My family didn't have much money when I was a kid, but what we lacked financially, we made up with heart. Every year around Christmastime, we'd do something kind for others as a family. 

One year we cut hearts out of red felt and sewed them together to make pillows to take to the local nursing home. The look of joy on the faces of the residents stays with me to this day. So many of those residents didn’t have family and their loneliness showed. One lady hugged her little heart shaped pillow and cried- I will never, ever forget that.

The holidays are here and I don't know about you, but I can't help but feel like everything is capitalized these days. I know that’s the way of the world, but what about breaking away from that for just one day and doing something kind for someone else?

World Vision has proposed that we observe Giving Tuesday today as a way to “give back” to those who with greater needs than our own. Giving Tuesday is intended to open the holiday season on a philanthropic note and put heart back into the holidays. It’s about community, not capitalism. Giving not receiving. I LOVE this idea! Please help me spread the word by telling people you know about Giving Tuesday. I really think that together, we can make this a very special day for our neighbors by doing something kind with no expectations for anything in return.

I promise you, once you do something kind for someone with no strings attached, you’ll catch the happiness bug and want to continue. It’s amazing how good you’ll feel inside!

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