Host a Drop In & Decorate event. Bake, decorate and donate cookies to a shelter, food pantry or nonprofit agency that helps people in your community.
The non-profit bake-decorate-and-donate-cookies program was started in 2002 by Lydia Walshin, a Rhode Island food writer I met at a BlogHer conference a few years ago.
Drop In & Decorate will donate its 10,000th cookie sometime, somewhere in the US or Canada in the next few months.This year Lydia is hoping to have Drop In & Decorate events in all 50 states, throughout Canada, and beyond. Here's more information if you're interested in hosting a cookie decorating and donating event, as well as a few recipes you can use.
Believe me, it's a fun way to make good memories, and do good things for others, as well.
Just imagine the smiles on the faces of children who each receive the gift of a beautiful cookie you made...
The hard work involved in a project, team, or season builds up to a peak. And at times during the climb, it seems as if the challenge will never end.
Then, one day...suddenly...it's done.
The sun sets - actually or metaphorically - and you're on to the next big project, goal or adventure.
You don't leave everything behind as one phase ends.
You take with you friends, skills and memories that last for many days yet ahead.
Need a bit of a break?
Find a way to add a laugh to your day...even if it's just a moment away.
Here's what a few others have to say about the value of laughter:
It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.
Wayne DyerThe future isn't tomorrow.
It starts today...with your next step.
On that note, here's what a few others have to say:
Luck is the residue of design.
Branch RickeyFor the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.
Aristotle
Real generosity to the future consists in giving all to what is present.
Albert Camus
It is not enough to be industrious. What are you industrious about?
Sir Walter Scott
Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths.
Goethe
Our son had his last cross country meet the other day. It wasn't just the last cross country meet of the year, but the last one of his 8-year cross country career, after his sister had completed her long cross country career, as well.
So it was a different day on this rigorous Bay Area course for our son and for us, too.
My husband started to head down to the team tent. It was more for him than for our son...that much I knew.
Seeing no signs of other parents traipsing about the area, I advised him, vigorously, to leave our son and his team alone. Give them some pre-race space, was my overwhelming thought.
"There's a very fine line between 'hovering' and 'being supportive'!" I teased my husband.
As a parent, it's sometimes hard to know where that fine line is.
You try your best.
Sometimes you get it right, like your own parents did. Other times, you get it wrong - like your parents did, too.
I teasingly asked our son's coach and homeroom teacher the question, "What's the difference between 'hovering' and 'being supportive'?"He laughed. I'm sure he's had that thought before, himself.
Managers, as well, have to find the fine balance between hovering, or micro-managing, and being supportive.
There's another element you learn to manage well, too.
That's being able to understand if you're delegating too much, or expecting too much, too soon. When you get it wrong, you usually find that the foundation of appropriate understanding and skills was not well-established or reinforced.
It's all part of trying to get oversight right, and it takes planning, experimentation and experience.
Finishing a challenging ride, literally or metaphorically speaking?
And now, you're coming in to shore?
You might be surprised when you look back how much you enjoyed the challenge, and finding out what you could actually do when put to a rigorous test.
And when you're there, enjoy the victory and rest of shore time, as well.
For soon, it's back into the water to test yourself again...
A few ideas here to stir up up other ones as we enter the last two months of 2009 (and they will, of course, fly by):
Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst.
William Penn
Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.
Confucius
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo DaVinci
It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.
Lucille Ball
Take the time to come home to yourself every day.
Robin Casarjean
Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen carefully.
Littlefoot's mother, Land Before Time
Learn to cultivate your own garden.
Voltaire
Big changes underway? Big milestones just ahead?
Good results coming in, in spite of challenges you had to pass?
Don't forget to include celebrations in your plans.
Here are a few thoughts about including celebrations as you move ahead:
Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Tom Peters
People often resist change for reasons that make good sense to them, even if those reasons don't correspond to organizational goals. So it is crucial to recognize, reward and celebrate accomplishments.
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Never celebrate until you are really out of the woods. They might be behind the last tree.
Unknown
I will celebrate, but I know new goals and objectives will come and I am ready to take them.
Ronaldo
