“Acts of love are what will bring peace to your life and to the world.” – Lee L. Jampolsky, Ph.D.
I am pleased to report that my personal Summer of Time Prosperity is very going well! As you know, last summer I “woke up” to the fact that the previous summer had gone by in a blur of tele-seminars, projects and paperwork, while I missed the opportunity to savor the many big and little moments of relaxation, rejuvenation and FUN that are available only during my favorite time of year.
This summer, I am continuing my practice of taking ample time each week to do things I love to do in this favorite season of mine — even as I continue to write this weekly blog for you. So, taking a page from Johnny Carson when he was the host of the Tonight Show, I am spotlighting a number of “guest hosts” for the blog throughout the summer, which is a Win-Win for both of us. It gives YOU the opportunity to learn tips and tools for creating a life of abundance from some of my favorite Master Manifesters, and it provides ME the opportunity to enjoy my favorite time of year without guilt!
This week’s guest columnist continues the theme I introduced in the last blog – how performing “random acts of kindness” for others can increase your happiness and even your prosperity. Lee L. Jampolsky, Ph.D. is a renowned psychologist and author whose book is called “Smile For No Good Reason.” According to this great little paperback’s cover, its purpose is this:
“Dr. Jampolsky offers a series of powerful and concise stories that teach us how to joyfully exchange fear for love, selfishness for service, and anger for clarity – to respond to life’s challenges with peace, confidence, and laughter…Your attitudes, nothing more and nothing less, are your most important tools for building happiness and good health.”
Amen to that! ALL of the dozens of Master Manifesters whose work I have studied over the past two decades say the same thing: ATTITUDE is everything. What you think about, you bring about. Therefore, if you maintain the right focus, belief and positive attitude, you really CAN create the life of your dreams!
As I shared with you last week, one of the most powerful little “secrets” of manifesting prosperity and happiness that I have personally experienced is this: Whenever I bless others, the Universe always blesses me in return. The Law of Circular Giving says that when you give freely of your time, talent and treasure to help others, without expectation of thanks or reward, your good deeds ALWAYS circle back around to bless YOU – usually not from the same person or in the exact same way — but in the exact way that you need, just when you need it the most. It’s never failed me.
Each morning, I remind myself of the affirmation, “As I bless others, so shall I be blessed.” And I ask the Universe to connect me to those people who need my help that day, regardless of their ability to pay me or reciprocate in any way. It causes me to place my faith in the right place – with my Source. I know that if I simply concentrate on doing my very best to help my fellow man or woman, I will receive what I need – my “daily bread” — in return.
While last week’s blog focused on giving your “treasure” (money) to bless others, this week’s excerpt from Dr. Jampolsky’s wonderful little book focuses on the blessing of donating your time. When you give to others in any way, you strengthen your own ability to believe that whatever is needed in the way of financial, emotional or physical support will be provided to YOU. This is a critical prerequisite for putting the Law of Attraction into action in creating whatever it is that YOU want for yourself.
From Smile For No Good Reason
by Lee L. Jampolsky, Ph.D.:
Choose an hour a week to reach out.
“I don’t have time.” This is a common response to why one can’t be giving in the community. It’s no wonder. I the United States today, people work longer hours and commute longer distances than ever before. Many people still make charitable contributions with their money, which is wonderful, but few actively give of their time. Imagine the world if everyone devoted just one hour a week to doing acts of kindness.
There is simple wisdom in the saying, “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.”
It doesn’t matter where you start extending love. It only matters that you see it as much of a priority as all of your other activities. If you spend some time each week giving unconditionally, you will find all other areas of your life uplifted. When you take the time out of your stressful life to give, your whole life becomes less stressful and more purposeful. You are also likely to find the attitude of unconditional giving spreading over to your other activities, bringing increased peace and calm to your life.
Some people find it helpful to have structure to their giving: Volunteering with an organization, school, retirement home, hospital, or the like. Other people like the adventure of setting out for an hour each week to find someone to give to: Perhaps a neighbor doing yard work, a homeless person on a bench, an abandoned animal. It matters little who the recipient is, it is the act of compassion that will heal your life and contribute to the healing of the world.
I had a friend, Max, who died a few years back – well into his nineties. For over fifty years, he walked Carmel Beach every morning, picking up garbage. I think he lived so long and with such joy because of those morning walks of service to nature.
It is easy to become hopeless and overwhelmed by all the problems and atrocities in the world. Train your mind to know that extending love makes a difference. Don’t just sit and read the newspaper, wondering what is happening to the world. Make a difference by taking an hour a week to make happy news. At the end of the week, if one life on the planet, or the planet itself, feels a little more cared about because of your decision to take the time to give, you have made an invaluable contribution.”
