Kindness Brings Currency of the Heart to Light

Synchronicity is Currency of the Heart

The bright yellow flower in the cupped palms of two hands, on a book cover caught my eye as I walked into J.R.Julia's book store in Madison, CT, in January. Yellow flowers are rare in CT in the winter, even pictures of them. Then I noticed the name of the author, Stephanie Dowrick. She was a class mate of mine at the New Seminary. Stephanie lives in Austrailia and I haven't seen her since our ordination as interfaith ministers in 2005.

Her book arrived in my life right on time. The first Currency of the Heart blog post was scheduled for February 14 and here was a book called Everyday Kindness. It felt like Stephanie was talking to me, saying "Here's a thought. Read this." I did read the book and now I'd like to share a few of her thoughts with you. 

"Kindness drives connection and engagement, empathy and comfort. It is thoughtfulness in action. It is self-respect and concern for others in action. 

Kindness lets you live life to the full. It expresses your gratitude for who you are and what you can contribute.

You can't become kinder to others  without also benefiting yourself. You can't be more genuinely self-supportive without also asking and needing less of others-and benefiting them also. 

Kindness doesn't mean surrendering your boundaries or meeting every demand that comes your way. It doesn't mean becoming a doormat that others can walk over. It can mean being much clearer about saying no as well as yes.  Nevertheless, kindness pushes you to take other people into account constantly, even while it saves you from harming, demeaning or sacrificing yourself.

Kindness helps you physically as much as it does emotionally and spiritually. It keeps you connected. It relaxes. It radically reduces tension and stress. It doesn't depend on status, education or wealth. It doesn't depend on brilliance or age. And it certainly can't depend only on things always going well for you. (Easy to be kind when everything is going our way. Far more to be kind when life is not going our way.)


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Kindness is a way of life and living, depends on choices made and remade on a daily basis."

Visit Stephanie's website 

Rosemary Williams launched Currency of the Heart to inspire readers to “pay it forward” from the heart’s most precious currency. We’d love to hear from you! To share your story or to request permission to republish this blog post, please email rosemarycwilliams@gmail.com. 

© 2013 Rosemary Williams

Shooting Hoops Creates Currency of the Heart

Dr Jodie Meyer and Dr. Steve Tuber have found a unique way to invest the currency of their hearts into their community. This professional couple (both psychologists) created a basketball program for third through eighth grade boys and girls in Hastings on Hudson, NY, in 2002 and have managed it ever since. Both wife and husband are involved in all aspects of the Program every Saturday from early December through the end of March each year.

Most importantly, the Program is guided by developmental principles aimed at minimizing the stress and maximizing the fun of childhood athletics. It creates a dynamic balance among competition, caring and sportsmanship. Procedures have been derived that strive to ensure that teams are balanced skill-wise; that playing time is equitable; that rules and even the size of the basketballs are modified to fit the developmental needs of the children as they progress through the Program; and that parents are strongly guided to positively

support their children’s play without criticism of coaches, referees or other players. Referees are high school students (often graduates of the basketball program) and are also guided by Jodie and Steve to promote fairness and fun.

 

Steve writes an article reviewing every game every week in the local town paper, the Rivertowns Enterprise. Over the course of the season every player is mentioned at least once in the article. In this way each child is given public attention and credit for his or her efforts on the basketball court.

Jodie and Steve, as they are known by the locals, do all of this because they love doing it, they love the kids who play basketball, they love their community, Hastings on Hudson, and they derive deep gratification from helping to evoke the life lessons learned by all concerned through being part of a team sport.



Rosemary Williams launched Currency of the Heart to inspire readers to “pay it forward” from the heart’s most precious currency. We’d love to hear from you! To share your story or to request permission to republish this blog post, please email rosemarycwilliams@gmail.com. 

© 2013 Rosemary Williams

Philanthropy, Fashion and Fun

_{11-Year-Old Philanthropist 
Lets Her Fingers Do the Fundraising}

_{Philanthropy, fashion and fun intertwined when 11-year-old Emma Geertgens hooked her friends, her grandmother and even her brother into helping crochet hats to raise money for the Burlington County Animal Shelter} www.friendsofbcas.org/

_{When Emma’s family was looking for a family pet, they had visited the Burlington County Animal Shelter in Westhampton,NJ.  Emma was surprised and saddened to see so many animals waiting to be adopted.  The family eventually adopted a big, sad-eyed boxer named Betty, and Emma never forgot the trip. A Currency of the Heart seed was planted during that visit.}

_{Completely engaged in life, Emma is always playing field hockey, roller-skating or biking. At home she is baking, reading, writing poetry, practicing the cello and crocheting.}

_{Emma crocheted a stylish hat that all her friends loved. When she realized how popular the hats were becoming, Emma decided to sell her creations at the local Christmas fair to raise money for the animal shelter.}

_{Instinctively Emma connected the dots. Her love of animals, the popular hats, and her enjoyment of a holiday fair in years past pulled all the pieces of the project together.  A designer, entrepreneur and a philanthropist emerged.}

_{Emma’s  hobby took on a life of its own.  Her hands became a crocheting machine. She walked, talked, and watched TV while crocheting hats. One hat, one flower, finished in one hour. Done. Next.}

_{After enlisting the help of friends and family last November, Emma set up a table at her local holiday fair and offered her hats for sale from inventory and made-to-order in additional colors.}

_{This project captivated Emma’s imagination, delighted customers with a colorful accent to winter fashions, and helped the animal shelter. When all the orders were fulfilled, Emma tallied the results: $421 earned! Last Thursday she presented a check for that amount to Jackie Daniels, manager of the Burlington County Animal Shelter.}

_{No one could have been happier than Emma, except of course, the folks at the shelter. Emma had turned her Currency of the Heart into cold, hard cash to support abandoned animals.} 

Rosemary Williams launched Currency of the Heart to inspire readers to “pay it forward” from the heart’s most precious currency. We’d love to hear from you! To share your story or to request permission to republish this blog post, please email rosemarycwilliams@gmail.com. 

© 2013 Rosemary Williams