“It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

Mother Teresa

(image via last.fm)

Here is the audio version of this post. Thanks so much for listening. Enjoy.

This week I celebrate my 47th birthday. For me, birthdays give us an opportunity to reflect on the past year and set intentions for the coming year. I also see birthdays as a way to give back, both to ourselves and others. To close our eyes and make a wish as we blow out our candles.

This year, I have three wishes both for me and for you. These are not wishes of material goods, I have long lost my desire to collect things, but wishes of empowerment, awesomeness and self-love. When I wake up Wednesday morning, I will be setting my intentions for the coming year, and making my three wishes, will you join me?

Wish #1
Do Something Awesome For You
This is the one I want most for you. As givers and healers, you spend countless hours each week helping others look and feel beautiful. It is imperative that you feed your own soul in order to feed others. Just like the lovely flight attendant tell us every single time we get on the airplane, “Put your mask on before assisting others”. Take a day off, get a massage, go to the beach, read a book, watch the entire season of Orange Is The New Black, whatever, just please do something awesome for you this week.

Wish #2
Do Something Awesome For A Teammate
It is so easy for us to get so wrapped up in our own stuff, drama, family, life, whatever, that we many times forget that part of our purpose on this planet is to help each other. There is nothing more beautiful than being helpful, particularly when it’s unexpected. Sweep their hair, clean their bowls, hand them foils, bring them their favorite Starbucks, whatever you can do to help lift the burden of another, do that. When you do this, you will be filling two hearts with joy, not just one.

Wish #3
Do Something Awesome For A Stranger
We have all heard the amazing stories of people helping strangers. You know, paying it forward and stuff. And it’s something we can do every day. All three of these wishes we can do every day. How awesome is that? Whether it’s a smile, opening the door, paying for a meal, a cup of coffee, a pack of smokes, allowing a car to pull in front of you, whatever, the feeling of random acts of kindness is one of the best feelings in the world.

So those are my birthday wishes and I hope you join me this week as we create awesome in our world. I would love to hear about your wishes so please share them with me via email or on Facebook, Twitter, whatever, I will be sharing mine throughout the week as well.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)