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Help Sandra

0001 1 202x300 Help Sandra At first I was not sure if I should share this with you. But ever since I got a phone call from a friend I cannot stop thinking about a girl who I have met a few times.

Her name is Sandra and she is 22 years old (03.08.1988). I know that she is a very compassionate, optimistic and open-minded girl. She likes to sing, draw, enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes. This year she was supposed to graduate from Daugavpils University (in Latvia) as an art teacher. To help out her family financially and pay for her studies, Sandra studied during the day and worked as a waitress at night and on the weekends. She had very little free time and very little rest, although, she kept telling her parents that “It’s ok and I will graduate soon and then things will be different.”

Unfortunately, this is not a typical Christmas happy-ending, motivational story…

On the 2nd of November Sandra’s co-workers heard the sound of dishes breaking in the kitchen. They found Sandra lying on the floor, unconscious. Sandra was hospitalized in Riga (my home town), where she was diagnosed with a cerebral ischemic stroke.

Right now she is in the Hospital of Kraslava in a coma and her life depends on a life support machine, because she cannot breathe by herself. Both Sandra’s parents work as hard as they can, but their salary can hardly cover regular bills, let alone hospital treatment and rehabilitation.

The family’s life savings are quickly running out and if nothing gets done, soon the girl will have to be disconnected from her life support machine and will die. The saddest thing is that in the past month after a short course of rehabilitation that was given to her, Sandra started to show noticeable health improvements (weak reaction to outside stimuli and finger movements). The doctors are sure that after a 3 to 6-month medical treatment course and rehabilitation Sandra will be able to return to normal life.

Unfortunately, Sandra’s family can hardly afford to pay for her stay in the hospital, not to mention the necessary, but costly medical treatment. Desperate, they are looking for any possibility to save their only daughter’s life.

I know that every single person at least once in their life wanted to help a real person, not just donate money to “the poor” or “the starving”.

Today, if you have the possibility, I ask you to click here and make a donation to save the life of one young girl, who deserves a chance to live and make her dreams come true.

Sandra’s treatment costs $65 a day – $ 11.960 for 6 months. This is the amount of money that 10 people spend a day on a cocktail or a movie ticket. The same amount of money that can make a difference between life and death.

Almost daily I pray to have an opportunity to help other people and make a difference in someone else’s life. This is my opportunity… and if you are reading these words it could be your opportunity as well.

I personally guarantee that all the money to the last penny that you donate for Sandra’s treatment will be transferred to her parents. I will provide account screen shots and regular updates on Sandra’s health progress.

Sandra’s story is not a typical inspirational Christmas happy-ending story, but it can turn into one!

Click here to help one real girl:

Please help to spread a word and share this post with your friends and family!

UPDATE 20-12-2010: Sandra can swallow now! That means that she is even able to eat some food by herself. Doctors are saying she’s showing a remarkable progress.

UPDATE 24-12-2010: We raised $1404 so far and that’s an amazing start! Thank you so much!

UPDATE 12-12-2011: Sandra is almost fully recovered! She regained her motor skills, language ability and is already making plans about continuing her studies. $1723 were raised! All of the money went towards paying for Sandra’s medical bills and a 4-week rehabilitation course.

Thank you to everyone who made this miracle possible!

Tags: Sandra
Posted in Sandra | 23 Comments »

Spontaneous Acts of Kindness That Transform Us

Do you remember a time when you helped another person for absolutely no reason? Or a time when a total stranger did something nice for you? How did it feel? Great? Odd? Wonderful?

Usually it is easy to be kind and compassionate towards people that you like. You are nice to them and they are nice back to you. Most of us exchange this type of kindness every single day, when we ask a friend how their family members are doing, when we offer to help a co-worker with their project, when we make a donation to our church.

This is not the kindness I am talking about. I mean real spontaneous kindness towards people that you might not even like.