Since I became a professional coach almost six years ago, I have directly experienced the good that comes to me from donating my time to others many times. When I first began my career, I needed clients, so I did scores and scores of “free sessions” of coaching – donating one or two hours to helping someone solve a problem, with no guarantee that they would sign up for coaching with me.
While they thanked me profusely for the help I gave them, most of them said they didn’t have the money to enter into coaching at that moment. So I blessed them and sent them on their way, never knowing if I would hear from them again, but knowing for certain that the time I had spent with them had sharpened my skills and fulfilled my purpose as a coach.
But over time, I began to notice that those I helped in this way through one of their life’s toughest challenges often found unexpected ways to bless me in return. Many referred their friends to me for coaching, which I would discover with immense gratitude through a surprise phone call, asking if I had room on my schedule for a new client. Others reciprocated months or years later through personal favors that I could not foresee ever needing at the time of our free coaching session.
One of the most miraculous blessings came back to me from a sometime realtor I’ll call “Alice,” who lives in a small town in Southern California. When a friend gave her a coupon for a free coaching session with me in early 2008 , she was feeling hopeless about her family’s situation, as the nation’s housing meltdown and Great Recession began in earnest.
At the time, Alice was a stay-at-home mother of three young children, whose husband had lost his construction job months before and his unemployment benefits were about to run out. She knew she needed to make some serious money fast to help support her family, but she had no idea how to do it. During our coaching session, she revealed that she had a valid license, but that she hadn’t been active as a realtor in several years. She had recently begun dabbling with it again, but hadn’t had much luck finding clients.
In just two free sessions of doing Practical Prosperity Coaching ™ together, I watched as Alice’s attitude completely turned around. She did her personalized Daily Success Script™ twice a day without fail, and set the intention that she would get 20 “hot” leads that month – far more than she had ever had before. Thanks to her persistence, determination and positive attitude, she ended up getting 24 solid leads, and had 13 people out looking at properties to buy, all within one month of our first consultation.
After that, there was no turning back. Alice became a wildly successful realtor, got her broker’s license, opened up her own real estate company, and eventually had 17 agents working for her. Her husband began running their company’s property management division full time and her family prospered.
She had never paid me a dime for my coaching, but I was totally happy with the huge emotional rewards I received from watching her life turn around. And, of course, she recommended my coaching to everyone she knew in her small town, although there were few takers.
To “pay it forward” for the abundance she was receiving from the Universe, Alice opened a division in her real estate office devoted solely to helping distressed homeowners negotiate with their lenders to lower their payments and enable them to stay in their homes. Although very effective at it, she charges nothing for this service because she feels blessed, not just by the abundance she has created for herself and her family, but more importantly, by the positive impact she has been able to have on so many other lives.
A couple of days ago, I called Alice and asked her to help my husband and me negotiate a lowered mortgage payment with our lender, and she eagerly agreed. I could tell from the detailed instructions she gave me that she has thoroughly learned the “ropes” of this complex and often frustrating process. My husband, a seasoned realtor, could have painstakingly worked through it himself, but we both know that Alice’s experienced help will make it go much smoother and save us lots of our most precious resource – our TIME.
Through Alice and many other people, I have seen first hand that when I bless others by donating my time without any expectation except the satisfaction of knowing I have made a difference for them, I am regularly blessed in unexpected, wonderful ways. Thank you, Alice, for proving to me once again that “As I bless others, so shall I be blessed!”
My prosperity tip for you this week is similar to last week’s: Find someone to bless by performing a “random act of kindness” for them when they least expect it. It doesn’t matter if it’s big or small, just that it takes something for you to do it. But this time, don’t make it a gift of money; make it a gift of your TIME … any amount that is a stretch for you to donate to meet someone else’s need.
You can give the gift of your time to bless a stranger, an animal or someone you know. It is important that you DON’T give it expecting to get anything in return – not thanks, monetary compensation or any other reward. Simply do it from your own sense of open-hearted generosity, expecting nothing, and BELIEVE that the Universe is taking note. Then, one day soon, when you have almost forgotten about it, I guarantee that you will receive a wonderful surprise “out of the blue” of someone giving their time to YOU — in just the way you need it, just when you need it the most. That’s the Law of Circular Giving in action!
I hope you will share your chosen “random acts of kindness” with me, and what blessings you have received from the Universe in return! And be sure to let me know if it is OK to publish it in a future blog (anonymously or otherwise), so your gift can continue to “pay it forward” to your Community by inspiring others to do the same! Contact me at: caroll@practicalprosperitycoach.com.
A Cup of Caroll 