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Charity Matters Quotes February 16, 2015

President’s Day

“Believe that you can and you are half way there!”

Theodore Roosevelt

Happy President’s Day!

I was recently asked a question about leadership and when I recognized it in my life. To be honest, the question took me a bit by surprise and required some thought. After giving my answer, I reflected upon a trait that many of us rarely recognize, the gift of leadership.

In a world where we all desperately seek followers, who are our leaders? These are words I often share with the thousands of students who will come through the non-profit leadership organization I have the privilege of working for.

This President’s Day ask yourself the same question, are you a leader or a follower? Be thankful for all of the wonderful leaders we have had in order to enjoy the freedom we all celebrate today.

Happy Presidents Day!

Charity Matters.

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What Matters? January 26, 2015

Wild

“I spent my life trying to be the woman my mother raised me to be.” Those were the words that haunted me from my weekend journey to the movies seeing Wild. A great movie about loss, self-discovery and grief….

A movie that spoke to me, not because of the self-destructive behavior or the hiking for that matter) but about finding out who you really are once you no longer have someone telling or showing you who to be. I have said it here before that my re-birth began with my mother’s death and this movie resonated that theme.

Why is it that we wait to be who we are supposed to become? Is it that our evolution really takes that long? So often our parents don’t live to see our success. My mom did live to see her grandsons and my joy in being a mother, but sadly died days before her only granddaughter arrived. At that juncture in my life, I wasn’t fully formed, the pieces hadn’t all come together….honestly some days I wonder if they ever will….but when the shifts occur and the pieces fall into or out-of-place in your life you know. You do.

I know that none of us really know what our parents expected us to be or dreamed we would accomplish but somehow I know over a dozen years later that I have become the woman my mother raised me to be. Still a work in progress but somehow…. I know she is proud.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 28, 2014

Black Friday

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

William Arthur Ward

Today is “Black Friday,” a day when we wake up full, stuffed and ready to charge the malls or just plain charge. Yesterday, we sat with our families watching football, laughing, making and eating a meal together and in a flash its gone.

As we enter into the holiday season, lets remember the moments and the people who bring us joy. Although yesterday seems so long ago, let us remember the best gift we can give ourselves and others is gratitude. That is the gift to focus on this holiday season.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 26, 2014

Thanksgiving Gratitude

“At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Albert Schweitzer

Tomorrow is the day, sadly the one day for many of us, that we take time to be thankful. This year, this day and this moment I am grateful for many things, my guess is for many of the same things you are; health, family, friends and for those people in my life who have guided me to where I am right now and there are many.

When you are not sure how to begin the process of gratitude, think for a moment of where you are at this moment in time and in your life. How many hands have guided you to this place? Today, I am grateful to each person who has lighted my path and for all of those who have shown me the way.

I am grateful to each of you who continue to inspire, teach and motivate me on this journey. To each and all of you, I wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 24, 2014

Living your purpose

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

As I mark my one year anniversary as the Executive Director, of a non-profit youth leadership organization, I find myself full of gratitude. I know it is Thanksgiving week, but this is more than being grateful. I am in awe of the path that lead me to this place where I am in a position to inspire, engage and motivate hundreds of middle and high school students each year. In turn, they are in the position to do the same to me and have.

More than motivation or leadership, what I find brings me the greatest joy is living a life of purpose. I was telling a girlfriend about my job the other day and she responded, “Wow, I didn’t realize you could get paid to make the world better?” Her reaction surprised me a bit. More than that, it made me think that my “payment” is so much more than a check (don’t get me wrong, raises are always appreciated).

Of course this past year has been full of challenges and road blocks but what great adventures aren’t? Life is journey and when you get to a place on your path, when you get to be your best self and show that to others…..well there is simply no place else I would rather be.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Profile November 19, 2014

Write Girl

A few years ago, I did a post on an amazing organization that gives girls a voice. No, it wasn’t about public speaking or singing but rather, writing. Writing for me is the place when my voice comes alive and my soul speaks. It is the purest connection of who I am. Writing is the way I articulate my path and purpose, and I’m obviously not alone in my passion for expression.

When I discovered the New York City non-profit called Girls Write Now that gave girls their voice through a writing mentorship program, I found myself wondering why this didn’t exist in other parts of the country? When I decided to revisit the topic this week, I discovered an amazing woman here in Los Angeles named Keren Taylor who has done just that with her non-profit WriteGirl.

In December 2001, Keren Taylor wanted to partner girls with writers to help them find their way through pain, adolescence and provide them with a tool to improve their lives and move forward. That tool was a pen and a mentor. Six months later, after a handful of workshops that began partnering girls with writers/mentors, WriteGirl had published its first book and that was just chapter one.

Thirteen years later, WriteGirl has received over 58 Book Awards, in 2011 they received the prestigious honor of Non Profit of the Year and last year, the First Lady awarded WriteGirl with a National Art and Humanity Award. As their slogan says, “Never underestimate the power of a girl and her pen!” I couldn’t agree more.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 17, 2014

To Write

“You don’t write because you WANT to say something, you write because you HAVE something to say.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The other day as I sat down to write, I realized that I had written more than 500 posts. I’m not quite sure just how that happened, but apparently I have had more than a few thoughts to share. I am a communicator, it is what I do. Writing, to me, is more than communicating.

We live in a world with so much noise that writing is actually my quiet. It is a time to really think about something, to find a subject’s heart and then to share that heart and hope the message is not just delivered, but felt.

That is why I write. I write to think, I write to feel and I write to share.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 14, 2014

Charity Matters Quotes: Journey

“There is one way to learn, it’s through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.”

Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

We started the week with a moment and are ending it with a journey.

There is one way to learn and it is through action.

What is your journey?

