Good Monkeys

Stories, Please!

I need your help.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to share stories about good people in the world. I've started by featuring good non-profit groups but I'd like to expand, if you can help me.

Let's collect some stories together.

Currently, I don't have time to interview each organization and get stories about the people and animals they have helped. Some websites have success stories, but many don't have the resources to post them.

If you know someone who has been touched by one of these groups, can you ask them to write a comment on the post and tell their story? Just send them a link to the site (you can get a link to a particular post by clicking "permalink" that is at the end of each one) and ask them to share.

If you are involved in one of these organizations, would be post a comment and share your story? You can tell us how it feels to volunteer, a story about a special someone you've helped, anything so that we can get to know more about the organization.

I've been getting lovely emails from the groups on the blog but it would be so nice for others to join in te pleasure.

There is so much power in a good story. Please share yours. You may never know who you inspire to change the world.

And don't forget to subscribe so you know what new group is featured each day. It will save you having to remember to run back to the blog and check. If you're anything like me, having to remember something is a hit or miss affair.

Thanks again for all the wonderful things you do to make the world a little better place.

It Is Never Too Late For Thanksgiving

A few days before Thanksgiving, my dear friend, Doug, sent me a article that touched me so much, I'd like to share it with you. This article was written by a gentleman named Alan Cohen. I've never met Alan and honestly, until I read this, I'd never even heard of him.

Since then, I've checked out his work and am confident in what he does to include a link to his company in the "Featured Links" section. After reading this, I think you'll know why.

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING
by Alan Cohen

The story is told about a woman Zen Master named Sono who taught one very
simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came
to her to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all
conditions. The affirmation was, "Thank you for everything. I have no
complaint whatsoever."

Many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some were in
physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial
troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress
or what question they asked her, her response was the same: "Thank you for
everything. I have no complaint whatsoever."

Some people went away disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue
with her. Yet some people took her suggestion to heart and began to practice
it. Tradition tells that everyone who practiced Sono's mantra found peace
and healing.

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever. My friend Lisa, an
attractive woman in her late 30's, came to one of my seminars after I had
not seen her for a number of years.

She informed the group that a year earlier she had been diagnosed with a
brain disorder that required immediate surgery. The surgery was
done, a steel plate was inserted in her head, and her doctor keeps her under
close observation. Lisa reported that now she lives from day to day.

Privately I told Lisa that I was sorry she had gone through this whole
ordeal. "Oh, don't be sorry," she told me emphatically. "I'm not sorry at
all. This was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It really
got me to appreciate my life and relationships.

I married a wonderful guy and we are thinking about having children. I
wouldn't trade the experience if I could."

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you simply dropped your
complaints? It's a radical proposal, since most of us have been trained to
question, analyze, and criticize everything we see. But then we end up
questioning, analyzing, and criticizing ourselves.

Then we miss out on joy, the only true measure of success.

The ecstatic mystic poet Hafiz proclaimed, "All a sane man can ever think
about is giving love."

One evening I received a phone call from my friend Cliff, a Jewish guy from
Brooklyn who discovered A Course in Miracles and became a world-class love
exuder. Cliff just went around finding good and beauty in everyone he met.
On the phone, Cliff told me, "I just called to tell you how much I love and
appreciate you."

"Well, thank you Cliff," I answered, delighted. "I really appreciate
that . . . What prompted you to call me at this moment?"

"My knee was hurting me, and I knew that the only way I could feel better
would be to give more love. So I began to think of the people in my life who
I care about, and you came to mind."

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, many of us will be getting
together with our families. Perhaps family issues may come to the fore and
we might be tempted to fall into a pattern of rehashing old resentments and
arguments.

Wouldn't it be fabulous if, as we sat with our relatives, we held in mind,
"Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever." Imagine what
this Thanksgiving would be like if we decided that no matter how much Mom
complained about Dad; how much Dad bugged us about getting a real job; or
how unspiritual our ex is, we chose to be an unstoppable appreciation
machine and found the good in our loved ones.

Indeed this would be a triumphant Thanksgiving to remember!

Yes, I know, there is a voice inside you objecting, "But if I did not
complain, people would walk all over me and selfish opportunists
would genetically manipulate my food and terrorists would keep crashing
airplanes into buildings and . . . and. . . Got it. Now if
you went to Sono, her response would be, "Thank you for everything.
I have no complaint whatsoever." I am simply suggesting that we practice the
mantra for an entire Thanksgiving day. And then maybe
one day a week. Then we might start to feel so good and our lives will
become so effective that we want to turn every day into Thanksgiving.

