Often times helping others can be an exciting new adventure for all involved. I read yesterday about an organization that helps the homeless by having them run. It is called “Back on My Feet.” By helping the homeless become runners, the group is giving each person the chance to feel better mentally and physically. Fast facts from the site:

• Back on My Feet started in Philadelphia in 2007
• Back on My Feet has 11 chapters nationwide
• 46% of Residential Members (those experiencing homelessness) move their lives forward with a job, housing or both

I learned about this group while reading another amazing site: One Day One Job. You can get jobs by email from this site with a new employer featured each day and jobs available from this employer. The site has 2000+ entry level employers. I believe the site is most valuable because it introduces readers to all types of job opportunities they may not have known about before the email. This is a list of all the employers.

1.  From Bob Miglani: “4 Lessons on How to Find the Right Direction in Life”:

1. Stop over-thinking.

So much of our stress and anxiety about the future stems from all the analysis and thinking we do as adults. We ask ourselves all sorts of questions. I recall countless nights lying awake, entertaining ideas and wrestling with my soul. I tried so hard to figure out where I would end up that I often felt defeated before I even began.

2. Try anything. Do something.

When you take action and start doing things, you begin to feel better almost immediately, because instead of thinking about some far off place in your head full of uncertainty, you will be working on something that is really certain: your actions.

3. Follow your inner voice.

I used to feel that if only I knew more, I would be able to make a better decision about the direction I wanted to take in life. But as I dug deeper trying to get more information, the hole got so deep that I found myself buried.

4. Believe in yourself.

When I first started exploring new opportunities to find the right direction in my life, I found myself overwhelmed by the competition. There were so many others just like me trying and doing what I was doing.

2. From Hummingbird (al-anon journal): “Laundry”:

I recently started a writing class that takes me a full hour to get to each week. I know that if I leave an hour and fifteen minutes before class, I can walk in calmly, present in the moment, and enjoy taking time to do something I’ve always wanted to do.  Two weeks ago, I was behind in my work and felt guilty about going to class.  I got caught up in the work and pushed my time window way too close, leaving only 55 minutes before class.  I raced all the way there, stressing, and talking on my cellphone to clients from my car.  Like the writer of today’s passage said, I was trying “to rush to an encounter with serenity”.   As I pulled up to the parking structure, I narrowly missed an elderly pedestrian in the crosswalk and had a brisk awakening.  The man was justifiably surprised and angry, and I had to stop and do a Tenth Step, right there in the driveway.

As I mouthed an apology to the man I nearly killed, Al-Anon slogans ran through my head like a ticker tape.  “Easy Does It.”  “First Things First.”  “Keep it Simple.”  Words that I used to think were trite, bubbling to the surface of my crazy day.  I had to acknowledge the irony.  It’s no mistake that the slogans are simple because, when we need to hear them most, we are so caught up in our own heads that they have to be simple in order to get through.

I know that recovery is not to be found on a racetrack.  I cannot multitask my way into serenity any more than Kelly Ripa can purchase an appliance to deliver it.  The only way I’m going to find serenity is if I practice the principles of Al-Anon in all my affairs.  Old habits die hard with me and I have a stubborn resistance to change.  I know I’m getting closer, though, because at least I’m starting to notice when the laundry basket is on my head.

3.  From paidtoexist.com: “How do I Find My Passion? The Missing “Recovery” Method”:

So, what are the keys to a passion that is both deeply rooted in who you are and deeply founded in service to the world?

Here are a few keys:

• You must not only have a passion for your craft, but an earnest desire to help others. If you can’t get as thrilled about helping others with your gifts as you get about the gift itself, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to attract others to your message.
• There must be a significant need in the world that you can relieve with your gifts, or an intense passion around your gift. Without intensity, urgency and emotion, it’s unlikely that people will care enough to pay for the solution or gift you offer.
• It must have longevity. No craft will ever become profitable unless you can cultivate it for years or decades.
• It must tap into a cause a tribe is fiery about, or something people can rally around. It needs to have the ability to create and foster community.

Photo credit.