DailyGood: More Wrinkles, More Smiles

The years teach much which the days never knew. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fact of the Day:
Happiness increases with age, surveys say! A recent Gallup poll asked 340,000 people across the United States questions ranging from age and gender, health, personal finances, emotions, and general well-being. They found that negative emotions like worry and sadness drop off after age 50, about the same time happiness sets in. Overall, the trends show that young adults start out feeling pretty good, transition into the twists and turns of adult life, and come out happy and satisfied as they grow into old age. So the next time you discover a new wrinkle or grey hair, celebrate! Maybe ignorance isn’t so blissful after all.  [ more ]

Be The Change:
Celebrate the aging process: Reflect on the greatest lessons from each decade of your life.

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. –Unknown

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. –Unknown

From the age of 6, Susan Lieu was a powerhouse, answering the phone and removing customers’ nail polish at her family’s Bay Area nail salon. When she was 12, her world came crashing down when her mother, who had survived a harrowing escape from Vietnam years earlier, died unexpectedly of surgical complications. The experience took much from Lieu, but gave her something that sustains her to this day. After her mother’s seemingly senseless death, Lieu said, “I was determined to have a purpose.” Since then, the Oakland, CA resident has earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, supported sustainable farming methods in Vietnam, worked with an AIDS project in an African refugee camp, and started a successful chocolate business. All in the span of a quarter-century! [ more ]

Submitted by: Diane Nilan

Be The Change:
Today, make the decision to try something you’ve always wanted to try.

Slow Money: Bringing Money Down to Earth

As we know, money is energy. We often hear this in spiritual prosperity classes in regard to “getting” money. But what effect does the flow of how we spend our money have on our overall well-being? Are the shifts taking place supporting us becoming more aware of where we spend our money? Woody Tasch has done some interesting work in this area. What are your thoughts on this?

Good News of the Day:
Woody Tasch has thought a lot about money: what it does, how it moves, and how to connect people who have it with people who need it. He even helped found a field of investing with the rather surprising name “community development venture capital.” But he found that even socially responsible investing couldn’t do much to fix an economy that focused too much on extraction and consumption and too little on preservation and restoration. In 2008, Tasch wrote Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered. Soon after, he founded the Slow Money Alliance, an NGO devoted to the principles of slowing money down, reconnecting it to the Earth, and respecting carrying capacity, the commons, sense of place, and nonviolence. Tasch calls it the transition from “Making A Killi! ng” to “Making a Living.” [ more ]

Be The Change:
Shop at a local farmers market to help economic growth and development in your own community. [ more ]

Born to Help

If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day. –Alex Noble

Fact of the Day:
What is the essence of human nature? Flawed, say many theologians. Vicious and addicted to warfare, wrote Hobbes. Selfish and in need of considerable improvement, think many parents. But biologists are beginning to form a generally sunnier view of humankind. The somewhat surprising answer at which some biologists have arrived is that babies are innately sociable and helpful to others. This New York Times article offers more details on their findings and also explores suggested parenting systems that best leverage this inborn impulse. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Reinforce our instinctual desire to help others by doing one random act of kindness a day.

What Will Change Everything?

Hi everyone, Celeste Shakti here. I want to thank Jody Amato for getting our blog started. I know it has not been very personal as I have been so busy, but wanted to get things started with some of the wonderful stories from Charityfocus.org. The plan is to have guest contributors and a lively conversation on Sacred Activism and Spiritual Practices in today’s world.

Given the article here, what do YOU think would change everything?

Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant. –Anthony J. D’Angelo

Fact of the Day:
Every year, John Brockman — who runs the nonprofit Edge Foundation in New York — asks a gaggle of forward-thinking people a provocative question. This is the Edge Annual Question for 2009: “What will change everything?” Writer David Bodanis suggests that some kind of massive technological failure would be game-changing. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, says that reinventing industry to have less impact on the environment will alter the way we live. And Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at MIT, looks forward to the day when robots will serve as companions to humans. Here are a few other intriguing replies… [ more ]

Be The Change:
What would your answer to Brockman’s question be?

