Giving Back!

Today my cup is overflowing and I feel amazing!!  I have spent today completing random acts of kindness and giving back!  First, I was at the grocery store and sometimes I buy a cup of coffee to sip on while I grocery shop.  As I was standing there waiting for my order, I decided to purchase a gift card with the last $5 I had in my wallet.  I didn't know who I was going to give it to but that was ok.  I wrote in it "To:  Someone special - From:  Someone who appreciates you"  As I was walking out of the store, there was the guy ringing the bell and collecting for the Salvation Army.  As I approached he asked, "Would you like to donate?"  I replied, "I just donated to the Salvation Army last week but I wanted to give you this token of my appreciation for volunteering your time to help others!" and I handed him the Starbucks gift card.  He got a big smile on his face and thanked me. 

I was then at the gas station and I could see a woman was really struggling at her pump.  She just couldn't figure it out.  I walked over and helped her pump her gas and she was so grateful! 

Last but not least, I just went in and completed my orientation for volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club.  I am so excited to start volunteering on a regular basis and they were so grateful I selected them!  On a normal day, they have app 130 kids and 5 part time adult volunteers so they definitely need the help!  He was also thrilled when I mentioned that I was a health and fitness coach and was excited to work together on coming up with programs to help the kids in that dept., which is exactly what I was hoping for!  To be able to help children improve their health and fitness is a huge goal of mine!  Childhood obesity is at an all time high in this country and is an epidemic.  Kids are not choosing to be obese they are learning to be obese!  It's up to US, their role models, to teach them about nutrition and fitness.  Knowing that I will be in a place to impact the health of children makes me really happy!

When you give of yourself to others, it comes back to you ten fold!  Not only does it feel awesome, but it comes back to you in so many positive ways!  Nothing will improve your mood better then helping others.  Find somewhere to donate some time (even if it's only a few hours per week) and take the family too!  Teaching kids to always help others, how to be humble and to live a life of gratitude goes a long way.