Author: Life Less Greedy

Life Less Greedy seeks to help us all live a life less greedy, and a little more generous – to promote opportunities to be generous and to challenge the use of our resources for the good of others.

What do we learn from death?

No one really likes funerals, because no one likes what they represent – death. A bit of a morbid subject indeed, but we had our Nanny’s funeral earlier this week so I have been reflecting on these things a little more lately. There are so many things that death exposes and stuff we learn about ourselves and others that we might never have been known before.

Nanny

Nanny’s funeral was beautiful; sad, but also joyful and comforting. We heard stories about Nanny that we’d never heard, learnt things about the family we’d never known. We cried, we remembered, and we certainly laughed. One thing that particularly stuck in my mind from one of the speeches was that Nanny was a very contented person, never one to complain of not having enough, or fussy about having the latest and greatest, the biggest and best. On reflection this was clearly evident in her life. I think it was definitely part of her beautiful character, and also a product of her generation and upbringing. Most people have no idea what hardship is like… those, like Nanny, who went through the great depression know exactly what it’s like – it shaped their life and taught them to be frugal, wise and not wanting, but appreciative of the basic things in life. This is something we really have no concept of in today’s western culture of ‘never enough’. Continue reading “What do we learn from death?” →

“Micro-Generosity”

There’s always lots to read and write about global poverty, “Third World problems” and the massive efforts taking place by international aid organisations, but sometimes it’s good to hear about local action taking place – you could call it “Micro-Generosity” (similar to micro finance) – not ‘micro’ as in a small amount of generosity, but in terms of generosity taking place on a smaller scale, by individuals or small organisations or groups.

These days there are some great tools around that allow people to raise money for just about any cause. Everyday Hero is a great Aussie website that does just this – build your own fundraising page to raise money for over 1200 charities. It’s very popular with over 20,000 ‘heroes’ in action today! Another big one is Causes where “anyone can change the world” as they say. And it’s true – they’ve raised over $40 million for 27,000 non-profits! Continue reading ““Micro-Generosity”” →

The single biggest solvable problem facing the world today

Here’s a bunch of interesting facts that I just learnt from WFP (World Food Programme). As part of the article they make a big claim that “hunger is the single biggest solvable problem facing the world today” – the remarkable thing about this claim is that they say that hunger is “solvable”. You don’t really hear that too often, but it is exciting to hear this positive spin on the state of world, rather than the ‘doom and gloom’ that we often hear.

Some of these facts are a bit ‘doom and gloom’, but some definitely give hope that hunger is in fact solvable – like the fact that I can make a difference with only 25 CENTS a day – that’s around $7.50 per month to give a child a chance at a healthy life. And maybe something surprising for all us relatively comfortable Aussies – most of the world’s hungry people live on our door step – in the South Pacific (not Africa as most may think). Continue reading “The single biggest solvable problem facing the world today” →

Not a Drop To Drink [Infographic]

According to the United Nations, unsanitary water kills more people worldwide than war. As the precious water supply dwindles, it may prove to be more than just a crisis for developing countries. Click the image below to learn more…

“Every 20 seconds a child dies from water borne illness”

Source: GOOD and Column Five Media

DO SOMETHING:

There are tons of organisations doing great work to improve access and supply of clean water to those who need it most, but here is one that I like:

Water For Water’s heart is for those in need, those who find themselves without access to safe drinking water for themselves and their families. http://www.waterforwater.com

How did you ‘spend’ your Christmas?

Just before Christmas this year I went down to our local bargin store ‘L.A Variety’ with my 2yr old Isy and we bought 2 sets of Christmas lights for a total of $12.95 – gotta love bargin stores! I found myself wondering if we really need 2 sets, and where we’d even put the second set, but then I thought… what’s another $5.00… why not! Our local newspaper, The Manly Daily, recently ran a story on the Richards family who have spent $250k on christmas lights…yep you read correct $250,000! Read the full story.

$250k on chrissie lights Continue reading “How did you ‘spend’ your Christmas?” →

Countdown to a Miracle

Scans of "Button"

Baby #2 (affectionately known as ‘Button’) is due anytime now. I’ve finally just started to get into the ‘baby-having’ mindset and think about the amazing but intense experience we are about to go through. As I reflect on the whole pregnancy and birth experience, I can’t help but be drawn to the bigger picture by recent experiences of friends, and also what I know about some sad experiences of pregnancy and birth that happen in the third world.

I feel so blessed to have one beautiful child, and to be on the verge of having another – if you have kids, stop for a moment and give thanks for them (even though they may drive you up the wall at times!), because it is a miracle that you were blessed with them. Speaking with my mate who recently lost his baby girl an hour after birth, we were reflecting on how the whole birthing and pregnancy experience is something that is seriously out of our control, and very much in the hands of God. Even amazing doctors, with access to the best medical resources, are sometimes powerless – they couldn’t save his little treasure. Continue reading “Countdown to a Miracle” →

Gifts That Give Twice

cataloguesIt’s that time of year where you start to get bombarded everyday with countless catalogues from all the major department stores and a myriad of other local retail businesses tempting you to buy all the latest and greatest for chrissie…. and let’s be honest, I love to have a browse and check out all the things I really want, but can’t really afford!

As well as all these ‘retail’ catalogues, you might be like us and receive a bunch of ‘gift catalogues’ from charity organisations. I think these catalogues are awesome! Such an easy and great way to be generous, and also a bit of a conversation starter if you give these gifts to someone who has never really heard of a gift catalogue before. I think it is a little confusing and perplexing for some when they get a gift, but don’t actually receive anything tangible, except the blessing of giving!

Continue reading “Gifts That Give Twice” →

Celebrate Progress and Never Stop Asking for Change

MDGThere’s a lot of power in shocking statistics that portray the ‘doom and gloom’ of poverty and other big issues – they can help us to come to terms with the reailty of what others are going through in this world and can often move us to action. I see heaps of these ‘shocking stats’, but not so often do I come across more ‘positive stats’ – stats that highlight the encouraging progress that is being made and celebrating the change that has been achieved over the years.

I recently came across a great video that showed some great stats on the progress that has been made on the Millenium Development Goals (MDG):

In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge became the eight Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. In September 2010, the world recommitted itself to accelerate progress towards these goals. (from UNDP website).

MDGThere’s some big goals here and it’s so encouraging to see the progress that has been made so far – here’s a snapshot of some awesome ‘positive stats’ from the video: Continue reading “Celebrate Progress and Never Stop Asking for Change” →

Thousands of Positive Posters!

Congrats to Nick and the crew at Positive Posters for running a successful 2011 competition! There were literally thousands of entries, so I did my best to look at most of them, but just couldn’t get through them all (or this post wouldn’t have been live until 2012!).

So here’s a few of my favourite entries based on the message they communicate, a clever concept, great design or a combination of them all. Enjoy!

by Tom Andrews // Hundred's and thousand's die in poverty

Continue reading “Thousands of Positive Posters!” →

(Dis)contentment and Perspective

Ahhh to be content!! I recently heard a great talk at church on… you guessed it… contentment. I thought at the time that it was a ‘timely’ message for me… but on reflection, any time would be ‘timely’ when talking about contentment… I mean who isn’t seeking contentment everyday?

(DIS)CONTENTMENT

I’m thankful for so many blessings in my life, and content with lots of things, but there’s definitely a few things that I’m currently discontent with… meet my car…

Pulsar Continue reading “(Dis)contentment and Perspective” →