Donate to charity
Give to a charity.
When you look at your own life, do you believe that you have all that you need and then some? Or do you find yourself constantly thinking that you don鈥檛 have enough?
These two perspectives are flip sides of the same coin: an 鈥渁bundance鈥� mentality or a 鈥渟carcity鈥� mentality. There鈥檚 plenty, or there鈥檚 just not enough.
The 鈥渁bundance鈥� mentality 鈥� a sense that you have enough or, usually, more than you need 鈥� is the perspective that leads to personal finance success. If you feel as though you have more than enough, it鈥檚 much easier to spend less, save more, and help others with what you have.
The 鈥渟carcity鈥� mentality, on the other hand, results in more and more spending, leaving less and less for saving and sharing with others. Because of this perspective of never having enough, it鈥檚 easy to get yourself into debt trying to have 鈥渆nough鈥� 鈥� something you can never really have.
One of the biggest changes in my own life over the past several years has been a transition from a 鈥渟carcity鈥� mentality to an 鈥渁bundance鈥� mentality. Along the way, I discovered something profound: you can cultivate an 鈥渁bundance鈥� mentality in your life through repeated actions.
Chief among those actions is a willingness to give to others. If you spend some of your time, your energy, and, yes, your money giving to others, you鈥檒l gradually find that you do have plenty in your own life. You鈥檒l see how others enjoy a very happy and fulfilled life having less material items than you have. You鈥檒l find fulfilling ways to spend your time and money that bring deep personal meaning into your own life.
How do you get started? My suggestion is to spend some serious time thinking about the one thing that鈥檚 wrong in the world that touches your heart more than anything else. Focus on that and ask yourself what you can do to help change that situation. Almost every cause in the world can use a donation of time, of money, of energy, and of talents.
Simply set aside some of what you have in each of these areas to give to that charitable cause. Investigate your options thoroughly using tools like .
I find that giving locally is often a very powerful way to start because you find yourself in direct contact with the people (or animals) that you鈥檙e helping. Such direct contact brings something that could be rather abstract into stark reality, showing you the true abundance you have in your own life while bring real change into the lives of others.
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, spend some of your free time digging into charitable causes. You鈥檒l get more value from them than you鈥檒l ever give to them.
------------------------------
海角大神 has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on the link above.
