Tag Archives: Giving Back

Selfless Saturday

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When I began this blog in 2013 I had two intentions, to lose weight and get as fit as possible and to help charities with each ten pounds. I accomplished much in the time between July 2013 and May 2017. My hiatus and weight gain after 2017 was the result of a few personal losses.

Here I am approaching 2020 and beginning again like it’s a brand new journey. I still have some personal struggles I’m dealing with, but the point is I’m getting through and getting back on track. Life happens to all of us, it’s how we react and take action that shows who we really are. I’m first navigating through the holidays then really setting my intentions on my goals for 2020.

I want to start Selfless Saturday’s beginning today, so here’s my first contribution to my weekly Selfless Saturday. Feel free to join in and let me know how you are celebrating paying it forward on Saturday, this one has a bit of a backstory.

As my weight loss journey evolved coffee is still my non-negotiable. People have said to me, now you must stop drinking coffee. That didn’t happen in 2013 and it’s not happening now. I also believe in kindness, giving back and paying it forward; all while fueled on my delicious morning java. One cup is usually my limit, with an occasional second cup when I visit book stores and coffee shops.

Of course sometimes disaster strikes in the form of a broken down coffee maker. This happened back when we first moved to San Francisco in November 2014, my new co-worker Alba sold me a brand new coffee maker for just ten bucks, and she put what seemed like a years worth of coffee in the bag for me.  That coffee maker made delicious coffee and kept me going for a few years.

The dreaded broken down coffee maker moment happened to me again last week. I woke up and my coffee maker just stopped working. We are on a budget and a new coffee maker was not in the cards. Cue my dearest friend Kristen who happened to have two coffee makers she never uses. Do you believe Kristen doesn’t like coffee? Yes, neither did I, but her wonderful qualities outweigh her lack of coffee love. The one coffee maker I chose to use is working perfectly and it turns off automatically, which is needed because I tend to be just a slight bit neurotic. The other coffee maker is a two cup single use coffee maker, a black and decker.

I was at work this week and one of my co-workers was brewing coffee and I mentioned how delicious it smelled. He told me he agreed, and how his coffee maker recently just stopped working. I, of all people understand the horror of a broken down coffee maker. I mentioned the extra coffee maker Kristen gifted me with, so today I’m taking it in for him so he doesn’t have to purchase a new coffee maker. I’m sure he would rather spend the extra cash on Christmas gifts for his daughter. The beauty of the ricochet effect. That’s what I call when people share kindness and pay it forward, it comes back to you ten fold. I’m grateful to Kristen for helping me fuel my mornings with my much needed cup of caffeinated joy. This is my first Selfless Saturday and it wasn’t even planned. Kristen started it and I’m just paying it forward.

My hopes for you this Holiday season is that people share their kindness with an open heart, and you go forward doing it for someone who may need an extra smile or just a cup of deliciousness found in coffee. It warms the heart and soul. Happy Selfless Saturday. Love and light Rose 

 

 

 

 

My Change For A Ten Charities

Added the charities I’ve helped to my site

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If you read about why I launched this site (look at this post), one of the reasons was to tie my own weight-loss efforts to charities in the communities I live in. I decided to make that more clear to new readers by adding a sidebar of charities I’ve worked with on the right side of my page; you can see the charities there, with links to their homepages. I’ll be adding a new charity soon, as well.

Overall, things are good. It was a hectic weekend and I’m still struggling to get my schedule completely in line with what I want. I feel better about the direction that’s headed in, though. My husband has been stressed at work but that is also getting better. And, as always, I’m staying true to my Melissa Bender Fitness workouts. That first trapeze class experience is only a few months away.

I’ll be back with more later this week. I hope everything is doing great.

Love and light.

Namaste’

Be Happy Rose Bailey

Simple but profound advice: Be happy

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(Sorry I haven’t blogged in a little while. We’re still adjusting to northern California and I’ve been busy with work, some new poetry projects, and of course, the fabulous Melissa Bender workouts. Later this weekend I plan to add a list of charities that I’ve helped through this My Change For A Ten project, and I’ll be back to blogging more next week. Thank you, as always, for reading.)

The Dalai Lama says, quite simply, that the purpose of life is to be happy.

To be happy. What a wonderful concept. We are all chasing down happiness. Is there happiness in material gains? Happiness in what we achieve and how we go about doing it? Sometimes if we spend a life chasing happiness down the wrong ally we end up smack face in a dead end with nowhere to go. My friend Ted wrote about this a few times on his blog, including the idea of “being content” and the idea that happiness is actually a U-Curve.I believe happiness is love, and loving others and all creatures of the universe. Happiness can be found in nature and not a mall. Happiness is giving to others and spending out days creating rather than spending. (That’s basically why I started this blog!) Yes, the whole discussion of money and happiness is an old one. Money does offer freedom and with that freedom there are less stresses about security for the future and more time to do the endeavors you are passionate about. I get the importance of financial freedom. When that green piece of paper becomes the only thing you strive for then it becomes more of an empty goal even if your bank account is full. Balance is one of the keys to happiness. Dive into crystal clear waters, climb a tree.  Worry less, smile more.

Sometimes it takes a mere reminder to let you know how lucky you really are to be alive.I was sitting at the train station, listening to my music when my vision caught a sight from across the tracks. It was a woman in a wheel chair who obviously had no movement in any of her limbs, her companion and their adoring dog. As I sat and watched this family interact with one another, I was reminded what unconditional love is all about. I watched the lady smile from ear to ear as the man gave her a sip of something cool to drink, and the dog vying for both of their attention. The epitome’ of love and family. I was not the only one that was watching, it was apparent that this moment did not go unnoticed by the commuters surrounding me. A beautiful and poignant lesson to remind me and others of the power of life and love.
Moments like this make me realize why I love to help others, and that giving back is so rewarding. Everyone deserves to be loved and appreciated, and we are all the same connected to the core that is our humanity. I admit the last weeks have been difficult, and I have challenges I am trying to overcome. But such a moment makes me realize my challenges are just minor glitches in an otherwise life full of much abundance. My challenges can be overcome, and I am here to make a difference and help others with their larger and more monumental challenges in life.
This reminds me why I chose to combine my weight loss endeavors with giving back to society. I already enjoyed helping others, but I needed to help myself become healthy again and I feel it was the perfect marriage of giving to myself and giving back. In the process I have met myself.
I am working on my latest charity and I will announce when I am on my way to deliver what I have collected. I am keeping quiet until I am on my way, since I want to make sure everything goes as planned.
Glitches in life are just that, tests to see how we will react. It is how we overcome such snafus in life that show our true character. Today I am happy. I am breathing, I have a roof over my head and a warm cup of coffee to sooth my soul. I am happy I have a cold and not anything more detrimental. I am happy my challenges can be overcome, and I am healthy enough to give back to others who need it most. I will just be.
Be Happy.
Namaste’