When it comes to creating a purposeful life giving back is key. Often times during the holidays, many prioritize giving back, but then return to the hustle and bustle of the everyday grind afterwards. Giving back doesn’t always have to mean giving financially, one of the greatest and most impactful ways to give back is to give your time and passion to a cause. The following are our favorite ways to give back year round.
Our Favorite Ways to Give Back After the Holidays:
Teach a Skill You’re Passionate About
As the old saying goes “Give someone a fish, and you feed them for a day. Teach them to fish, and you feed them for a lifetime.” There are many after school programs for children, as well as adult education outreach, which are looking for volunteers with skills just like yours.
The truth is if you’re doing something you enjoy anyways, are are passionate and engaged, you are more likely to keep it up.
Giving back doesn’t always have to happen on a grand scale. Sometimes, you can make a great impact by making a difference in one person’s life. You could invite a person you know is in need to your home to learn something or offer your expertise in an area you know they could benefit from.
Investing your time in someone is one of greatest things you can do.
Show Mother Nature Some Love
Adopt or step up an eco-friendly habit for a week, and add on to this practice throughout the year. We are big believers in the snowball effect and often times making little changes can go a long way. Swap your grocery bags for reusable cloth ones, limit your shower time to only 5 minutes, however small and silly it may seem it all adds up. It also heightens your awareness to start thinking more resourceful with our great planet earth in mind.
You could even find creative ways to get resourceful and recycle some products into some fabulous DIYs.
Share Your Furry Family Member
Check with local children’s hospitals, nursing homes and hospice programs regarding animal therapy programs. There may be a little training involved, but it is worth the effort to spread all the love and joy that comes with wet noses.
Share Stories
Donate your gently loved books to those in need of a good read such as neighborhood libraries, nursing homes or organizations such as Operation Paperback that gets books to soldiers stationed overseas.
Safe A Life
Help save someone’s life by donating blood or plasma.
Get Moving for a Cause
Did you know there are several apps you can download to your phone to give to many charitable organizations? One of our favorites is Charity Miles. In the app you can choose from a range of charitable organizations and for each mile you run, your charity gets 25 cents. For each mile you bike, your charity gets 10 cents. AS SIMPLE AS THAT. It is the best motivation to keep you moving.
You can also sign up for a local walk or run for a charitable cause. You could double up your impact by logging your training and run on the app too.
Donate a Meal
There is something pretty magical and healing about enjoying a warm home cooked meal. There are many organizations that you can donate meals to, so double up on tonight’s recipe. If cooking isn’t your thing, plenty of these organizations also need help with delivering meals.
Get Your Hands Dirty
Spread some cheer in your community by volunteering to fill a flowerbed with blooms and keep it free of litter and weeds. Be sure to check out your local community garden for volunteer opportunities to give back, they are always in need in the winter months especially.
