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Feeding the Needy Opens Eyes and Hearts

  • 01/18/12
  • thegreenchildrenfoundation
  • · Positive News

Normally, the day before Thanksgiving on the campus of Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C is found to be silent. All the students are at home with their families and enjoying the holiday break. However, that is not the case in the basement of the next door church. Faculty, staff and parents have gathered to volunteer their time to feed the needy.

Inside the basement, folks worked diligently all day long making Thanksgiving dinners with all the trimmings to feed about 50 people that are older and live nearby in the lower income dwellings. The meals are a welcome sight and are a blessing to those that receive them from the volunteers from the school. The holidays are not the only time that this charitable work occurs. Volunteers help feed the needy twice a week all year long in a project founded in 2001.

The project, started by Robert Egger is called the Campus Kitchens Project (CKP) and it uses resources that are both available and left over. They use the campus kitchens, the leftover food and volunteer students to help prepare and feed the hungry. The program has taken hold and spread to 28 colleges and 3 high schools.

Read more at Amazing News.

Beth

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Comment from a Reader – Thanks, Ingrid!

  • 12/26/11
  • thegreenchildrenfoundation
  • · Positive News

For me gift giving is about giving proper Gifts, thoughtful Gifts, Gifts from the heart. The ones you made/bought/collected with the person at heart. Those are the most valuable and fun ones to give.

I hear you on the receiving part. But I also have that feeling when giving a gift. The not knowing how the receiving party is going to react – that’s just as satisfying.

A couple of months ago I gave a friend of mine a cake I made especially for him. It wasn’t something you can buy in a shop, it requires a bit of effort and love and care. It came right out of my heart. So I was realy curious what he would think of it. His reaction made a real impression on me. I barely see that reaction on people anymore. The look on his face when he received it – the thrill, the thankfulness…the sheer appreciation. Immense joy! It really felt I made a connection.

And I think that’s what’s it all about. Walking that extra mile, putting in that extra effort. Giving your love and make that connection.

Whishing you a warm loving Xmas spend amongst your loved ones
BIG HUG,
Ingrid

Beth

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Holiday Gifts that Give Back

  • 12/10/11
  • thegreenchildrenfoundation
  • · Positive News

1. 10,000 Villages Online Store: One of the world’s largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), 10,000 Villages offers gifts and accessories representing the diverse cultures of artisans from 38 countries. Your purchases help improve the lives of tens of thousands of artisans worldwide. [Shop 10,000 Villages]

2. Best Friends Animal Society Online Store: There’s no reason to shop at the big box pet stores for the animal lovers in your life this holiday season when you can purchase collars, treats, and toys directly from one of the best animal charities in the United States. [Shop Best Friends Animal Society]

3. CARE Packages: CARE has a very unique holiday gift program that allows you to compile care packages to send to women entrepreneurs and girls worldwide. As a group or as an individual, CARE Packages can help send girls in Afghanistan to school for a year, or help expectant mothers in Peru safely deliver. It’s fun and you’ll be bringing hope to girls and women around the world. [Send a CARE Package]

4. Concern Worldwide Gifts: When you buy Concern Gifts, you support Concern’s work in 25 countries worldwide – bringing food, clean water, good health, education and a higher standard of living within reach of more people. Although Concern is based in the U.K., their gift program also accepts U.S.-issued credit cards. [Shop Concern Gifts]

5. Feeding America Tribute Gifts: With poverty and food insecurity at record levels in the Untied States, it’s practically your patriotic duty to donate to Feeding America!  [Give a Feeding America Tribute Gift]

6. Jane Goodall Institute Online Store: You don’t have to be primate activist to shop at the JGI Online Store. Their store also offers jewelry, African art and music, and clothing. That said, there’s also some great gifts for the primate activists in your life.  [Shop the Jane Goodall Institute Online Store]

7. Kiva Cards: Starting a $25, Kiva Cards change lives. You can purchase Kiva Cards which then can be redeemed by your gift recipient to fund a loan of his or her choosing. A microfinance nonprofit working to uplift entrepreneurs out of poverty worldwide, this is great holiday gift for those subscribe to the belief of giving a hand-up, not a handout. [Buy Kiva Cards]

8. Save the Children Gifts of Joy: From ornaments  handmade in India to the sponsorship of a girl’s education in a developing nation to providing health snacks at school to children in the United States, Save the Children has put a together a great online catalog for giving this holiday season. [Give a Save the Children Gift of Joy]

9. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Online Store: If you have a family member or friend who supports saving the whales and dolphins from slaughter with direct action and activist intervention, then Sea Shepherd is a great choice for a holiday gift. The nonprofit behind Whale Wars, their online store also includes numerous items ideal for skaters, surfers, and other ocean-loving hipsters. [Shop Sea Shepherd]

10. Special Olympics Tribute Gifts: An excellent choice for the athletes in your life, Special Olympics Tribute Gifts enable those with intellectual disabilities to experience the power of sports to create champions. [Give a Special Olympics Tribute Gift]

11. Women for Women International’s Gifts That Give Back: Women for Women’s gifts enable you to empower women to rebuild their lives after the ravages of war. You can purchase everything from looms to farming supplies to books, rulers, and pencils which are then given in the name of your gift recipient to a woman in war-torn country.  [Give a Women for Women's Gift That Gives Back]

Source: NonProfits.org

Beth

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Props to our Commenters

  • 12/10/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

We receive tons of great feedback about Only Positive News. Its amazing how few sites provide what we do: positive news. Positive news comes in many forms: actual news stories, poems, quotes, life advice, images. Positive news also comes from you, the people who leave generous comments supporting our work.

Here’s one of our recent commenters:

It became clear to Solah at an early age that her work is to inspire others. She lives a happy, fun and deeply fulfilling life by listening to what her heart is calling out for and then acting upon it. Those she encounters are often wondering how she seems to manifest such a majickal life. Her intention through this blog, is to share some of her guiding principles illustrated through her personal adventures.

Solah Nightstar B.Div is a Manifestation Mentor. She’s also a Certified Empowerment Coach and Passion Test Facilitator. She’s here to help you discover what your heart is most calling out for and then to support you in creating your ultimate reality.

Check out her website. Support the positive news we all possess!

Beth

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How to Shift Perspective when Hurt

  • 12/09/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

“You take things so personally.”

Perhaps you’ve heard that before. Or said it to someone else. Taking something personally is a rather natural thing to do – afterall, we can only see life through our own eyes and we’re feeling beings. But often just a moment of reflection can take the sting out of rude comment or action.

1. Understand projection. Projection is a psychological concept whereby someone holds you accountable or blames you for something he or she feels badly about feeling or thinking. (Research projection more if you want a more thorough definition.) The next time someone says something off-putting, remember that he or she may be feeling that way about himself or herself. In short, it’s not all about you.

2. Make room for bad moods. We tend to think of others as standalone players in our life. As if they hadn’t had a full day of work behind them or a rude word spoken to them. People are allowed their moods just as you’d like to be allowed yours. If someone says or does something that hurts a bit, take a moment to realize that moods are passing storms and not the ultimate definition of a person.

3. Think about the sky. Hurt feelings feed on themselves. They can have a snowball effect, gathering momentum the more we mull over how we were wronged. For a quick moment, think of something else. Do something else. Address another matter. Gently guide your mind in another direction, even if for a moment. You’ll be surprised how much that does to diffuse hurt feelings.

Beth

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Remember Love

  • 11/08/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

A friend of mine is struggling with a break-up. This once-considerate man she dated suddenly seems like a real creep, ignoring her and distancing himself from her as if she were a stranger. She’s mad, hurt. She doesn’t want to remember him like this. She wants someone to be gentle with her feelings even while parting.

A mentor of hers suggested this technique: remember the most loving moments you felt with that person. Feel them completely, to the depth of your bones. Relive them. Feel the natural pain that comes along with letting go of someone you felt so strongly about. Remember the love and let it lead the way to healing.

I also suggested she recognize that everyone has the right to handle separation their own way. Because someone is distancing themselves doesn’t necessarily mean he or she has no feelings for you. Everyone is allowed to cope in their own way and each way should be respected, even if you can only muster a little bit of it. Someone people open up and release emotions during a difficult time while others retract or reject the feelings they may be experiencing.

Remembering love when you’re angry is no easy task; this isn’t spacey new age advice meant as an emotional placebo. It simply means, amidst your pain and anger, remembering the goodness of a loved one and allowing that to move the process forward.

Besides, we are never truly separated. Our relationships, on one plane or the other, go on and on and on and on and on….

Beth

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Self-Care and Why it Matters

  • 10/11/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

We resist the art of self-care, perhaps because we get it confused with being selfish.  As children, many of us were taught that selfishness is a bad thing and we ought to put others first.  There’s great value in that, of course.  Concern for others is something that our mothers need to teach us, to help us grow out of the self-centeredness of childhood into the give-and-take of mature adulthood.  We have to be taught to share, to be generous, to make sacrifices for the needs of others.