What is Celibacy?

Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by circumstances.

While attending a Marriage Weekend, Walter and his wife, Ann, listened to the instructor declare,

‘It is essential that husbands
and wives know the
things that are important to each other..”

He then addressed the men,
‘Can you name and describe your wife’s favorite flower?’

Walter leaned over, touched Ann’s arm gently, and whispered,

‘Gold Medal-All-Purpose, isn’t it?’

…And thus began Walter’s life of celibacy.

The Doctor Who Would Cure Haiti

Since I do not believe that there should be different recommendations for people living in the Bronx and people living in Manhattan, I am uncomfortable making different recommendations for my patients in Boston and in Haiti. –Dr. Paul Farmer

Fact of the Day:
Over 20 years ago, Dr. Paul Farmer graduated from Harvard Medical School, and promptly moved into a local church with his wife and daughter. The reason? He wanted to reduce his expenses so he could treat the homeless in Boston for free. Watch how this man systematically has changed the medical profession by focusing on one place, Haiti, for over 20 years — and in the process has rekindled what it means to be a doctor for thousands. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Last May, DailyGood featured Sri, a UCSF Doctor-Poet who was serving in Burundi, and is now in Haiti with Paul Farmer’s organization — write him with your blessings and support. [ more ]

What Can You Live Without?

Everyone has too much of something, whether it’s time, talent or treasure. Everyone does have their own half, you just have to find it. —Hannah Salwen

Fact of the Day:
It all began with a stop at a red light. While Kevin Salwen and his 14-year-old daughter, Hannah, were waiting at a traffic light, they saw a black Mercedes coupe on one side and a homeless man begging for food on the other. “Dad, if that man had a less nice car, that man there could have a meal,” Hannah protested. She pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something. “What do you want to do?” her mom responded. “Sell our house?” That is exactly what the family did. “We essentially traded stuff for togetherness and connectedness,” says father Kevin Salwen. Hannah and Kevin wrote a book about the family’s experience, The Power of Half, which will be released in February. [ more ]

Submitted by: Several Daily Good Readers

Be The Change:
Think of three things you have in abundance — they may include time, talent or treasure. Could someone else use them? Notice the unanticipated rewards that result from your giving.

Golden Retriever Adopts Kitten

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.&tbsp;–Oprah Winfrey

Good News of the Day:
A stray kitten has found a new mother in a golden retriever, who began producing milk for the gray tabby after hearing its cries. The hungry kitten, found in an old tire at a concrete plant, refused to drink from a bottle and her rescuers feared she would die. That’s when Honey, the family dog who hadn’t given birth in 18 months, stepped in with her motherly instincts. ?She started licking her and loving her. Within a couple of days, Honey started naturally lactating,” said Kathy Martin, whose husband, Jimmy, brought the kitten home six weeks ago. “The kitten took right to her.” A picture of Honey with the new kitten follows. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Whether you’re a mother or not, even a woman or not, lend your nurturing instincts to someone in need today.

from The Daily Good

Beyond Human Altruism

Everything is giving and receiving. We don’t give even tiniest alms (materially or spiritually) without receiving something and vice versa. All progress is based on this. –Erkki Melartin

Fact of the Day:
Altruism may be far more widespread than had been realized. A new study shows that chimpanzees are capable of helping others without any thought of personal reward, demonstrating that young chimpanzees spontaneously and repeatedly helped humans who appeared to be struggling to reach sticks within the animals’ enclosure. Elsewhere in the animal world there are many examples of apparent altruism. Dolphins, for example, will support sick or injured animals, swimming under them for hours at a time and pushing them to the surface so they can breathe. However, such examples feature social animals where the “altruistic” individuals help their kin, which is relatively easy to explain in terms of ensuring the survival of the genes that both share. It’s much harder to explain altruism when unrelated individuals help each other — and hardest of all when it is between species. [ more ]

Submitted by: Avantika Vardhan

Be The Change:
“Five Love Notes to My Grandmother” is an inspirational story of one person’s moving experience with giving and receiving. [ more ]

from The Daily Good