In my book Handle with Prayer I state that the highest form of prayer is
gratitude. Instead of asking God for stuff, start thanking God for stuff,
and you will find that God has already given you everything you could want
or need, including the adventure of discovering more riches every day. Life
is a big treasure hunt.

Eventually we grow weary of seeking treasures outside ourselves, and we
begin to look within. There we discover that the gold we sought, we already
are. The beauty we overlooked because we were focusing on what was missing,
still lives and awaits us like an anxious lover.

As T.S. Eliot nobly noted, The end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the place for the first time.

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever. Have a great
Thanksgiving.

I know it's well past the actual holiday this year, but in your heart is it ever too late for Thanksgiving?

A Wake Up Call From The Universe

This happened to me last May but Lynn's story yesterday reminded me of it: It was originally posted on my  business blog:

I just got the most amazing wake up call from the Universe.

As I was driving to work today in my beautiful BMW convertible with the top down, I was in a yucky mood. I was mentally bemoaning the fact that there were so many things in life that I wanted that just hadn't shown up yet.

Where were the millions of dollars I'd been manifesting? Why weren't the relationships I wanted to change changing? Why was I so tired? Why did I have so many appointments today that I couldn't work on the projects I was interested in?

On and on my mind listed out the the things I wasn't happy about. A little voice in the back of my head was reminding me to have an attitude of gratitude but the complaining voice was telling it to shut up.

About a block from my office I looked ahead to our front door to see if anyone else was at work yet. I noticed a large dark mass on our front porch. Thinking it was a package, I pulled into the parking lot.

Suddenly, the package moved.

It turned out to be a 20-ish woman huddled on the stoop. She had on a parka and hat despite the fact that it was almost 70 degrees out. As soon as she saw me pull up, she sighed, grabbed her few grubby gym bags and began walking towards the street.

I sat in my car for a moment, stunned. There but for the grace of God went I. Grabbing my wallet (which ironically was in my lap because I'd just gone to the bank to deposit a check to cover my tax bills), I chased after her.

She walked more quickly, thinking, I suppose, that I was going to yell at her for being on my porch. As I caught up to her I said, "Let me buy you breakfast." She turned, saw the money in my hand and stopped. My unknowing inspiration accepted the cash, then turned and continued her way resignedly down the street.

I walked back to my car, retrieved my briefcase from my trunk and headed for the front door. When I got to the first step I looked down and burst into tears. Lying on the step was a penny. I bent to pick up the coin, tears running down my cheeks. As my fingers touched it, I could feel the warmth from the woman's body still in the metal.

I had been thinking of poverty and the Universe put the embodiment of it on my doorstep. And left behind a permanent reminder.

How perfect. A penny. The smallest amount of money in our currency system. A coin that will last for years. A reminder that no matter what, I always have some money because I will never let that penny out out of my possession. What an amazing sign from the Universe to remind me of all that I have, all that I have become and all that is important to me in the world.

I got a rare glimpse in the mirror to see clearly reflected just how blessed and whole my life is.

Thirty minutes later I'm still crying out of gratitude. Take a minute today to make even a short list of the wonderful things you have in your life. I guarantee it will change the way you approach the rest of the day.

The Coffee Angel

I recently got back from a trip to Toronto, where I read a wonderful story in the Globe and Mail.

It seems there is a very generous woman, who wishes to be remain anonymous, and she has started a trend called "paying it backwards."

Every morning for the past three years, she visits a Toronto-area Tim Horton's (she varies her location) and buys a cup of coffee (a large double-double with milk, if you're interested). While she's paying for it, she also pays for the order of the person behind her in line.

No matter what they order.

Even if they are buying breakfast for the whole office, she pays their bill.

The local Tim Horton's employees have dubbed her "the coffee angel."

What got this unlikely hero started was a desire to turn her own life around. She had recently been through a nasty divorce and was raising her two young sons on her own. One day day at work was particularly bad so she went out for a cup of coffee.

She was sitting at the drive-thru window paying for her own coffee, when she saw the total for the person behind her come up on the screen.

She said is was like a big, red neon sign in front of her said, "You're supposed to buy that person's coffee."

Since then, all of her friends across Canada have begun doing the same thing in their towns. Her retired mother even went so far as to get a job at her local Whitby, Ontario, Tim Horton's where she insists on working the drive-thru. Every hour she pays for an order for one lucky driver and tells them an anonymous angel did it.

The trend has spread beyond friends and family and often sparks gifts as far back as five cars from the "coffee angel" as recipients spread their good fortune to others.

Says the woman who started the  "pay it backwards" trend, I just wanted "To see how good it feels to do something nice for someone else."

It seems there are lots of others across Canada who want that feeling as well. Maybe we can now spread this feeling little bit farther, like around the world.

Are you ready to be a coffee angel too?