Day 15: My Challenge for You

This is not my first rodeo

(Or my first 30-day challenge.)

I did some a few years back with my friend Hannah. They difference they made in my life was startling.

One month, I wrote a page a day every day in my journal. I’d been going through a writing slump. That fixed it.

Another, I made a drawing every day. To get back to play and markers and lines, and make pictures out of things I couldn’t put into words burst my creative mind open.

But the hardest one? I did one nice thing for someone every day for 30 days.

It’s not hard to do nice things for people, right? I did easy ones first: bringing donuts to work, buying an special cookie for my dog, donating to charity. I bought some granola bars and apples to give them to the man who asked for money in the metro near my office. It took me all day to work up the courage to give them to him. I don’t know why. When I finally did, he gave me a long, thankful nod.

I went to a bookstore and left inspiring notes hidden in books. I bought flowers for someone. I shovelled the snow off my neighbours walkway and stairs. I wrote of gratitude to friends and family. And what struck me was how these little actions, combined, made me so grateful, so open, so much more awake in my daily grind.

So today, halfway through this 30-day challenge (hurrah!), I’ve got a challenge for you. If you’ve enjoyed even one post in the 15 posts so far – even half a post – I ask that you send a few bucks to an organization you believe in. If nothing comes to mind, here are a few suggestions:

The UN Refugee Agency

I met some refugees from Syria while in Turkey. We’ve all heard the stories, but the ones they shared, which I will write about soon, made me wonder how it is that we inhabit the same planet. Every little bit helps. I saw that firsthand.

The Edja Foundation

Edja was founded by the wife of Jackson Kaguri, director of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project where I volunteered in Uganda two years ago, to combat child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence in Sub-Saharan Africa. As you can read about here, this is a huge issue.

BARC – Bali Dog Adoption and Rehabilitation Centre

Living in Bali put animal rights in a whole new light for me. Wild and homeless dogs in Bali suffer terrible states of health, are not fed or watered properly, and are sometimes (I learned, just now, reading this website) used as sacrifice. BARC does amazing work.

If you don’t have change to spare or have recently donated to another cause, here’s Option Two: do something nice for someone today. Something outside of your comfort zone. Pay for the coffee of the person behind you in line. Bring goodies to work. Tell the woman at the chemist’s how much you love her outfit. And tell me about it – by private message or in the comments section.

That’s it for today.

Love and warm fuzzes,

Nat