Giving Way to Happiness & A Giveaway Spotlight ~ BookishRealm

With Thanksgiving tomorrow and Christmas right around the corner, I decided to participate in a blog spotlight that introduces the book The Giving Way to Happiness. It truly is a magical feeling when you give a little during this time of the year. To commemorate the beautiful message behind this book you will find the following below:

Information about a charity I want to champion
Giving Tuesday
Book-Related information about The Giving Way to Happiness
Giveaway Information

I hope you enjoy all of the information! Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone (for my US readers).

My Charity:

The charity that I give to on an annual basis is the United Way of the Midlands. They pride themselves on uniting people and resources together. "We work to determine and respond to the critical human service needs of the community. Community volunteers in three councils focused on education, financial stability, and health develop and review a community-wide needs assessment to determine key issues in the community" (United Way Midlands Website). What I love about this organization is that they focus on the community and it's issues. Although we have common issues that affect the entire nation, it is especially nice to see an organization that focuses on a specific city. With the flood that recently destroyed so many homes and businesses in the midlands area, United Way has been providing so many different resources. If you want to learn more about this organization and donate please visit: http://www.uway.org

Giving Away Tuesday:

As a part of this promotion I would also like to tell you all about another charity based initiative that reaches the global community. Giving Tuesday is a global initiative that promotes the generosity of people who are giving around the holidays. Directly following BlackFriday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday is an event started by the 92 Street Y in New York City, which hoped to connect a diverse and well-rounded network of people, foundations, and organizations. On December 1, 2015, they encourage you to use #mygivingstory to promote the charity/non-profit organization that you're helping to support/spotlight this holiday season. You can link to the site and learn more about Giving Tuesday here: http://www.givingtuesday.org/

The Giving Way to Happiness:

In light of the giving season I would like to recommend a book that highlights the benefits of giving and sharing and how it leads to happiness. Here is a blurb about the book:

"We often focus on how our gifts can help those in need. But the act of giving actually improves our own lives as well. In The Giving Way to Happiness, Jenny Santi overturns conventional thinking about what it takes to be happy by revealing how giving to others--whether in the form of money, expertise, time, or love--has helped people from all walks of life find purpose and joy. Drawing on the wisdom of great thinkers past and present, as well as cutting-edge scientific research, Santi makes an eloquent and passionate case that oftentimes the answers to the problems that haunt us, and the key to the happiness that eludes us, lie in helping those around us.

This book is filled with inspiring stories told firsthand by Academy Award winner Goldie Hawn, Noble Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, supermodel Christy Turlington Burns, Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp, philanthropist Richard Rockefeller, environmentalist Phillipe Cousteau, activist Ric O' Barry, bestselling author Isabel Allende, ALS survivor Augie Nieto, and many others from all over the world. Despite their diverse backgrounds, they have all found unexpected happiness and fulfillment through giving. This book tells us not just how they changed the world but also how their acts changed their very own lives."

In addition, Santi reveals:

How altruism involves far more than suppressing basic selfish urges. Rather, we are wired to give, as it activates the same pleasure centers of the brain stimulated by food, sex, and drugs.
How helping others--whether by walking a friend through a struggle that you've also experienced or by supporting a cause to honor a loved one's memory--can be a healthy way to deal with adversity and process grief.
The unexpected reasons why those who "gave it all up" to make a difference, and who face the direst situations, are nevertheless some of the happiest, most fulfilled, and least angst-riddeen people you'll ever meet.
Practical, universally applicable lesson on what kind of giving makes people happy and what doesn't. How do you discover giving that is unique to you and makes you feel good?

In this inspiring book, Santi turns conventional wisdom upside down about what it takes to be happy and reveals the surprising reasons that have led so many people to live lives full of meaning, purpose, and happiness.

Links: Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

Giveaway:

As a promotion for this book Wunderkind PR is going to donate $50.00 to the charity of the winner's choice! So please enter below: