On my way to Dubai from London, I was reading in the paper a story of a 13 year old girl attempting to commit suicide, because she wanted to donate her liver to her sick dad.  The mother reported that the daughter loved her dad even more than herself!

Now I do not encourage anyone to commit suicide for whatever reasons.  However I was amazed at the extent of the love displayed by the 13 year old.

How about you?  How much love do you express to your close ones in ordinary ways everyday?
 

One of the hardest things for an adult to hear is that a friend of yours has cancer. You've probably already had this happen to a friend of yours, perhaps even a relative.  I can pretty much guarantee that as you age it will happen more and more.

Perhaps the only thing that’s worse – hearing a child has cancer.

A couple of months ago my son James got a call from one of his best friends. Mike had been sick for a while, and they just diagnosed leukemia.

When you discover your limitations, shortcomings or fears you have a far better chance of overcoming them. You also pave the way for more and deeper giving.

In my case I have discovered the following areas I struggle with:

• Impatience
• Transparency
• Ego
• Scarcity Mentality

I have overcome all of these at some point in my life and struggled with all of them at other times. These shortcomings limit my giving. My goal is to overcome all of them at all times. I know that is a tall order!

Here is a beautiful letter from Susie Norris, a recovering cancer patient and an inspiring giver.

"I was deeply touched & moved by this wonderful book.  This book could not have come into my life at a better time. 

"My sister attended Azim's speech & purchased The Power Of Giving as a gift to me...as the following morning she knew I would be entering hospital again to confront a second bout with cancer. 

It’s snowing again today in my home town of Vancouver, and it’s tempting to get down about it.  We were inundated with snow for the whole month over Christmas, which almost never happens.  Traffic was disrupted, buses were going off the roads, plus the city has almost no snow removal equipment.

When you die, you don't take what you have, but you take what you gave!

Articulate what would be a fair obituary written for you if you died today.

Then articulate the obituary that you wish to be written for you when you die.

Work on the gap between the two. The ideal place to be is when the above two obituaries are the same. When that happens you have achieved true freedom!

I'm delighted to say that feedback keeps coming in for The Power of Giving, and it's all positive.

I want to share one note in particular, which I received in response to the article I wrote on alternative Christmas presents.

It's from Brandy who lives in a rural community in Ontario. She wrote:

You can give a good thought to someone you care about.

You can send forgiveness either directly (communicate with them) or indirectly (by thoughts of forgiveness).

You can express gratitude for what you have.

You can express love and affection to someone close - spouse, child, parent, sibling.

You can help someone going through financial difficulty, a health problem or a similar challenge, or you can send a prayer or good wish to them.

You can interpret a hurtful situation in the best possible light.

One young kid was asked some time back who is your hero, and he replied Michael Jordan, and when the same kid was asked again the same question recently he replied Barack Obama.

We cannot all be sports superstars or US Presidents.  However, we can all be a loving human being - whether you are a father, mother, daughter, son, husband, wife, partner, brother or sister.  And being loving is being a great hero!

It is in the being that we teach and give.  Begin today striving to be loving starting with people who are close to you and become an unsung hero!

One of the most exciting things for me, personally, is to see The Power of Giving message spread to many countries around the world.  The Power of Giving has now been printed in seven countries.

Initially the book was published in Canada, then three months later in the United States.  Since that time additions have been published in India - in English.

And in other languages as well – in Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Vietnam, and it looks like there will be an Indonesian edition as well.