4 Ways to Be a Creative Giver

Photo by BK of Flickr.com

        We have all been taught in life by parents or other mentors that giving is better than receiving.  I have found this to be true in life.  I love to give, and I receive so much satisfaction in return.  Not to mention that giving into someone else’s life can cause things to happen in return.  I am thinking back to a time when a waitress was complaining of foot pain, and I had just a little bit of extra cash.  I decided to give her a tip that would enable her to have a comfortable shoe purchase.  Not long afterward, I was at Wal-Mart and had miscalculated what I had left on my card.  A gentleman behind me insisted on paying for my groceries.  I was blessed more than I had given in the first place.  In this blog, I will give some ideas for being a creative giver.

Photo by Cláudia*~Assad

1.      Celebrate birthdays.  I worked in a place that was brand new.  I helped build the inside of the store and made fixtures.  I was there on the first day that the store opened for business.  We had a great team.  At this store, someone put up a birthday chart and everyone’s birthdays were written on it by management.  We started doing something small for each person’s birthday.  I remember the first time that I was remembered.   I walked in to work and received flowers and dessert.  I was so happy to be remembered when I was having a bad day and was having to work on my birthday.  The birthdays have become more special than at first. 

I have moved on with my career, but I took the birthday thing along with me. I started the tradition at my next job.  When I grew out of that job, people thought I was the most wonderful person.  I also do this in my daily life.  It doesn’t have to be much, but when you hear of someone having a birthday, popping in with a little gift and a cupcake brings smiles.  Facebook has made it easy to keep up with my friends’ birthdays. I feel blessed every time that I bring joy into someone’s life.  This is part of giving.  You become a re-energized person and create positive relationships when you give.

Photo by Cloned Milkmen

2.      Make creative gift ideas for holidays.  I told about my new hobby in the last blog.  I love making homemade soap and other homemade items for holidays.  This Christmas, I am planning a big project.  I am going to make the cute soaps and package them nicely.  I found bags for about 20 cents each, and I am going to put the soap and possibly the pure laundry detergent in each bag to give to different people.  I have seen many women make candies and cookies and give them as gifts to different families.  These ideas put excitement into holidays and can be fun family projects.  People love receiving these things.  Even if they don’t like the gift, they appreciate the gesture.  New things can make every holiday special and can even become traditions.

Photo by Brian at Flickr.com

     3.      Find someone to bless for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Holidays can be sad times for many people and greedy times for others.  I want my children to learn to give into other people’s lives more than being greedy.  There are many giving and volunteering opportunities on holidays.  Take the challenge to do something outside of yourself.  Someone can pick an ornament from a giving tree, collect food for a food drive, and donate toys to children who may not receive presents.  This can be a chance to allow creativity into your life.  You will find that the more that you do for people, the more you want to do next time.  Many charitable organizations have been formed this way.  I have even been on the receiving end.  I was at a place to receive help for problems that I was experiencing and so many organizations and individuals gave into our lives at that house during Christmas.  We cried, laughed, and some of the girls had never even had a nice Christmas before.  It touched our lives.  It is appreciated.  Giving makes such a happy heart for both parties involved.

Photo by Jim Larrison at Flickr.com

     4.      Cook a meal for someone.  I recently stayed at a Ronald McDonald House while my son was having surgery and recovering in another city.  I was surprised because there were college fraternities, sororities, church groups, and other organizations who cooked for the families every evening.  This is such a blessing.  Hospitals are not fun and dealing with these hard times, and it was so nice to be able to eat a home-cooked meal when retiring for the night.  I decided that this is something that I would like to do one day.  It makes you feel like a part of something good for other human beings.  It is also fun. 

     Doing something good for others is a wonderful thing and opens up so many parts of hearts, it helps us to be a part of something, and creates connections.  It may also change the whole course of a person’s life.  I hope that I will always have a giving heart.  I challenge you to try one or some of these things to see how good it feels.  Giving birthday gifts, holiday surprises, blessing someone on a holiday, and cooking for others can be creative and fun and cause a great feeling of energy and joy.

Image Credits:
BK at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoquotes/13099748913/
Cláudia*~Assad at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cauzinha/548387955/,
Cloned Milkmen at https://www.flickr.com/photos/clonedmilkmen/2141842206/,
Brian at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lincolnian/324963077/,
Jim Larrison at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/larrison/

5 Refreshing Things That Every Woman Should Do For Herself

Photo by Nina Matthews of Flickr.com

           There is a recent movie about women who are so busy trying to be everything that they were expected to be for everyone else.  These women were trying to be perfect in every way and try to make everyone happy, yet they were losing their own happiness.  They finally figured out to just be natural.  It is fine to do something refreshing for yourself once in a while.  This sometimes gives a break from the realities of life.  These 5 things are ideas of things that a woman can do to refresh her mind and body.

1.      Every woman should take time away from the family and workplace to get some form of exercise.  I have found my love in Zumba. I don’t do well with exercise that gives me time to think of how miserable I am or all of the things that I need to do at home.  Zumba is a fun dance.  I am so busy trying to keep up and dancing to loud music, that I don’t think of anything else until it is over.  Every woman should find some kind of exercise that is just her own.  Some love to run, a walk in the park, swimming, going to the gym and lifting weights.  It is all about just being yourself and finding that form of exercise that makes you happy.  It is nice to exercise with family, but some things need to be done in solitude. 

Photo by Zhao !

     2.      Every woman should either get a manicure, hairstyle, a pedicure, or other treatment.  I set aside a little bit of money every month just to get my eyebrows done professionally.  It is the best feeling to have people complimenting that they look better than before.  Keeping up some sort of beauty routine can help you to feel better about yourself and never can hurt a relationship.  I decided that I will do my nails at home and get my hair colored and cut professionally.  I go in every month or two to do these things.  I leave feeling like a beautiful person.  These ideas can help a woman love herself. 

