Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Smile Newsletter: In The Middle of Nowhere

Jan 8, 2012 “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.” — Anais Nin “While walking back from a wonderful day’s outing to our local park and library, my two grandgirls and I found a wallet laying on the ground beside the trunk of a tree on a residential street. At first I just thought it must belong to a child in the neighborhood, but once I opened it up I realized that someone was missing their driver’s license and other important items. At first I was not quite sure what to do, but then decided to open the wallet and look for a way of getting ahold of the owner of the wallet. Luckily for her she carried business cards with the phone number. I called her, she called me back and we were able to return her wallet to her within 5 minutes of finding it. This certainly is not a ‘new’ story but became a very special time spent with my grandchildren – 7 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old. Their faces just beamed when they were able to return the wallet and see how grateful the person was. This act of kindness will stay with them for a lifetime.” — yogagini [ share your story >> ] You can also contribute comments on each story! Love and Inspiration from Japan >> An Opportunity to Give >> In The Middle of Nowhere >> More Stories >> “What motivates me to be kind is remembering we are all connected. A smile I give to someone on the street might be the only one that person gets today. I can’t do much, but I can at least do that…” — joanned23 What is a “smile card”? It’s a game of kindness — do something nice for someone and leave a card behind asking them to pay it forward. To date, 995,456 cards have been shipped without any charge. The ‘Smiles’ newsletter is emailed to 86,759 subscribers with the intent of spreading more smiles in the world. You can unsubscribe anytime. get smile cards | donate | write to us

Benefits of Rising Early — and How to Do It

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. — Paul Valery

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Tip of the Day:
“Recently, reader Rob asked me about my habit of waking at 4:30 a.m. each day, and asked me to write about the health benefits of rising early, which I thought was an excellent question. Unfortunately, there are none, that I know of. However, there are a ton of other great benefits. Now, let me first say that if you are a night owl, and that works for you, I think that’s great. There’s no reason to change, especially if you’re happy with it. But for me, switching from being a night owl to an early riser (and yes, it is possible) has been a godsend. It has helped me in so many ways that I’d never go back.” Leo Babauta of Zen Habits shares just a few reasons for becoming an early riser, as well as tips on making the shift.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A2590:C3009629A010612C24C3235375AC8204B4B847859706E37D&

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Be The Change:
If you aren’t an early riser already, try experimenting with some of Babauta’s suggestions.

**Share A Reflection**
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