What are you thankful for?

I think it's a good idea every now and then to stop and count your blessings. I get caught up in the minute details and what I want, don't have, or haven't achieved. So today, the day before Thanksgiving, I'm sharing a list of what I'm thankful for.

So here goes!

I'm thankful for:
my family
a wonderful husband and friend
a loving, silly, creative and amazing son, who I'm so thankful for his good health
my large and furry lazy black dog
good health
friends
a nice warm house to live in
great neighbors
creativity
apple computers
paper
letterpress printing
glitter, glue and baker's twine
great design
chick flicks
books
music
open minds
democracy
freedom
clean air
recycling
plants, flowers, trees, birds, bees, animals
NYC
getting letters in the mail
holiday decorations and cards
great food
family get togethers
time
planet earth

I think that about covers it. What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Generosity part 2

Being generous and being taken advantage of is a fine line. You have to decide where to draw it. I feel great when I know I'm helping someone out, but when it starts to eat into my own family time, that is when I draw the line. What about you? Where do you draw the line?

An important thing to know is what is too much for you? If you start to feel uncomfortable with the amount of time your giving out, that's when you need to say no. No, is not a dirty word. It can be your best friend if you let it. Otherwise, how will anyone know you aren't comfortable helping out? If you don't want to do something and you say yes, then you are part of the problem. So don't be afraid to say no. They will find someone else to help and you won't be frustrated. It's a win, win situation in my book.

If you are a designer like me, you may be asked to donate your design time. You have to be very judicious with this and plan for it in your yearly budget. Pick out the few charities or friends that you are passionate about and donate your services to just those. Otherwise, everyone will be hitting you up for free work and then how will you make a living?

We all walk the fine line between generosity and being taken advantage of quite often, but it's up to us to draw the line. Be strong, and don't be afraid to say no. Remember, generosity should feel good and if it doesn't, you should have said no.

Take care!

Jill

Generosity

Hi! It's been a while since my last post. I would like to start back by talking about the idea of generosity. What does it mean to you? I don't know about you, but I don't have a lot of money to donate. I wish I did! But I can be generous with encouragement, energy and enthusiasm and information.

I have benefitted from some very generous and successful women in the paper industry, who have shared their time, information and encouragement. I would like to say thank you to all of them! For that reason, I have also shared with others who are starting out in the business. Sometimes it can be difficult to share information with others in the same industry, you might feel like it's helping the competition. I'm not saying to give up your trade secrets by any means, but you can help someone with general information about how the industry works or where to find a certain paper, etc.

I would encourage everyone to mentor a colleague, be a friend, be encouraging, be helpful and be honest. All it takes is a little time and you will be richer for it. I am a strong believer in the old saying "what goes around comes around". So reap what you sew and sew some seeds of generosity.

Feel free to share your thoughts on generosity. I'd love to hear all about it.

Take care!

Jill