Photo by Shesarii of Flickr.com

  3.      Buy some kind of cosmetic product every month.  A woman should budget herself to include some kind of beauty product, whether it be five dollars or fifty dollars.  Just buying that new eye shadow that you want can be fun. I sometimes even wait and just spend more all at once and get a few things or a more expensive item.  I watch makeup tutorials online and then decide what I want to try. Even a woman who does not like makeup can buy a nail polish or beautiful French soap that smells like lavender.  Just one little product a month can be satisfying.  It reminds me of buying that one toy that a child has wanted for a long time.  The child is so happy.  This is the way that I feel when I buy a new makeup product.  This can be a refreshing way to keep changing and improving oneself.  A woman needs something that is just her own thing.

Photo by Stuart Heath of Flickr.com

4.      Buy something that smells good.  I don’t buy a new perfume every month, but every 6 months, I go and pick out a new scent.  People comment on how good it smells.  Aromatherapy is one of the best treatments for stress. Something that smells good can make a person feel so wonderful.  Scents have always been an important part of my life because my grandmother brought so much joy to my life, and she always had candles, food cooking, perfumes, and other aromas.  I love to smell of things that bring back these wonderful memories.  Body spray, candles, soaps, and potpourri are things that can be a new scent in your life.  Some things are even inexpensive.  Having a new scent brings new meaning into life.

Photo by chrissy.farnan at flickr.com

5.      Find something for a hobby.  My new hobby that stems from my environmental science class is to make soap.  I love making soap with coconut oil and other ingredients and then putting it into a soap mold and giving as gifts.  I also learned how to make my own laundry detergent and furniture polish.  I am finding a love for natural and pure things and helping the environment at the same time.  I also love learning about benefits of oils and fruits.  Every woman should find something that she loves to do.  You can spend a little money, a good bit of money, or even hardly any money.  Writing is one thing that does not require much money.   My journaling blog has some great ideas for a writing project.  Each woman can choose something close to her heart and spend as little or as much money as she can budget.  Life is beautiful, and more so when a person is doing what he or she loves.  Sometimes women tend to feel selfish about having a hobby, but there are many men that go out and do what they love, so why not?

       These 5 things are some things that every woman should do to stay in touch with herself.  A happy woman makes for a happy mother, wife, daughter, CEO of a company, or whatever she is in life.  Exercise, a treatment of some kind, a cosmetic item, a new scent, and a hobby can re-energize a woman for that day-to-day hustle.

Image credits:
Nina Matthews at https://www.flickr.com/photos/21560098@N06/3555181787/
 Shesarii  at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/shesarii/4503143533/

Zhao ! at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kodomut/3024346608/

Stuart Heath at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/misteraitch/4064414208/

chrissy.farnan at  https://www.flickr.com/photos/57275427@N05/6616614927/

3 Fun Journaling Ideas for Women

Photo by LearningLark at Flickr.com

     When I was in psychology class, I was going through hard times.  My professor noticed and sat down with me for a bit.  While we didn’t go very deep into the issues, he gave me some wonderful advice.  He suggested that I begin journaling each
day.  At first, I was not excited.  I was thinking, “How boring.”  Then, I started hearing about some creative journaling ideas.  Journals can help a woman keep in touch with her inner self.  Sometimes, we are so involved in work, education, cleaning, cooking, and raising children that we forget to keep our inner selves alive.  Here are some nice ideas that can make journaling a fun experience instead of another chore:

Photo by Evelyn Lim of Flickr.com

    1.       A thankfulness journal:  This journal is an idea from the book, One Thousand Gifts. In this journal, you can write all of the things that you are thankful for and even expound on the blessings.  This journal helps to remind us of our blessings, even when life is a drudgery. You can be thankful as much or as little as you feel like. 
It is also a good meditation practice.  If you meditate on your blessings, you will feel much more positive.  This positive environment is helpful for the whole family, because being positive is contagious.

Photo by Constanza of Flckr.com

    2 .      A scripture or quote journal:  In this journal, you can list your favorite quotes and/or scriptures and thoughts on these scriptures.  You can also include artwork, scrap booking, and other ideas onto the pages to make the journal more interesting and fun.   There are quotes everywhere, on the internet, in books, and in real life.  It could be a fun idea to look through different books and find a quote that is inspirational and include in the journal.  Scriptures are really easy to find.  In the Psalms of the Bible, there are so many inspiring prayers and words to lift up your day.  

Photo by Courtney Rhodes 
of Flickr.com

    3. The “My Favorite Things” journal:  This journal is my own creation.  It is a collage of quotes, memories, and blessing.  It is pretty open for fresh ideas.  Sometimes, I get bogged down in negative life problems.  If I remember a good memory, I can change my mood and feel uplifted.  It is all about the positive things.  I cherish memories from my childhood and they make me feel better.  I can write as much or little as I feel like.  I can include photos, artwork, and poetry if I want.  This would also be a wonderful thing to find if you were a child of a deceased person.  This could be passed down through ancestors as a little piece of history.  Stories could also be included.  This can keep a memory alive forever. 

       I hope that these were some helpful ideas for someone who needs some inspiration in her life.  These journals can be made up of artwork.   They can be made from pressed paper, notebooks, or nice store-bought journals.  They can include so many creative ideas.  Remember these three journals: the thankfulness journal, the scripture or quotes journal, and “My Favorite Things” journal and get to writing and using your creative mind.  

Image credits: 
Courtney Rhodes at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pumpkincat210/, 
Constanza at https://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrineblue/,  
LearningLark at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/44282411@N04/

Evelyn Lim at https://www.flickr.com/photos/limevelyn/4310645750/in/photostream/