But sometimes we take this too far and don’t place a high enough value on taking care of our own needs.  We hope that if we take care of the needs of others that the “others” will feel so grateful or so guilty that they will turn around and take care of our needs.  When they don’t, we get to feeling mighty resentful and mighty empty.

So, it turns out that we also need to be taught how to take care of ourselves.  We need to invest in nourishing our whole selves, and do so regularly.  We need to make time and space for relaxing the mind.  For stretching the body.  For opening the soul.

I find that this kind of self-care is harder to learn than it might seem at first.   But I think that if we can make a distinction between selfishness and self-care, we are well on our way to learning this life-giving lesson.My favorite analogy is offered at 35,000 feet high by your friendly, helpful flight attendant.   He or she gives some really helpful guidance.  If there is a sudden drop in cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from overhead compartments.  If you are caring for a child or someone else who needs your assistance, put your oxygen mask on first.  Then, since you will be alive and alert, you will have the capacity to help someone else.

It is not selfish to tend and care for your own life.  If you do take good care of yourself, everyone wins.  And if you don’t, who will?

by Jennifer L. Kunst, Ph.D.

Source: Psychology Today

Have you had your bath today?

Have you had your bath today?

Beth

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Goodness in Unemployment?

  • 09/30/11
  • thegreenchildrenfoundation
  • · Positive News

The real question is, do you have the discipline to put your new found free time to good use?  With the time you have on your hands, you can finally start to write that novel, or spend more time with your family and reconnect with the kids. There is time to finally think about what you want out of life and your career. Money can’t buy that kind of personal time away from the pressures and demands of a full-time job.

Even if you are unemployed, you still have a skill set. The key to getting ahead in any economy is to recognize your strengths and use them to your advantage. Use your spare time to understand your strengths better and work on your personal mission statement.  Knowing what you bring to the table is going to allow for more confidence and creativity when it comes to looking for work. It will also be a big help in determining what kind of work you go after on the next job search.

An extended unemployment might be exactly what you needed. Your former industry might have been the worst career choice that you ever made. If you were pushed into it strictly because you needed a job, it could have been something you regretted during your entire career. No matter how high up you go in a company, it is going to be tough to get by when you have no passion for your work.  This is a chance to level-set and decide where to go from here.

Read more at: The Psychology of Well-Being

Beth

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Goodness in Unemployment?

  • 09/30/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

The real question is, do you have the discipline to put your new found free time to good use?  With the time you have on your hands, you can finally start to write that novel, or spend more time with your family and reconnect with the kids. There is time to finally think about what you want out of life and your career. Money can’t buy that kind of personal time away from the pressures and demands of a full-time job.

Even if you are unemployed, you still have a skill set. The key to getting ahead in any economy is to recognize your strengths and use them to your advantage. Use your spare time to understand your strengths better and work on your personal mission statement.  Knowing what you bring to the table is going to allow for more confidence and creativity when it comes to looking for work. It will also be a big help in determining what kind of work you go after on the next job search.

An extended unemployment might be exactly what you needed. Your former industry might have been the worst career choice that you ever made. If you were pushed into it strictly because you needed a job, it could have been something you regretted during your entire career. No matter how high up you go in a company, it is going to be tough to get by when you have no passion for your work.  This is a chance to level-set and decide where to go from here.

Read more at: The Psychology of Well-Being

Beth

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Goodness in Unemployment?

  • 09/30/11
  • admin
  • · Positive News

The real question is, do you have the discipline to put your new found free time to good use?  With the time you have on your hands, you can finally start to write that novel, or spend more time with your family and reconnect with the kids. There is time to finally think about what you want out of life and your career. Money can’t buy that kind of personal time away from the pressures and demands of a full-time job.

Even if you are unemployed, you still have a skill set. The key to getting ahead in any economy is to recognize your strengths and use them to your advantage. Use your spare time to understand your strengths better and work on your personal mission statement.  Knowing what you bring to the table is going to allow for more confidence and creativity when it comes to looking for work. It will also be a big help in determining what kind of work you go after on the next job search.

An extended unemployment might be exactly what you needed. Your former industry might have been the worst career choice that you ever made. If you were pushed into it strictly because you needed a job, it could have been something you regretted during your entire career. No matter how high up you go in a company, it is going to be tough to get by when you have no passion for your work.  This is a chance to level-set and decide where to go from here.

Read more at: The Psychology of Well-Being

Beth

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