Giving

 "It's better to give than receive." Or as I heard someone say on TV the other day, "Doing something for someone is the best gift you can give yourself because it feels so good."

With these thoughts in mind, I did a project this past weekend to continue with my attempts to surround myself with positive vibes. I put together cards to be handed out at a long term care facility. Having spent several years around nursing homes with my parents, my heart is saddened by the additional isolation that these people are feeling right now. With these cards, I hope to brighten someone's day, even if it's just for a moment. 

After shopping and piecing together things from home, I was able to make cards to send to the facility in my hometown where my mother was a resident. I chose it for sentimental reasons, but also because they are small with only 35 beds. I thought I could manage 35 cards in a timely manner. 

While I was working on the cards, I was very much channeling my mother. She was a champion at sending cards to people and I used cardstock and stickers that used to be hers. I know she would be quite happy with this effort.

Although I try to be helpful to others everyday, I am going to make an effort to do more of these kind of projects, because I think they were right - giving is the best gift you can give yourself.

Giving

We are hearing a lot these days about disasters around our country and the help that is needed as a result of them. Front and center are the fires in the west and the hurricanes in the Gulf and Atlantic. The devastation of it all is overwhelming to see and hear about.

A few of the supplies I'm collecting for the hygiene kits.

But that's not all that is catching my attention. I look around and see local children who need things for school and animal shelters that need help to care for abandoned animals. When I turn on the radio, I hear about people around the world dying by the thousands in earthquakes and typhoons, as well as losing their life trying to escape corrupt governments. At home, I see a neighbor who has just lost her husband and the child who needs attention that they aren't getting at home. I see the nursing home residents who could use a visit.

The needs of the world are endless and this overwhelms me. So what do I do when I'm inundated with all of these cries for help? I try to just do something. Tune out the rest and focus on one thing at a time. If I don't do this, I become immobilized and don't do anything.

My current focus is on Hurricane Harvey. I lived in Houston for ten years before moving to Maryland and I still have several friends there. I watched as Harvey wreaked havoc on familiar areas and felt that I needed to help in some way. There are many ways to do that, but I have chosen something concrete.

I am making, with friends and family's help, hygiene kits that have been requested by my church's relief organization, UMCOR. These are standard kits with soap, toothbrush, towel, etc. that are given out around the world and are much needed in the Houston and surrounding areas. I hope there will not be a great need for them with Hurricane Irma, but the kits can also help there.

So besides trying to be kind and respectful to others in every day life, focusing on one thing at a time is how I try to help in my small way. Sometimes it is putting together hygiene kits, sometimes it's making a monetary donation, and sometimes it may be writing a letter to an elderly relative. I try not to overthink things, which is my normal mode of operation. and just take some kind of action. That's what works for me. How do you handle the overwhelming needs of others that surround you?