Yesterday I was taking a stroll in the old city center. A tall nicely dressed man in his forties was walking in front of me. What got my attention was not the man, but the huge box of hand-made Belgian chocolates that he was carrying in his hand. A friend had once brought me a smaller box of these chocolates from Luxemburg and they were absolutely delicious. But unfortunately, I could not find them in the local grocery stores. I was just wondering, where he had bought them, when my “voracious” thoughts were distracted by screams and swearing coming from an old woman, sitting on the steps of the church.

Her clothes were dirty and her face was red from fury and probably years of drinking. She had a small plate with a few coins in it that she managed to collect that morning. People walking by were glancing and turning their faces, looking embarrassed, disapproving and even disgusted.

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Tags: changing the world, compassion and kindness, importance of helping others, positive life change, spiritual transformation, spontaneous acts of kindness
Posted in Give!, Success and Happiness | 19 Comments »

How ‘Consumer Mentality’ Deprives You From Being Successful and Happy

About three weeks ago I watched an interview with a very successful real estate marketer. He mentioned that people have two different types of mentalities: consumer mentality and creator mentality.

People with consumer mentality are focused on extracting value. It is sort of “What’s in it for me?” way of thinking. People with creator mentality are focused on creating value. They think about what they can do to help others and how they can create value for other people and for themselves.

What does mentality have to do with financial success? Everything! Until you are focused on extracting value, your chances of earning a lot of money are very slim. And even if you earn it, you will still not be able to enjoy it.

I know that it sounds a little disappointing. After all, the fastest and easiest way to get rich most of us can think about is to win the lottery and not to provide value for others first and to receive a reward for it later. Maybe that is why the gambling industry is thriving even during times of recession. Interestingly enough, though, research shows that 97% of people who have won over one million dollars on the lottery after 5 years end up even more broke and unhappy than the day before they won.

We have all heard the phrase from the Bible (Luke 6:38) “Give and it will be given to you”, but how many of us take it close to heart and live by it? We all try to do our best, but in general it is counter-intuitive for us to focus on someone else’s needs, problems and desires. According to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs we cannot pursue higher order needs, like affiliation and relationships until our own needs for physical and emotional well-being are satisfied.

Although, after our basic survival and safety needs are met it is natural for us to aim higher and concentrate our energy on improving our relationships, seeking personal growth and achieving higher career status.

But again, our Hierarchy of Needs is centered on our own desires, not the desires of others. We do not wake up in the morning thinking, “I have a strong need to help my neighbor mow his lawn!” or “I can’t wait to donate $200 to charity! ”

If we want to be wealthy, we dream about winning the lottery or becoming a movie star, but only a few of us actually ask ourselves, “How do I give people information that costs $100 and ask them to pay only $10 for it?”

Even as I write this sentence, a little voice in the back of my mind keeps saying, “why would you give away information that costs 100 bucks for a tenth of the price?!”

It is very hard to make that mind shift from consumer to creator mentality, but it is necessary if you want to be successful financially and personally.

Imagine having a full glass of water and taking a little sip out of it every day. If you no one refills it, after some time you will find yourself thirsty, but your glass will be empty. There should always be a healthy balance between how much you take and how much you give, and I am not just talking about money. This Energy Exchange Law is Universal. For example, any relationship that starts wonderfully is doomed if one of the partners feels that they are giving a lot and receiving very little in return. The single biggest reason behind 99% of all fights is that our expectations have not been met. Sometimes we are so busy concentrating on what another person should do or has not done for us that we completely forget to pay attention to their needs and to the fact that they, too, want to feel appreciated and loved.

And even though is it not easy to make that switch from “What I want to get” to “What I can give” way of thinking it is well-worth trying, because until you concentrate on extracting value there will be no miraculous changes in your life or in life in general.

consume 300x198 How ‘Consumer Mentality’ Deprives You From Being Successful and Happy About three weeks ago I watched an interview with a very successful real estate marketer. He mentioned that people have two different types of mentalities: consumer mentality and creator mentality.