Giving Back

So I recently read a book Called In a Heartbeat- Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving. I actually finished it a couple hours ago. Good book. I recommend it to all. Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy share their story. Now these names may sound familiar to you and that's because they are the ones who adopted Michael Oher. (Perhaps you have seen the movie The Blindside. That movie is based off of the book with the same title.) Anyways, with the help of Sally Jenkins they share their story. It is pretty interesting and powerful. They give a lot of background information about their lives in the first few chapters. They also talk about their kids Collins, SJ, and Michael a lot throughout. They have a whole philosophy on giving. This is pretty interesting. They share their story on how they used to be poor and then became rich. They didn't just stop there; they give back to people which can mean a lot. It didn't matter how small or big that something was that they gave back, they did it cheerfully. Even when there were times when they barely had enough to get by on, they tried to give back.

Here are a few excerpts from the book... "So in this book we'd like to introduce our family properly, tell you how we saw events through our own eyes, and deliver our message in our own voices. It's a message about giving. We often say that our son Michael gave us much more than we gave him... We gave him a home... We gave him love... We gave him advice and support... Each thing we gave him has been returned to us multiplied." (page 4) "It pained us to realize that we too often failed at the simplest kind of giving. While we were waiting for a great cause, or focused on an agenda, we chose not to notice someone standing right in front of us... ...We agreed that be embracing a smaller and more cheerful kind of giving, we might ease a lot of everyday problems. (page 22) (Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, In a Heartbeat-Sharing the power of Cheerful Giving. Henry Holt and Company, 2010. Print. )

I wish that I had written down some points that I liked when I was reading the book. That would have made it easier to share things here, oh well...One part that also stood out in the book was when they referenced a man by the name of Reed Sandridge. He was laid off from work a while back, but still decided to give to others. He started something called year of giving where each day he gives $10 to someone. He decided to do this all year long. I thought it was cool because he started a blog about it. Each day is a new blog entry. (Today was day 210.) He doesn't necessarily just throw the money at them and walk away, he talks to them and they can share their stories with him. I just started reading the blog today. Haven't read too much yet but I think it will interesting to read more of people's stories.

Here's the link to the blog, if you want to take a look. http://yearofgiving.org/ He was also featured in an article and if you want to know more about that then go here http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031805421.html?sid=ST2010031901259

This is from his blog page:
"My goal is not to change the lives of those with whom I come in contact. Let’s face it, $10 dollars is not going to change someone’s life in and of itself. I do believe, however, that the act of giving will hopefully inspire others to pursue the ideals that the French philosopher Auguste Comte envisioned when he coined the term “altruism.” Whether that comes in the form of someone who reads this blog and wants to embark on their own Year of Giving or someone who uses the $10 to help someone else out, the specific results are less important than the overall good that we can achieve together...I hope that you find yourself inspired today to do something special for someone. You would be surprised at how even something as simple as a smile or a thank you can make the difference in someone’s day." (Sandridge, Reed. "Year of Giving." Word Press, 24 Jul 2010. Web. 24 Jul 2010. . )

I can think of some stories of giving from people that I know as well. One example is Munca who got involved with some of the homeless in Florida. He brings them stuff and visits, them and other things. He has told some stories before about his experiences. Another person I can think of who has given is my mom's cousin Lisa. Her son Douglas is on a basketball team and a lot of the other kids on it don't have a lot. She gives them rides places and feeds them and stuff. So the little things can mean a lot too.

I want to be able to make a difference and give to others. I don't know where to start though. It's hard for me to go out of my comfort zone. How do you go up to a total stranger and give them something? Or even more simply just listen to their story. We all have stories to tell. Not everyone has someone to tell them to.