When I was trying to come up with a subject for my guest post for Jeff I started thinking about the title of his site, “My Super-Charged Life”. I don’t know what Jeff means by that in relation to his life but I started thinking about what it means in mine.

The best part of my super-charged life is what I can share with others. I believe very strongly in giving. I believe the only way we can really get along in this world is to bring others with us.

How I have chosen to give

I choose to give in many different ways. I give of my time by volunteering at several local community organizations and by being willing to answer the call of others, when needed.

I give of my resources by making financial contributions to several national and global organizations in whose mission I believe.

I donate certain of my possessions for raffles and directly to our local domestic abuse shelter.

I also give of myself by being open and willing to listen to various people in my community who just seem to need a friendly ear. I admit the last is usually the toughest for me!

I know this will be controversial, but I also give to the occasional begging person I come across. Let me quickly say that I don’t come across people like that too often in my small rural community so I certainly can’t relate to issues regarding hoards of homeless people on the lookout for me as I make my way around town. That is not the reality of the situation in which I live.

When I’m in a bigger city, though, I do occasionally come in contact with people who seem down on their luck. I’m not naïve and I do understand that some of the individual people to whom I give may not actually be in need.

Why I give

I give because I see a person who appears to be hurting and to whom I’m blessed enough to be able to give a few dollars without endangering my own well-being and so I do. If that person goes along to the liquor store, oh well. It’s the giving that counts, not what the receiver makes of the gift.

The most important thing is not what you give but that you give. You don’t have to follow my or anyone else’s lead. Nor should you allow others to influence to whom you give.

I’ve read a lot of comments on various Internet boards and in response to articles on charity that highlight the controversy surrounding the issue of giving. I’m always surprised when I come across the heated nature of some of the debates.

The choices we make in giving

There are people out there who adamantly refuse to give to any organizations other than those which support animal causes. There are an equal number of people out there who decry any gift to animals, and wonder how anyone can support an animal shelter when so many children are starving.

There are people who only donate to local causes and people who only donate to global organizations. I believe very strongly in the ripple effect of every deed, good and bad, that we do. We don’t know where the donation we make to someone starving in Myanmar is going to lead.

We don’t know if the surly checkout girl at the grocery store, to whom we found something nice to say, will, as a result, be in a better mood and go out and do something wonderful.

The impact of giving

The more good deeds that are let loose in our global environment, the better the world in which we all live. Don’t know where to start? If you are open and willing, opportunities to help will find you!

I’m Mary from Simply Forties, a 47-year old single mother of a college-aged son. I write about the topics that interest me most as I make my way through my forties – finances, the environment, social responsibility and, sometimes, relationships and dealing with grown children. I hope you’ll stop by my blog and look around. You can also find me every other Thursday over at 5 Minutes for Going Green.

Photo by fabbio

When she first asked me to come to a yoga class with her, I couldn’t help but tell my girl she was nuts. After all, I’m a guy, and guys don’t do yoga. Girls do yoga.

Upon hearing this lame excuse, my girl promptly put me in my place with a simple bet: “If yoga is only meant for girls then I dare you to attend a full two hour class without breaking a sweat.”

Let the Games Begin

My first mistake was to assume that yoga was nothing more than glorified stretching.

This assumption was shattered when I walked into the classroom only to find the yoga instructor balancing her entire body on just her head and forearms. I stood there for a moment staring and wondering to myself how this move was performed; it seemed to require more strength than the instructor was capable of putting forth.

Before I had the opportunity to ask my instructor how this move was performed, she ran to the back of class, turned down the lights, turned up the sitar music, ran back to the front of class, laid down her yoga mat, sat on her yoga mat with crossed legs, and softly began to chant OM.

After chanting OM three times, the instructor led the class through a ten minute long deep-breathing exercise. It was towards the end of this seemingly simple and relaxing routine that I first broke a sweat. This was clearly not a good sign of things to come.

After finishing the breathing exercises, the instructor informed the class that the main workout would consist of over an hour of flowing yoga poses. This progressive movement from one pose to another pose is known as Vinyasa. Vinyasa is hard. So hard in fact that I discovered muscles I never knew I had.

About a half-hour into the alternating bending and twisting poses that are Vinyasa, I began to regret my decision to come to class. Not since my days running miles for the high school cross country team had I found myself so aerobically challenged.

Humbled

It’s been three years since my first experience with yoga and I can honestly say I still remain fascinated by how great of a workout you can get within the confines of a six-foot long yoga mat.

In addition to providing an amazing cardio routine, the alternating stretching positions emphasized by yoga greatly improve your flexibility. It is this improved flexibility that makes yoga a perfect complement to strength routines, such as weight lifting, that tighten your muscles.

As you delve deeper into the multitude of poses that yoga offers, you will eventually come to a point where you feel you know how to counteract any and every muscle tightness you have, no matter the location.

When you reach that point you will know that a body at peace is a mind at peace, and you will most definitely thank whoever convinced you to try yoga for the first time.

Andrew writes at babled. Babeling is the art of participating in intelligent discourse, self-serving humor, ironic assumption, and biased beliefs.

Photo by nickolette22

A useful technique to keep mindful and committed to your resolutions

I ran across this idea on Chris Brogan’s site. He suggests choosing one word that embodies the intention of your goal. If you set three goals or resolutions, then you would have three words, one for each. Here’s how Chris describes it:

If you want to try the process, it works something like this: think of how you want to be successful in 2009. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on.
~ Chris Brogan

I really like this technique! As the year progresses, you just focus on your three or so words. I think this will help me remember my resolutions and remain mindful of them.

Also, because the words are broad, they are flexible. As the year progresses, the words can bend and mold to circumstances better than something more specific. This way my original intention doesn’t get lost just because my first idea doesn’t work out.

The three words that embody my goals for 2009

I’m going to stick to using just three words. Three is enough, but not too many. I think I can remember and keep mindful of three. Here are my three words for 2009:

Experiment. Brand. Live.

Let me explain a little what my words mean:

1. Experiment – 2009 is going to be a year of trying new things for me. I like the word experiment because it implies that failure is an option. Experimentation by definition is about testing hypotheses. I want to give myself permission to explore.

I’ve already started experimenting by buying a used MacBook. I intend to continue my experimentation with various uses for video, social media and maybe some programming. Who knows where this word might lead me?!?

2. Brand – I’ve been reading some about establishing a brand. I came up with the idea for starting MySuperChargedLife.com sitting under a tree. It was like a coconut fell and hit me on the head. I didn’t know a thing about blogging, but I was eager to begin.

I’ve learned a lot in the past year, but I still have a ways to go. I don’t think that I’ve done justice to creating and evangelizing the brand I want. Therefore, I’ve chosen this word to help me stay mindful of my brand.

This word also has value with things happening in my full-time employment, so it has implications for me that reach far beyond this site.

3. Live – This word is rich for me in so many ways. It will keep me mindful of my obligation to live out the things I write about. There is nothing worse than a hypocrite!

In addition, I’m going to use it to remind me of my commitment to improve my fitness and health. People live longer nowadays and I want to be sure that my quality of life doesn’t deteriorate as I grow older. I plan to make a real effort in this realm throughout the year.

What are you focusing on in 2009?

I recently posed this question on Twitter, “Do you design your life or do you simply let the chips fall where they may?” What’s your answer? All you have to do is choose three words to define a plan for where you want to be a year from now. Aren’t you worth it?

For more ideas and examples of how to use this technique, please read Chris Brogan’s article that inspired me to write this.

What are your three words?

Photo by vana_gwen