WANT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE? YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE!!!

Recently, one of the families who attend our evening parenting classes suffered a tragic loss, when a close family member was killed in a car accident on her way home from work. The victim was a 23-year-old mother of three. Her mother and younger sister, managed to find the strength not only to continue to regularly attend our parenting classes, but they also went out of their way to donate and serve food to the entire class -- a gesture that reinforces that giving is therapeutic.

We assume that those who are suffering are in the most need of receiving help, but is that always the case? People have an innate need to help others. It is the universal spiritual law of Giving and Receiving. Grief is a transformation process. A griever's beliefs about what is normal is uprooted; they are brought to their knees ... the world is different. All of us will experience loss. It can be brought about by a death, divorce, drugs/alcohol dependence or job loss. We don't want to experience loss; we want the world to conform to our version of reality, but alas that is not how life works. We will all go through the experience of loss. How we handle loss is up to us. Thinking of others helps grievers temporarily distance themselves from their own pain and suffering. Givers feel the joy that the receiver of the gift feels because joy is contagious.

According to researcher Allan Luks, helping others contributes to measurable health benefits such as:
 

• Diminishing the effects of diseases and disorders--specifically, lowering blood pressure, stomach acid and cholesterol count
   
• Helping to reduce stress, chronic pain and insomnia
   
• Increasing sense of self-worth, greater happiness and an optimistic outlook 
   
• Reducing chronic hostility, feelings of helplessness and depression
  
  So if you want to change the world or improve your own health, start with giving and participating. This Fall, Informed Families is giving you two unique opportunities to give back: the Rally for Recovery and the Red Ribbon Miles of Quarters.
  
  For more information about our parenting classes, volunteer opportunities and other ways to give, call us at (305) 856-4886 or visit us online at www.informedfamilies.org.
  
  
  Hope to see you there,
  Peggy