"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man" Benjamin Franklin.
We all have our yearly New Year's resolutions; let's work on making them a little unique in 2011. What about making donations of our time or items that we no longer need or use? The good thing about helping others is the way it makes us feel about ourselves in the process. So making the resolution to give back to out community often proves mutually beneficial. Volunteer at a senior center, or become a mentor for disadvantaged children. Find a charity that you can relate to and donate your time or your money as you are able.
Some Real-Life Ideas to Build a Positive New Year
While at a nursing home before the holidays, I noticed a board with postings of different organizations looking for help. One was a homeless shelter across from our local VA Hospital in West Haven, CT. They were looking for donations of warm clothes and blankets for the homeless veteran's. In lieu of throwing away those old clothes that no longer fit you or the kids or aren't "fashionable" and box or bag them up to send to a local homeless shelter. They could make a drastic difference in the life of a person or family facing hard times.
I belong to Woman for Woman organization in the State of Connecticut and we collected gently used scarves, gloves, jewelry and toiletries for women and made 150 gift bags to distribute to women in shelters. People are always donating to the children so we thought that the women good use a little holiday cheer.
My community of Hamden, CT. has a program called Welfare to Work. They are always looking for women's clothes to be used for job interviews to give the group members an edge in obtaining a job that can get them out of the welfare system. Clothes can be dropped every day at the Keefe Center in town.
Find a similar charity group in your community. This is the time of year that we try to de-clutter and with so many more people out of work and in homeless shelters, it's important that we donate or recycle the things so many of us take for granted in our daily lives.
Spread some joy by doing something simply for the sake of putting a smile on someone's face. Mail a greeting card to someone that you know is shut in most of the winter. Find out if there is an elderly neighbor who needs help with their grocery shopping. Send a note to someone saying how much you appreciate his or her dedication to their jobs such as a child's teacher. Ask to see a store supervisor and compliment the job done by their employee.
Try to repair a broken relationship or reconnect with a long-lost friend or relative. I know this seems difficult, but take the clean slate that the New Year provides each of us to take the steps to rebuild with your family and friends. They are our greatest assets.
Begin 2011 with a drive to rebuild your community and your life and you'll be surprised how that positive outlook and energy spreads into the year ahead.
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