I’m totally, gratefully, stealing this for next year’s Gratitude Project: http://childwild.com/2009/11/26/giving-thanks/

For my part, I just moved to the midwest (helped by one of my brothers and his family)to live with my parents. I work full-time but cook meals, help with my Dad’s care, and try to jolly them up. That’s about all the good works I have energy to do right now.

I guess the point I’d like to make is that you can also do good by taking care of your extended family. I see many homeless men walking along I-70 on my way to work and I wonder if their families know where they are and how they’re doing.

Interesting post, has a nice twist to it. Instead of just grazing over why you think it’s something you are thankful for you really need to sit and think about subject. Awesome!

Honestly, I have found that the more things that I’m thankful for the more good things come to me. Just a hint for all those that think the world is against them.

It’s easy to talk and it’s easy to do and yet for many people stop after the talk and never get to to the doing part.

I had a difficult time because I thought the “regular” things–like family and friends–were just too “cheesy” or somehow not “good enough.” It’s not that I don’t appreciate my family and friends–but like you, I was looking for a little more definition in my own mind of what that meant.

On the same token, nobody should have to defend themselves for what they’ve done. We all have our own ways.

Best,

Sam-urai

I’m going through the same situation you are. I don’t have any free income at the moment, but I’ve been helping out at the children’s hospital here in Atlanta once a week for the past year, and it’s been amazing. I tell ya, it’s tough to say “boy I had a bad day” after seeing what these poor kids are going through.

I think your suggestion to tie your site to a charity is fantastic. Although I haven’t made a dime through my site yet, I plan to eventually bring in some income, and I hope to do the same thing by partnering with a cause that I can get behind. I’ve begun research into some charities and organizations that I’d like to help, and beginning in 2010 I’ll start reaching out to them for different opportunities.

Thanks for the inspiration Baker!

-Steve

Of course, this can apply to all aspects of our lives (like finances), but I see the most value when we look outward and form a plan to be more helpful to others. This could be our own family (including or spouse) or it could be an effort to change the world on a large-scale. Either approach is valuable and in line with the “reason for the season”!

As always, we donate to the no-kill shelter from which we got our kitties (yes, I know that no-kill shelters cannot solve the kitty problem, but for some number of kitties it provides a better life than the animal shelter… my general belief that it’s better to help in a small way than to give up on trying to solve a huge problem). We appreciate our kitties.

We value education and will be giving (as per usual) to the scholarship fund at my alma mater. We have also offered to donate to the 529 plans for the children of relatives that have been hit hard by the economic crisis, but haven’t been given the information we need to do that this year (we prefer the parents retain control of the plans rather than us). That has put us in a quandry, especially since the children’s grades always seem to go up after we contribute.

In this economic climate, we value a full stomach. We’ve been soft touches for food banks throughout the year, and will no doubt continue to be so.

As for encouraging other people… listing concrete examples helps, right?

My top 3 things this year were the health & development of my 2-year-old daughter Milligan, the Man Vs. Debt online community, and NOT giving up while traveling so far (despite many opportunities to).

Here’s what I came up with (Courtney did this too for her). Donate time in an orphanage in Thailand (we have a friend who helps do this there), set-up an automation process to give 10% of MvD profits to charity every monthly (Charity: Water probably), and design a way to show affordable giving on a travel project on my blog. The last one would show how far a couple USD can go in a country like Thailand. By sharing it on my blog, I can combined travel with community and giving, etc…

What about you, Nicole?