Inspired By! The Desire to Inspire Force of Good Awards: MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE

Who Inspires YOU? Leave a Comment • Win a Book!

Do you know someone who passionately uses their unique gifts to be of service to others in their community—someone who MAKES A DIFFERENCE? Nominate him or her below in the comments section for a chance to win an ORIGINAL PIECE OF ART FOR THAT PERSON and a FREE copy of Desire to Inspire! Leave a comment below for your own chance to win a book!

Photo by Kate Swoboda

We’re now at the midway point in Inspired By! The Desire to Inspire Force-of-Good Awards and we have two weeks to go. You can read more about the series and our first spotlit focus—the DREAM BIG Award—here, and you can also read more about the second award we featured—the MOUNTAIN CLIMBER Award—right here.

We truly appreciate all of you who have shared your comments with us so far, nominating the good people who inspire you to step big into your dreams and overcome life’s obstacles. We promised each week we’d give away one copy of Christine Mason Miller’s book, Desire to Inspire to one randomly-chosen winner, and so . . . for the second copy to give away—from last week’s comments— the winner is. . . Darlene K Campbell—congratulations! We’ll be in touch with you soon!

The MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE Award was inspired by chapter nine in Desire to Inspire, “The World Outside Ourselves: What It Means to Be of Service to Others.”

Photo of Christine Mason Miller (left) by Kindra Clineff

Acts of service come in all shapes and sizes and this chapter explores the importance of both. A key point that’s made in the book is that it’s every bit as important to serve ourselves with love as it is for us to give of ourselves to others. You see, when we ourselves are happy, excited, fulfilled and in good health, our ability to pass our gifts on to others increases dramatically and therefore so does the value of our contribution. The second point Christine and several of the other contributors make in this chapter is that when we stay true to our core values (there are exercises in the book that can help you pinpoint these), our contributions flow more easily and are of more benefit as well. The way Mindy Tsonas puts it is: “By being brave with your life and striving to always honor your values, you manifest strength and meaning that ultimately enriches the lives of others.” We each have unique gifts to offer and when we can match what excites us with what those around us need, then we are truly living with purpose.

Photo by Jamie Ridler

So is there a difference between being a Force of Good and being of service? Christine explains it this way: “If being a Force of Good is about discovering the light within and letting it shine in as many directions as possible, then being of service to others is about directing that unique light where it is most needed.”

I love the way Jennifer Lee explains how we can go about finding exactly where it is that we’re needed: “Being in service first starts with deep listening. What are you and your community yearning for? When what the world needs aligns with what truly lights you up, then you’ve found your ‘Be in Service’ sweet spot.”

Photo of Jennifer Lee (left) by Kristen Morse

The final thing I’ll mention about this chapter is an exercise called The Giving Jar, created by Mindy Tsonas. If you are still unsure what it is you are meant to contribute to the greater good, or you need some fresh inspiration, her lovely exercise will provide what you need. Check it out when you get your own copy of the book!

Leave a comment here, telling us all about the person you’d like to nominate for the MAKE-A-DIFFERENCE Award (or one of the three other awards). If you write a post about your nomination on your own blog, you can include a link for that as well. On March 15, 2012, our Force-of-Good Panel will reveal the four Inspired By! winners, and if your nominee is chosen, they’ll receive a signed copy of Desire to Inspire, along with an original collage creation by Christine Mason Miller. But that’s not all; just by leaving a comment that nominates someone, you’ll be eligible each week for a randomly selected winner of a copy of the book! So tell us who you are inspired by!


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