Tomorrow begins a new year. This is a time for looking back at the past and looking forward to the coming year. This is a time for feeling gratitude for where your life is and setting goals for where you want your life to go. For many this is a time of sadness in seeing they didn’t fulfill their goals from the past year. For others this is a time of excitement for what’s to come. What is it for you?
In looking back over the past year, there are many things to be grateful for, here are some...
(The rest of the intro will be continued further down... )
• Doctors donate time to perform life-saving surgery for child advocate Physicians and surgeons at Providence in Portland donated their time to perform life-saving heart surgery on Francesca Salindeho, an Indonesian woman who helps exploited children overseas through Compassion First. www.kgw.com/news/local/Free-heart-surgery-for-child-sex-trafficking-case-worker-111821884
• Fire victims experience Christmas thanks to community Residents of one Pennsylvania community donated everyday necessities, toys, clothing and cash to a family who lost everything in a fire. With the home in ruins, the trailer park community of Maple Manor even allowed the family to stay in another trailer, giving them a home for the holidays. pahomepage.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=165886
• Ailing five-year-old brings toys to hospitalized children Simon Fieler, a five-year-old with aplastic anemia, and his younger brother bought toys with their own money to give to children at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio. The community rallied around the cause. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40796989
• Firefighter rescues stranded mother and son Christopher Weir discovered stranded Heather Manolas, a 33-year-old Orlando nurse, and her 2-year-old son, inside her broken-down car and stopped to help. After unsuccessful attempts to jump-start the dead battery and learning Manolas didn’t have anyone nearby to help or the money for a new battery, Weir headed to a store and returned with a new $85 battery. www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/12/23
• Nonprofits turn foreclosures into first homes In a market hot with speculators snapping up cheap foreclosures, a program called Rebuilding Together is one of many that give a leg up to nonprofits trying to stabilize neighborhoods dotted with vacant houses. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40822152
• Brothers rescue man from sinking car Tony and Andrew Swedberg were driving by when they saw a car in a retention pond. They jumped in the frigid water, managed to finally break open a window and pull the driver to safety just as the car was nearly immersed. www2.tbo.com/content/2010/dec/13/131245/strangers-save-tampa-man-from-sinking-car-in-pond
• Stranger gifts two-year-old with kidney Nathan Saavedra, who suffers from "Prune Belly Syndrome," celebrated Christmas with a new, healthy kidney — thanks to Chris Doing, who read about Nathan in the newspaper back in April. After several tests determined he was an eligible donor match, doctors removed one of Doing’s kidneys and gave it to Nathan in late October. www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40533741
• A $5 doctor visit Small town doctor has charged they same price since 1955, a mere $5 for a visit. In that time he’s delivered 3,500 babies, having never taken a day off. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40661756/ns/today-today_people/
• One woman fills soldiers book requests A 54-year-old mother from Georgia feeds her two major passions: books and volunteering. She has become the unheralded star of a project called Books for Soldiers, fulfilling requests for books and DVDs from nearly 700 deployed soldiers. http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta-holiday-guide/year-in-review/holiday-heroes-marietta-woman-780359.html
So many positive things go on in our world. Oftentimes we miss them, they are covered over by all the negative the for some reason “sells” better. I’ve never understood that, even when I was a newspaper reporter, which also is why that career was short lived for me.
The end of the year is a good time to look back and reflect with gratitude. Even if things didn’t go your way, you can be thankful for the lessons challenges brought. If you take those lessons into the new year, you can start building a new life, reach new goals, feel new emotions, find new loves.
So if you look back on your year and see you haven’t realized your goals, what can you do differently this year that will help you see your goals come true?
Goal setting 101. Many people make goals or as they are strategically called this time of year, New Year’s resolutions. But how many actually realize those goals? Often times it’s not a lack of desire or willpower, though having those two does probably help.
One concept that helps fulfilling goals are “if, then” statements. It’s kind of like anticipating challenges and already having solutions. Say your goal is to lose weight, your “if, then” would be something like: If I crave a donut at the office, then I will reach in my desk drawer and pull out the bag veggies to snack on.
That’s just one method that could help you reach you goals. I’ll be writing more about the subject on my blog... www.thistle-glow.com. If you’re interested come on by.
And just for fun, here’s one more good news story to enjoy.
• Traditional New Year’s kiss can set course for whole requests It's not magic - it's chemistry and neuroscience. And no matter how painstakingly you set the scene, in the end chemistry trumps mood music. From a scientific perspective, a kiss is a natural litmus test to help us identify a good partner. Start the first moments of 2011 with the right one, and you're beginning the year on a natural high. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/23/AR2010122302203.html
Hope you enjoy good news and a good life, Amie
Good news is collected from several online sources, for more google: good news or see list below.
http://www.aolnews.com/category/goodnews/
Happy new years :3 hope ya hav a great year peeps XD
Hi Amie and Erin!
Wanted to thank you for this post and relay the positive outcome that came out of your reference to the Rebuilding Together Program. When I read the article, it struck me as a perfect fit for the joint program that our company’s Green Building Council and Diversity Council have been searching for. We contacted the Rebuilding Together Program and found out that they were organizing a very large rebuilding program here in Chicago to take place on April 30th which is National Rebuilding Day. Together our two councils at Siemens in Chicago pledged over $12,000 and donated Siemens products to go toward the refurbishing of 3 homes. On April 30th, over 90 volunteers from our company will converge on these homes and go to work. Not only will we be doing routine refurbishing but we will also improve energy efficiency of the sponsored homes and use environmentally friendly products (compact fluorescent or LED lightbulbs, low-volatile organic compound paint, natural and non-toxic cleaning supplies, etc.) It is a great opportunity for both our Green Building and Diversity committees to engage in Community Outreach, one of the pillars of their missions and we also get the chance to teach homeowners about sustainability through energy efficiency and eco-friendly products in their home.
So, thanks Amie for the insightful post and thanks Erin for creating this forum to exchange such positive and uplifting information!
Warm Regards,
Diane