Browse Volunteer Opportunities Online VolunteeringAustralia.org focuses your search by the causes you are passionate about, the amount of time you’d like to invest, and the activity you would like to do. GoVolunteer.com.au lists available volunteer opportunities by geographic area, and fields that you are interested in. Volunteering.nz.org.nz research ways to serve your community alongside wonderful people. SeekVolunteer.co.nz search by keyword and location to find volunteering positions you are passionate about. Be a Christmas Card Elf Offer to address holiday cards for seniors, or volunteer to help themregister on a greeting card site, and help themsend their holiday greetings. WarmUp Your Neighbourhood Market Take a thoughtful look around your own neighbourhood.Who can’t climb ladders and put up outside lights?Howabout bringing “Christmas in a box” to a nearby struggling family? Fill it with wrapped presents or a gift card, and include all the fixings for a holiday dinner. When the holidays are over and the last strands of tinsel are vacuumed out of the carpet, why not continue to let volunteering expand your world year-round? One way to keep it interesting is the mobile app Pay It Forward—it will send you a daily suggestion for a simple yet effective act of kindness. Mobileaze.com/apps/payitforward As the year progresses, the traditional greeting of ‘Happy New Year’ can take on a whole new meaning as many in your ever-widening circle of friends decide to create the residual income a Melaleuca business can provide. Ultimately, volunteering will help you enhance more lives by helping others reach their goals. Now that is truly a happy new year!
According to available data, the vast majority of us live our lives as if we’re affixed to our own personal monorail. With a coffee shop on every corner, we tend to pick the nearest one and go there consistently. We choose a nearby supermarket, become familiar with the aisles so it’s easy to find everything on our list, and then our shopping takes us down the same aisles every time. Do you drive to work? Take public transport? Ride your bike? You probably take the same route every time. We usually go to the same dry cleaner, pharmacy, dentist, hairstylist, manicurist, auto parts shop, and bookstore. We browse the same mall and frequent the same restaurants (or worse, use the drive-through where we don’t have to talk to anyone in line). We work out at the same gym and power walk the same route. Why? We’re creatures of efficiency. It’s just easier. But at what cost? Here’s a thought: You are in charge of the size of your world. Step over your own boundary lines! Reposition and reconfigure them every so often. This doesn’t mean you have to turn your life upside down or join a mountain-climbing club if you’re afraid of heights, but it does mean your 10 kilometre radius contains a limited population and is embedded with well-worn habit paths. If you want to meet more people, you must expand your circle and explore new territory. Just in time to make this easier (not to mention adventurous and fulfilling), here come the holidays! Every year the season offers grand opportunities to open your life and your heart to a bigger world of different people. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is more than the name of a beloved holiday film—it is a true statement when we give to a world waiting to give back to us. OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERYWHERE TO VOLUNTEER ANDMEET NEWPEOPLE Though there are a thousand ways to expand the radius of your world, volunteering is a fail-safe method to get out, make a difference, and meet loads of new people. Start Where You Are This time of year service opportunities are abundant. Charities, faith-based groups, schools, and clubs get involved with charitable activities. Your challenge: find a project that fits your skills, your interests, and your schedule that you’ve not contributed to in the past. Help themwith their cause. Working together toward a noble goal removes much of the social awk wardness of meeting new people and puts you in contact with a tremendous new network of quality individuals. Have a Family BrainstormMeeting Sit down together with Mountain Cabin Coffee all around, and let your children help you think of whom you could help and how you could do it. Kids are heart-meltingly caring and surprisingly creative, and including them sparks their enthusiasm about participating. BeginwithWhat You Enjoy Consider what you like to do and reach out to organisations connected with your interests. Are you an animal lover? Ask your local animal shelter what they need.
1CaseyJohnston,“CellsPhonesShowHumanMovementPredictable93%oftheTime,”Arstechnica.com,February23,2010,web. 2MaryGormandyWhite, “AngelTreeCharity,”charity.lovetoknow.com,December31,2009,web.
29 JANUARY 2017 | MELALEUCA.COM
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