent an author I know an e-mail wishing them good luck on the day of their book release (10/27/09)
Day 2: Sent a fellow student an e-mail thanking them for the critique they did on one of my manuscripts and the wonderful comments they made that will bring the manuscript to a whole new level (10/28/09)
Day 3: Sent another student an e-mail thanking them for all the help and advice they had given me last semester that had a significant impact on my writing. If this student had not been brave enough to be truthful about my writing, I would not be where I am right now in regards to my writing skills (10/29/09)
Day 4: Sent an author a link to a site where he can possibly promote his new novel (10/30/09)
Day 5: Set up free Disney hopper passes for a friend from my online writing group who is taking a life transforming journey around the United States and Canada to honor her friend who died of cancer (10/31/09)
Day 6: Donated money to the local food bank when asked at the grocery store (11/1/09)
Day 7: Kept the cost of car repairs from my 17-year-old son who worries a lot about money because I do (11/2/09)
Day 8: Helped a fellow student redesign her poster she was presenting at a research conference (11/3/09)
Day 9: Bought a lottery ticket, following my intuition. I didn’t win, but I followed my gut which is a process I am trying to improve in my life (11/4/09)
Day 10: I took the day off work, honoring my hurting body and wrote a piece that I had been wanting to write for quite some time. It was a gift to self that improved my condition even if it was just for one day (11/5/09)
Day 11: Volunteered at the local Foster Care Review Board and purchased a video game my son had been asking for (11/6/09)

I am very excited about how the following days will evolve as I ask: How can I serve? I hope that it will become intuitive for me to give every day and to be aware of how I can serve even after my 29 days have been completed. Giving to others is truly giving to the self by eliminating the fear of there not being enough or the belief that we have nothing to give outside of monetary donations. What a lesson we are learning that even a kind comment can transform another person’s day and possibly their life.

Weeks One and Two

On my birthday I decided that it was time to make changes in my life. I wrote a goal list and now I am working towards accomplishing these goals. I want to share my journey with you in hopes that it will inspire you, too, to take the plunge into living the life you have always wanted.

I believe wholeheartedly in the law of attraction because as I learn more and more about it, I can see clearly how I have manifested everything that has come to me  – both good and bad. What I have been struggling with over the past few years is the “bad” that I manifested. How can I avoid manifesting things that are seemingly so disasterous?

There are two ways to look at this. First, is that I manifested bad things and I need to find a way to stop doing so. The second is that what I manifested was exactly what I needed in order to get out of a situation I was stuck in. Basically, my desire to move forward was greater than the fear that was holding me back. I choose to believe this way of looking at my past. I have to believe that there are no mistakes because my two biggest so-called mistakes resulted in my two beautiful children. Can I ever look at them and say they were a mistake? No. Do I believe they could have come to me in any other way than they did? No.

So, manifesting bad things has to be false. Now, if only I could truly believe that. Maybe it is that I want to believe in the bad so I can have an excuse to stay stuck because moving forward into the unknown is so uncomfortable. If there is one thing I do know as truth, it is that when there are lessons to be learned, the same situation repeats itself until those lessons are learned, oftentimes with more urgency/severity.

I would love to say that I have set my fear aside and am jumping fearlessly into a new and improved existence, but I would be lying. Instead I am taking some small steps and some big steps towards creating the life I want to live. There will be failures, there will be successes, but what I am hoping for this time around is that I won’t let either of them get in the way of my growth and progression towards the life I envision for myself.

Steps I have taken: 

• SMALL STEP ONE: I bought Louise Hay’s Morning and Evening Meditations iPhone Application . I listen to these affirmations each morning and night and they are having a profound effect on how I view the world around me – especially in the morning. I am not saying it is all rosy, but things I need to work on are clearer now than they have ever been. (Don’t have an iPhone, you can buy the CD)

• SMALL STEP TWO: I got out my copy of Louise Hay’s Heal Your Body A-Z and wrote down the explanations for each of my ailments and its corresponding affirmation from her book. I was astounded that each of my ailments had a very similar underlying belief and yet there was not one underlying belief that surprised me.  

• SMALL STEP THREE: I looked up alternative ways to exercise. My cable company has Fitness TV on demand. I am in extreme pain quite often, but I found a Walk at Home workout that seems very manageable. Now I will incorporate it into my daily regimen. 

• BIG STEP ONE: I have made the decision to apply to transfer to a new MFA program that will provide me with the experiences and education I need to guide me into the next phase of my life. This step is one filled with fear. It requires me to step outside of my comfort zone. It is a highly acclaimed writing program and I am experiencing daily feelings of anxiety that come from the belief that I am inadequate as a writer and don’t deserve such a program. This is what changing my life is all about though – taking risks! I am afraid of rejection and what that will say about me, but choosing to take such a big step is opening up so many things about myself that I need to work on – especially the little voice that constantly chants that I am not good enough, not good enough, not good enough. 

I will keep you updated on what is next and the steps I take towards fulfilling my birth-year goals. Even if I reach these goals in other ways than I anticipate (which I am sure will happen) the experience will be worth it! I hope it will be for you too!

What am I reading now to help support me on this journey?  Infinite Possibilities by Mike Dooley

Birthday Wishes

Well, my birthday is today (October 18th) and that got me thinking. I have never been too good at New Year’s resolutions, but maybe that’s because I’ve been celebrating the wrong year. I think from now on my goals will follow the time span between my birthdays. I have definitely made progress over this past year. It seems as each year goes by my life seems to get a little bit less complicated. I am just beginning to fully embrace the idea that I create my reality and that the Universe is abundant in every way. I am going to take this next year to test this belief by having a positive mind, solidifying goals, taking action where I can, and leaving the rest to the Universe. What is it that always stops me from moving forward? That cursed how. I am going to try this year to focus on my goals and leave the unknown “how” to a Higher Power. 

My goals for my 36^th (technically 37^th) year are as follows: 

• Relocate to a beach community
• Continue earning MFA
• Complete my first memoir
• Receive funds to support my writing
• My son’s successful enrollment in college
• Create a long-term healthy eating plan
• Incorporating exercise into my daily routine
• Make my health a top priority
• Significantly reducing debt and monthly costs
• Replace TV time in my family with reading, music, and arts
• Find alternative ways to earn money rather than traditional 8-5 job
• Continue my journey towards healing the past
• Embrace the Law of Attraction consistently
• Be a more positive/less complaining person
• Downsize/Simplify
• Build lasting relationships with others 

I am sure these goals will evolve as I grow and learn and I will update them accordingly. I truly want to make this year my best year ever and am finally willing to do what it takes to make that a reality. Why wait till January when I can start right now?