I was staring inside the freezer pondering what to make for dinner the other night and had this sudden explosion of feeling fortunate. I looked around me at my kids playing outside, the clean air, the fresh water, and opportunity around me felt overwhelmed with the choices I have. What to eat for dinner. What to wear today.
Where to go, what to do and how I want to do it.
Choices and opportunities.
And it made me want to do better with what I have. It made me want to make better choices.
The things on my list of stress don’t include heat or clean water for my kids. It doesn’t include education for my family, or the safety of my loved ones. My health is excellent and even though I really should start running again, it is a choice and for “physical” reasons only.
My family is good. My life is good and safe and secure. We have way more than we need, every day and every moment.
Nothing is lacking for us.
And it is the same for you dear reader. You have a warm home, and electricity (you are reading this online) and food to fill your belly. And even if you are under hard times right now, you still have access to support and assistance.
And so as we move towards the approaching holidays, I want to remind myself, and you, just how much we already have and encourage you to choose to spend “time” instead of money, as much as we can.
Normally the holidays for us are low key, compared to the average Canadian Family. We cook together. We craft together, and we try and participate in as many holiday activities as we can. Stretching the holidays past one single DAY, to be a season of enjoyment and stepping away from quantity and focusing on quality.
“Choose a Gift of Hope starting from $10 by visiting Plan Canada – Gifts of Hope “
And our gift giving follows the same trend. No rush trips to the mall to grab just “one more thing” or extra’s thrown in while we are in the check-out line at the grocery store.
Gifts are thought out and planned in advance. Lists are made, and budgets are kept to.
And when I think about it, I think even THAT is too much.
See, we realize that we are lucky. VERY lucky. To have choices, and options and opportunities, and we do our very best to ensure our kids know this, through local giving as well as international.
We donate gifts, and extra food over the holidays, and we have, for years tried to think “outside the box” for gift ideas. And we can do more, all of us can.
Every year I recommend Plan Canada as a way for families to give beyond their 4 walls and show their children how the holidays aren’t about the “stuff”, but about everything else involved.
Plan Canada’s Gifts of Hope are ethical gifts that give twice – here and abroad. They are gifts that carry power and meaning. They make an impression, change the world, and change lives – with one gift. When you give a Gift of Hope, real dollars go to real projects in the communities where Plan works – and these gifts change real lives.
Your donated dollars go to provide health care and educational programs in countries around the world. By helping Plan Canada provide opportunities and supplies, with something as simple as a bed net, you are assisting in disease control. With a donation of $75 to the clean water project, or $40 to support sustainable food & farming practices, you can provide the nutrition needed for survival. So start by visiting the site, and choosing how your family can support another today.
Plan Canada also has matched gifts. These gifts are matched by a government, foundation or organizational partner, giving more children the gift of hope, helping more families live better lives, and transforming more communities. For example, when you purchase a gift like “help orphaned children affected by HIV”, your $75 gift will be matched 15x for a total value of $1,200!
Start your kids early by recognizing this season of giving, and sharing in some new traditions over the holidays. . . and lets start by sharing the Plan Canada site with them and helping make someone else’s holiday a little brighter.
And this year, I want to ask for your help. I have created a Plan Canada Gift registry to celebrate the holidays, and I am hoping that together, we can all contribute to it. The items on the list range in price but are all extremely valuable. Visit Plan Canada and search for my registry (search Julie Nowell) to find out more, and see how it easy it is for you to donate this holiday and help me use social media for good! Or even better, create your own Gift Registry for a birthday or special event and share Plan Canada with your network in celebration.
