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For a variety of reasons sometimes the only way we have to give is through giving money.  It makes us feel good to give money to a cause that we believe in.  However, sometimes we need to be cautious in the way we “spend” our donation money.  However, we must look at those times when helping a single person just does not help that individual.

Living in a town on the interstate we see a rather specific type of situation where helping really isn’t.  First, there is the category of the professional beggar.  They stand outside grocery store parking lots and at the top of exit ramps on the freeway among other places.  With hand written signs on cardboard they beg for help – anything.  “Will work for food” and other statements meant to pull on our heartstrings are held up to be read.  But stop and offer them a job? Oh ho!  Then the response is quite a different thing.  One gentleman (and I use that word lightly) answered my query as to whether he wanted to work for an afternoon by actually throwing his brand name thermal coffee cup at me.

It pulls at our heartstrings to see someone in difficult circumstances.  However, when we give money to them we can be perpetuating their agony.  Numerous studies had been conducted that categorically prove that when you have financial donating to do that it is best done to an institution rather than an individual.  The Salvation Army, the Red Cross, the local homeless shelter are all places where your funds could be better used.  If you are concerned about how much of your donation for the charity will actually go to helping others there are numerous watchdog agencies reporting on non-profits.

It is difficult to see that old man sitting on his backpack on the side of the road.  He presents a pathetic figure.  Rather than give him money which only gives a short term fix, offer to give him a ride to the local shelter where he can really be helped.  Giving is good – we all know that, but in today’s world one needs to be an informed giver!

There are more Goodness is Giving posts, inspiring pics, and a Tarot Reading Giveaway on facebook! Check it out!

Rather than giving to a person this week we are going to talk about giving back to that which sustains us.  Whether you call her Planet Earth, Mother Earth, or Gaia the planet upon which we live is worthy of our care.

For those bound in city lives it may seem like it would be a difficult to give back to the earth but there is more than you know.  An easy one for an urban dweller would be to participate in your city’s recycling program.  Most communities have one and they make it easy to participate. Another idea for the urban dweller would be to start a community garden or volunteer to help out at one nearby.  You do not have to know how to garden at a community garden – there’s always someone that is willing to help others learn more about gardening!  Join a garden club.  Help with clean up days in a local park.  Use environmentally sound products.  Become involved in the environmental health of your community.

The same challenges for participation can face the rural dweller.  Due to distances sometimes, it is difficult to participate in community activities – especially when the closest community is 20 miles away over a bad road.  But there are other things you can do!  First, of course, is to take care of what you have…your property.  Are you living in an environmentally friendly way?  Adopt a part of a local highway for clean up.  Take your children to the woods and let them find the joys of the forest.  Take care of your grounds and area and show pride in your surroundings.  I have friends that every year in May they celebrate their moving in to their house by planting another rose bush in the garden.  Using environmentally sound energy is another way to give a little back.

There’s an old phrase heard much around groups that go camping:  “Always leave the area better than you found it.”  This need not just be applied to just campers.  Imagine how much nicer place the world would be if everyone lived by that credo?  Every bit that we do is a bit towards helping.  Whether global warming is a natural happening within the climatic cycle or it is a destabilization cause by man, if we do our best to help in the ways that we can, we can truly make a difference.  And, it should always be remembered that when we give back to the earth we are giving back to ourselves as well by making our environment a better place to be.

Giving back to Gaia in these simple and easy ways can really come to mean a lot over time.  You may not think what you are doing is much, but if we each do a little than we can actually change a lot.  So, take a walk, take a hike, get on your mountain bike and take a ride…enjoy the bounty that we receive from the planet we live on…when we enjoy something we appreciate it, when we appreciate it we may just be more willing to protect it.  So, by giving to that which sustains us we sustain ourselves.

There are more Goodness is Giving posts, inspiring pics, and a Tarot Reading Giveaway on facebook! Check it out!