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Category Archives: Giving

Discovering Your Joy Within!

12 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Choices, Christmas, Contentment, Empathy, Encouragement, Giving, Goodness, Hope, Inspiration, Jesus' Birth, Joy, Love, Peace, Positivity, Seasons, Strength

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Christmas, Contentment, Inspiration, Joy, Peace

I mostly wrote this five years ago this very day, but it seems to ring even more true for the world we are living in this day! The greatest challenge and endeavor in life is to learn the vital lesson of discovering your joy within! With that comes the importance of holding onto that joy peacefully and consistently, no matter the circumstances you are currently experiencing, all while reflecting that contentment as a light back into the world. None of us is immune to hardships, traumas, and problems in life or the catastrophic events beyond our control, but we have shared enough similar woes and life experiences to know that our inner joy is truly not a reflection of what has or will happen to us as much as it is a reflection of our choice as to how and what we feel, think, and believe about these matters! We choose how to summarily view our lives based on how we feel about what has happened to us. If we always cede our joy to feelings of despair, worry, anxiety, sadness, constantly mourning what we’ve lost over time, we erode the sense of joy we are meant to experience just by living! It’s as if we forget that our lives were filled with both happy and sad, ups and downs, laughter and tears. Anchoring our joy within ensures us that we won’t look back upon our lives in misery and despair!

We’re so well-equipped to love, to empathize, to be the face of compassionate caring for others once we have assured all of that for and within ourselves, by recognizing our own ability to keep our peace, joy, and contentment alive within our own soul and spirit! It’s so easy to harden from within with each trauma and every downturn. Soon enough, we have lost our ability to enjoy our own life or to help others enjoy theirs! By instilling in ourselves an indefatigable and rebounding joy within, we make ourselves almost immune to that habit of dwelling in perpetual despair! We may for a time mourn, ache, or hurt, but it need not take our life’s joy for all time! Perhaps we need only shift our focus more to the bright moments, the great times, and the things which we consider blessings, rather than focusing more often on what has grieved us or made us sad. And in just a time, that becomes the new habit!  

Find and hold onto your joy from within by habitually deciding to do just that! And then be a purposeful light for others, assuring them as to what joy, peace, and contentment can be for many who possibly need your leadership in that regard! It takes faith to live as a light, but the Lord sets a great example for us as to why we should! Shine your light for all the world to see, especially during this season of Christmas! You never know who might be inspired and led by your example in turn. There is enough darkness and despair in this world, enough sadness and suffering, reflect for others the way which leads them to their joy and light! And have a joyous season celebrating Christmas!   

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Giving From Our Gratitude . .

28 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Attitude, Christmas, Compassion, Fullness, Giving, God, Goodness, Gratitude

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Generosity, God, Stewardship

Giving isn’t just monetary; there are opportunities to give our time, to share our talents, our abilities, to make meals, to help friends as well as soon-to-be new friends who we know need a hand. There are ways to give from the heart at every turn of the calendar, clock face and sun rising. Giving of oneself is a way to truly show gratitude for life’s bounty! For it is by our acknowledgement of how truly blessed we are in all manners and ways, that we grow in our desire to share with others our blessings of all kinds!

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I enjoy baking, cooking and providing comfort for others, so when I have that opportunity, I do so with a happy heart and a glad spirit! I often bake dozens of cookies for a local long-term care nursing facility at Christmas, as the patients and staff appreciate such gestures. Whatever way it is that you can give from the heart to all those around you, can truly provide a great way to share with others the many blessings in which your life has been enriched! Some of us are amply blessed monetarily, and so we have the chance to share in money. Others have time to give to people who need a hand, and so they share their time by being a blessing to others. Some might make gifts or treasures by which they might either directly offer gifts or raise funds.

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Gratitude in spirit always leads to giving, for it is only in sharing that we can truly appreciate the value and meaning of our blessings! God has been so good to us, providing all His richness of bounty to us over our lifetimes in the form of materials goods, possessions, comforts and wealth; our gratitude and giving is the way we exemplify our stewardship for those treasures to Him!  Signature02

Steps of Life

18 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Character, Choices, Courage, Fullness, Giving, Integrity, Opportunity, Passion

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heavy-burden-25If someone is faltering in their steps, don’t watch them at a distance crumbling with the weight of their burdens. We are our brother’s & sister’s keepers. We are meant to find supernatural strength & fortitude not only for ourselves but especially for those we love & those whom are in our care. What is the world if we forget that first & foremost we are humans connected in & by our humanity? What will it mean to the world if we forget to nurture, love & value through our compassionate care those whom are nearest & within arms reach?? Do we want to become so self-involved as people that we allow our singularity in being to resonate as loneliness or isolation instead? Do we want to forget what is common & similar within all of us because we are so dead set on having what we ourselves want first & foremost?

 

I see so many selfish & soulless pursuits in life anymore, so many people trampled on during the daily parade of rats seeking the cheese. There was always more than enough cheese for us all, no need to become one of the rats by forgetting others are in the maze with you. People are slowly eroding & vacating any hope for their own prosperity as a species .  We are forgetting our humanity & what matters. We are so much more accepting & complacent about things which denigrate us all & which do nothing to encourage the betterment of mankind in general. It is like we’ve grown numb to all the outrage, we just don’t care as much anymore. If all of humanity loses too much of its intrinsic & God-given humanity, it evolves into a life form lower than any creature of which I am aware. Humanity only prospers one heart, one hand, one smile, one gesture of kindness & one unfettering, unfaltering willful step at a time!

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A Big Tug Of War

24 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Cheryl Ries in Compassion, Empathy, Giving

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A Big Tug Of War  

Sometimes the world seems like a big tug of war . . this one pulls, that one pulls harder back. If we all just committed to doing, being & giving our best, I believe the tug of war would inherently lessen!
If there were no perceived injustices, because we knew that we all were doing, being & giving our best to one another, then there would be no need to seek retribution or justice. We would just be able to relate to one another’s mistakes or inabilities because we were giving them the benefit of the doubt for just having done the best they could!

If we related to one another with humility, with empathy, compassion & a desire to treat others as we wished to be treated ourselves, ego & selfishness would take a backseat to the desire to be humane, unselfish, respectful, compassionate & polite. We need to be civil in the world to share it . . to show our humanity by individual acts which reflect that to others. First, it is up to each of us to mirror how we wish to be treated, for how can we expect in others what we haven’t nurtured in ourselves? Have a great new day!

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Cheryl Ries-Author & Model

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