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Inspiring Giving In A Digital World

Phew! I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit exhausted and I didn’t even move an inch.

The tradition of Black Friday retail sales following American Thanksgiving has morphed to now include Cyber Monday for online sales and then Giving Tuesday for charitable giving and volunteerism.

Was your email inbox filling up last week with messages from every retail outlet you’ve ever purchased from, any cause you’ve followed on social media or charity that you’ve donated to? Mine sure was. It was a bit mentally taxing, seeing all of that information coming at me for a few days in a row!

When it comes to Giving Tuesday, results in Canada are still being tabulated, but American figures published by Money Magazine indicated close to $2 Billion in donations were made on-and off-line on Tuesday, Dec 3.

That’s amazing, isn’t it? Even in tough times and amid tons of messages vying for their attention, people give. And they give a lot!

Time will tell whether Giving Tuesday will continue to hold its own… or grow over time.

Or whether good old-fashioned person to person, face to face fundraising will still make the biggest, most consistent difference for charities that rely on donations to enhance and expand their impact. (I have a lot of faith in the latter, especially here at Bethany.)

Ultimately, donors want to feel connected to the causes they care about and they want to know that they’re making a difference. That’s hard to do in the rapid-fire pace and ‘choice overwhelm’ of today’s digital world, especially from Black Friday through Giving Tuesday each year.

Ultimately, here at the Foundation, we need to do both — have a presence for our cause in the digital world but grow real ‘3-dimensional’ relationships with the people who care about Bethany and are willing to show their belief in us by donating.

So, thanks for liking and sharing Bethany’s Giving Tuesday online messages last week and, as always, for helping us build real and lasting connections with the people in our communities that care about the work you do.Have a great week!
— Gail

Happy December!

It Takes Grit!

It is interesting how certain words catch your attention. I have heard the word “grit” used recently; often in reference to managing change and challenges. The word resonated with me and so I decided to do some research on it.

I discovered a book on the topic written by author, Andrea Lee Duckworth. Duckworth defines grit as, “passion and sustained persistence applied toward long-term achievement, with no particular concern for rewards or recognition along the way. It combines resilience, ambition, and self-control in the pursuit of goals that take months, years, or even decades”.

In order to build our individual and collective grit, we need to keep our eyes on our long-term goals. At Bethany, our Mission, Vision and Values provide this guidance with the support of our strategic plan. We will soon be launching our new strategic plan, Focus 2025: Building on our Vision which will guide organizational achievement of clearly defined goals over the next five years.

“Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.” – Andrea Lee Duckworth

In my experience, our work at Bethany is very much like a marathon. It requires passion, resilience and persistence to achieve our goals for the benefit of our residents, families and tenants — now and in the future. Simply put, it takes grit!

If you are interested in learning more about your personal level of grit, you can take Andrea Duckworth’s quiz on her website: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/If you have any feedback, questions or ideas you would like to share, I welcome you to send them to me at: dana.penner@bethanyseniors.com

Regards,
— Dana

Expressing thanks may be one of the simplest ways to feel better

Did you know that the word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness? Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives, and people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside themselves. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.

In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity and build strong relationships.

People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways. They can apply it to the past (retrieving positive memories and being thankful for elements of childhood or past blessings), the present (not taking good fortune for granted as it comes) and the future (maintaining a hopeful and optimistic attitude). Gratitude is a quality that individuals can successfully cultivate further.

Ways to cultivate gratitude
Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of always reaching for something new in the hopes it will make them happier, or thinking they can’t feel satisfied until every physical and material need is met. Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack. Although it may feel uncomfortable at first, this mental state grows stronger with use and practice.

Here are some ways to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis:

Write a thank-you note — You can make yourself happier and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter expressing your enjoyment and appreciation of that person’s impact on your life. Send it, or better yet, deliver and read it in person if possible. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month. Once in a while, write one to yourself.

Practice Gratitude — Make it a habit to write down or share with a loved one thoughts about the gifts you’ve received each day. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about your blessings — reflecting on what went right or what you are grateful for. Sometimes it helps to pick a number — such as three to five things — that you will identify each week. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you.

“…practice gratitude to honour what’s ordinary about our lives, because that is what’s truly extraordinary.”
— Brene BrownIf you have any questions, or would simply like to share your ideas, please contact me directly at lisa.watson@bethanyseniors.com.

Kind regards,
— Lisa

A Matter of Perspective

The importance of perspective is becoming clearer to me all the time. Over the last few weeks, I have encountered challenges in moving some organizational initiatives forward. I have been met with resistance and disagreement and it has caused me to pause and reflect on why this is happening and why others do not see my point of view. The conclusion that I have come to is that it is all a matter of perspective.

I am a fan of the work of Wayne Dyer, a self-help author and motivational speaker. One of my favourite quotes is:

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” – Wayne Dyer

The above quote encourages us to see things from a different perspective. By doing so, we can raise our own awareness and potentially find better solutions and ways of doing things. The more diverse perspectives you have in addressing a particular challenge or problem, the more likely you will land on a very creative solution. A multitude of perspectives can have a great impact on an organization’s ability to be innovative and creative.

As individuals, we filter everything by our personal history, our beliefs, motivations and concepts that we hold true. That said, it is important that we understand that they are not necessarily true for other people. By considering the perspectives of others, we bring compassion and empathy to our relationships. As Dyer states, “the true value of another perspective lies within seeing more of a situation and therefore being able to make a better judgement for ourselves and for the other person(s) too”. If we don’t pay attention to perspective, we can often misinterpret what is going on around us.

It can take courage to see the perspective of others, to acknowledge it and potentially move forward in a different direction. I would also argue it requires discipline to approach situations this way. However, if we do so we may often find a better way to move forward and have more positive relationships with others.

I would encourage you to think about this as you encounter challenges in your own lives. Try and understand where the other person is coming from. In doing so, we all benefit.As always, I welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have. Please send them to me at Nancy.Hughes@bethanyseniors.com

Regards,
— Nancy

Remembrance

Many of us will be wearing a poppy on our left lapel this week, close to our heart, as Remembrance Day approaches on Monday, November 11.

Some of us will help porter residents to Remembrance Day ceremonies at our sites, where we’ll gather together to pay tribute to those who have served to protect our freedoms  – in times of war, conflict and peace. We’ll pause for a moment of silence to pay respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives to preserve the way of life we all enjoy today.

Our Bethany communities are home to a number of veterans, and we owe them a particular debt of gratitude for their service.  On November 11^th, I hope you’ll join me in taking a bit of time to reflect on the great privilege we have at Bethany – because now we get to serve them.Wishing you a great week of Service Excellence,
— Gail