My 2014 Birthday Project to spread kindness & joy

For those of you who don’t know me all that well: January is my birthday month, so this year, instead of gifts, I ask(ed) people to do something for others. I thought about 2013 and how it had been a struggle and challenge for so many of us and thought about three choices that would be easy to achieve, but can have a big impact… and a ripple effect if all goes well.

1. commit to doing one random act of kindness sometime in January (that’s beyond your normal ‘kindness level’; you can leave a comment with your RAK or send me an e-mail; I’d love to hear from you if you’re taking part in this); I will post things that my friends came up with all through January and will also post my own 36 acts of kindness soon. Some examples to get your ideas flowing are: call a friend you haven’t talked to in ages, help make change when someone at the gorcery’s is a few cents short, invite a homeless person for a cup of coffee (or just stop for a minute to talk to him/her), volunteer an hour or a day for your favorite cause, buy a couple of books you’ve really enjoyed reading and then leave them somewhere with a short note explaining this program and my e-mail (Germany4Livestrong@googlemail.com), so whoever picks it up can write a short note once they’ve found it (idea borrowed by Christine Mason Miller’s 100 Books Project – if you chose ‘Ordinary Sparling Moments’, you’ll get extra credit; https://christine-davanzo.squarespace.com/blog/?category=100%20Books%20Project), etc. Got other ideas, big or small – PERFECT, can’t wait to read about them.
2. make someone (and me) smile
3. make a donation to the LIVESTRONG Foundation via my fundraising page: http://www.livestrong.org/fundraising/yellow/donate . I’ve been raising money for the foundation for more than 9 years, have met so many wonderful people through my volunteer work and just know how much of a difference the foundation makes to so many people affected by cancer. From the moment of a cancer diagnosis, the foundation can help navigate you through treatment issues (clinical trials, one-on-one support,…), but also survivorship programs during and after treatment, such as fertility preservation services and LIVESTRONG at the Y fitness/strength programs. Anyone effected by cancer can access these FREE and confidential services. 

If you chose to donate, there’s a small incentive: not only will you receive a small surprise gift (don’t forget to e-mail/FB message me your address, so I can pay it forward), you also get one vote to help decide what crazy hat I’ll be wearing for my next half marathon in Copenhagen. I will buy the hat with the most votes from the talented http://www.etsy.com/de/shop/DebraDoodles and will wear it during my run in March. Now, that could mean this Pack and Red Sox Girl could be forced to wear a Yankees MoHawk or a Viking’s hat 😉 No donation is too small and every cent makes a difference. Here’s a picture of all hats that are up for voting (on January 4th, it was a 3-way-tie between the Oregon Duck, the moo cow and the Packers mohawk):

I hope this makes you decide to join my little project – cannot wait to hear/read from you all through January. Happy 2014 – may it bring you peace, love & happiness!!