I hope part of it includes a wonderful weekend.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration November 12, 2014

Unbroken

Have you ever read a book that stayed with you, shifted you, and made you think…really think? I just finished reading one of the most amazing books, trying to beat the movie which comes out on Christmas. The book was Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand about an incredible and inspiring human being Louis Zamperini. Since yesterday was Veteran’s Day, I could think of no better example to model our Veteran’s than this remarkable man.

I know many of you have read it and/or heard the story but it one that is more than worth retelling. It is the real life story of a boy aiming at the Olympics, who ends up in WWII with unbelievable stories of adventure, torture and survival. But more important than anything is Louis Zamperini’s attitude, his ability to forgive and his message of the resilience of the human spirit.

As you know, Louis Zamperini died last year. You may not know that he was a non-profit founder, after the war he started a home for troubled youth and dedicated his life to helping others. The man was pure inspiration. If you give your self a gift, sit down with the book or just wait a month for the movie. The legend of Louis Zamperini lives on, I hope in each of us.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration November 10, 2014

THE moment

Phot via:Jwagler.com — Photo via: Jwagler.com

Yesterday, was the 12th anniversary of my moment. I know you all know what it is and that I am sometimes a broken record about it, but what really fascinates me is not my own moment, but rather, everyone else’s moment. A few weeks back I wrote a post, “Simply No Words” about a friend’s tragic loss that brought my moment tumbling back as if I was reliving my own.

Dr. Phil calls them the ” 5 defining moments of your life” Oprah likes to call them “Ahaa moments” and for me I don’t really care what they are called. What I care is how those moments are used. How these moments, events in time somehow shape and mold you like soft clay.

For some, these moments are tragic, for others they are the moment of sobriety, a moment of forgiveness, a moment of loss, grief or illness but more than anything a moment of realization. After speaking with hundreds of non-profit founders, I can tell you that each one I have interviewed, can tell you their moment. That split second in time that forever altered the course of their life.

I truly believe that we all have them, some moments are bigger than others. Do we see them (warning: they are often hard to miss) But more importantly, is what did you learn from that moment? How did you use it to make another’s life better? The extraordinary people I call my heroes (aka non-profit founders) are just like you and me. What makes them so unique is their ability to take that split second in time and turn in into a lifetime of good.

Whatever you call that, defining or ahaa, these moments become gifts in defining our purpose.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes November 5, 2014

Charity Matters Quotes: November

“The Month of November makes me feel that life is passing more quickly. In an effort to try and slow it down, I try to fill the hours more meaningfully.”

Henry Rollins

Fall, do you feel it?

The leaves, the crunch, the crispness in the air that only comes but once a year. It is a time to slow down, take a deep breath before the whirlwind that is December descends upon us.

Time to take a long walk, throw a football, make some soup and most importantly enjoy all of the beauty that surrounds us for such a short amount of time. Fill your hours with meaning.

That is the beauty of November.

Enjoy.

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes October 20, 2014

Charity Matters Quotes: Soul

“When you do things from your soul you feel a river moving in you, a joy. When action come from another section, the feeling disappears.”

Rumi

Soul. What is it? Where is it? How do we define it?

I only have the questions, not the answers, that man has asked for an eternity.

However, I do know that when you perform an act of kindness, compassion or charity that the river of joy Rumi speaks of does exists.

What is better than a river of joy?

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Inspiration October 13, 2014

This I Believe

As I mentioned on friday, I spent the later part of last week at TCU, on a panel, discussing the topic, “How can you better prepare students for lives of meaning?” A question and topic that inspired many amazing discussions about service, faith, and leadership. One segment that stood out as a highlight of the trip, was a piece entitled “This I believe.”

At TCU, they have asked their students to begin their first college essays as freshman writing 500 words on the topic “This I believe.” The goal is to challenge students to think about their values and their core beliefs. There is no right or wrong answer, it is simply your story. The hope is that by articulating your beliefs, that when faced with a difficult life decision, students will know the answer because they understand what it is that guides them. The stories that we heard were inspiring, amazing, full of hope, adversity and perseverance. I wish I could share them all with you here. What I can share is what I learned about This I Believe.

Believe it or not, This I Believe, Inc., is a non-profit! In March 2003, National Public Radio Executive Producer, Dan Geldman came across the original book This I Believe. Dan became intrigued with the history of the 1950s radio program based on the same name, that was hosted by Edward R. Murrow. The original radio show featured compelling essays from cab drivers, secretaries, corporate leaders as well as people such as; Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Harry Truman. Anyone who was able to share a few minutes of the guiding principles by which they lived.

Dan and his co-producer Jay Allison decided to bring the series back to National Public Radio. In reviving This I Believe, Dan Gediman said, “The goal was not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, the hope is to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”

Dan, Jay and their team at NPR brought back the topic, the radio series and then a few best-selling books. The proceeds from all of those went into forming the non-profit This I Believe. Org, which was founded in 2004, to engage youth and adults from all walks of life in writing, sharing, and discussing brief essays about the core values that guide their daily lives.

Today, almost a decade later This I Believe Essays have spread across the globe through universities’ curriculum, in a variety of publications, numerous local public radio stations, newspapers, and magazines all challenging us to ask the simple question. What is it that you believe?

Charity Matters.

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Charity Matters Quotes September 26, 2014

Giving to yourself

“Giving yourself some loving attention is not selfish. It is sensible. If you feel loved and cherished–even if it is only by yourself–then you will have more love to give to others, too.”

Penelope Quest

This week I wanted to circle back to where we began. Talking about giving back to ourselves and making sure that we are remembering to put the mask on our selves first and then our “passengers” second.

As we get ready for another fun fall weekend, remember to take some time for yourself. Just you!

I know you can do it

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your self!

Charity Matters.

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