i. Author: Shalicia

How Giving & Gratitude Made me US$100,000 During the Pandemic in Just 6 Months.

My story is a bit long but here's how I made US$100,000 in just 6 months during the pandemic. Covid-19 was said to have just begun in late 2019. At that time, I had no website and was fairly new to a site called Etsy, selling some of the handmade skin creams I'd produced.

It would be fair to say, sales on Etsy were pretty slow. My local brick and mortar shop, a dream realized, was really not able to sustain itself, and to establish and maintain it, costed a lot. Suffice to say, that I was in a ton of debt, both personal and business.

At that time, as I researched many options online, I found out about 'The Law of Attraction' and its many abiding principles. Two of them that grabbed my attention were about Gratitude and the importance of writing down at least 10 things daily that one is grateful for, no matter how small, and the other was about Giving as a seed.

I decided to give them a try, so in December 2019, I started to journal and speak the things that I was grateful for. At the same time, I started giving samples of my best skin creams to clients.

Check out two of our best-selling products:

1. The Surelite 7 Day Skin Lightening Cream, used to remove blemishes and dark spots on the face and body.

2. The Super 10X Skin Cream used to lighten tough areas, such as elbows, knuckles and knees.

My original intention was only to do the gratitude affirmations for seven days and see what happened. At the end of the period, although my sales hadn't really increased much, I somehow just felt really hopeful.

At first, I had struggled to find things to be truly thankful for, as my mind was filled with so much negativity and doubt, however, I gradually found that I could be happy, highlighting even the small things, and what little progress I'd made. I wished to continue 'the experiment' so I did.

I soon realized that I felt much happier, less stressed and more relaxed every day after doing my gratitude journal. My sales started taking off not long after, and even after the 'Christmas rush' had passed, I was still getting a lot of sales!

By May of 2020, I had already made over US$100,000! For me, that was a ton of money! Let's put this into perspective, so that you all can really understand what I mean. I don't reside in the US. I live and work in Jamaica. The then rate of currency exchange was around Jamaican $130 to USD$1.

This was a huge financial leap for me and needless to say, I quickly paid off my debts and even did some renovations to my house.

I regard this "experiment" as a tremendous eye-opening blessing and I realize now that my mindset, must have shifted, and I was sub-consciously more open to receiving what God was showing me, was always there for me.

I did nothing extraordinary to increase my sales. I only became more aware, more grateful and thankful for what I had, and started giving more. These are actually spiritual principles that work miracles. In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus describes the old woman who gave a gift of the little she had, as, giving something more valuable than those who gave from their wealth.

Wherever in the world you are, you can also do what I did. Start with whatever you have. Conduct your own experiment if you doubt me, and see for yourself, how the simple acts of Gratitude and Giving can forever transform your life.

How to Earn Money in Christmas 2022

Action Steps:

1. Start a Gratitude Journal. Be sure to list at least 10 things you appreciate and are grateful for. Read it twice per day, morning and evening and be truly grateful from the heart.

2. Start Giving or Gifting. It doesn't mean that you should spend all your money to impress others. Start with whatever you have at hand. For example, a genuine "Thank You" note to someone is also a gift. However, If you want your business to truly progress, it's wise to give something from your produce to your clients in appreciation.

3. Do the above two action steps for 30 days and see what happens. Make it an experiment and record your results as you go along and at the end of the period. Each time something good happens, record it.

Money and success will naturally find you if you take the above steps, and you will realize that it only becomes foolish to ever stop.

Email: irie.dawtajamaica@gmail.com

ii. Author: Shalicia

Gift Your Way to Financial Success, Peace, Happiness & Abundance.

Giving is a Seed

If you want to find success, peace, happiness and abundance in all areas of your life, you must first start by Giving. When you give of yourself, your time, your talent and your money, what you're really doing is planting 'Success Seeds'.

Planting seeds in order to reap a harvest, is a natural and biblical principle that's very easy to understand. If you plant peas, you will reap peas when the time is right, and not corn. It is, therefore, smart to begin planting the right kinds of seeds for the benefits we wish to reap in our lives.

Find Your Gift

Before you begin to try planting any seeds though, you must first establish what your gift is. You should already know what you're good at - that's your gift. Notice I didn't say find your "passion" or even what you "like to do" , as these many be completely different from your gift. Your gift is what you were born to do - a natural inclination, if you will, towards doing something, and you will find, that you can do it really well.

If you don't know what you're good at, ask others. Your family and friends can easily tell you what you are great at, and what your gifts are. If you have several gifts then that's awesome, but if you only have one, then that's fine too.

Use Your Gift

The good news is that you only need to have one gift in order to start giving. Don't focus on your gift solely as a means of obtaining money and wealth. Your drive for money only emphasizes the lack you're feeling deep down, and you will just attract more of that.

Use your gift as tool to:

1. Solve problems for other people.

2. As a way to contribute to your community and country.

When people see you as a reliable source of solutions, several things will happen. Those people will be happy to find you again and pay you for helping them. They will also provide invaluable recommendations about you to others. This will in turn, give you a new and growing customer base, as well as open new and bigger opportunities for you and your business to grow.

Reap Emotional & Physical Rewards

Not to be out done, the psychological and even physical rewards, achieved for giving, are also innumerable. When you know that your giving helps others, it makes you feel really great.

You will feel happier, less stressed, more energized, motivated and relaxed. You may even become inspired to create new products, services, and technologies to give even more. This creates a ripple effect, opening up even more opportunities in the future.

Opportunities for the Future

Gifting what you have at hand, in terms of your time, talent and money are easily the first and crucial steps to achieving success. The bible says that 'your gift will make room for you', meaning that it will open up opportunities for you.

These opportunities come in the forms of investments:

• Learning more and increasing your skills. Invest in your education.

• Understanding your value. The more you give and grow, the better you will understand how much you are worth. This is necessary to know if you provide a service.

• Invest your money. Never invest too much in assets or businesses that you don't understand or are unskilled at. Knowing when and where to invest is wisdom.

• Adjust your lifestyle. Create a budget and learn to manage your money. Always live within your means.

• Manage your Mindset. Work on becoming the best version of yourself. Keep a positive mindset and change yourself into the person you want to be.

Action Steps:

1. Write down your goals.

2. Write down one or two affirmations relating to each goal.

3. Read and affirm them daily.

4. Persist and never give up. If you don't have enough faith in yourself to pursue your dreams, then whom to expect will believe in you?

Find great gifts that you can give below.

Email: irie.dawtajamaica@gmail.com

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iii. Author: Shalicia

Why is the Christmas Season Such a Blessed Time to Give?

I think most persons living in the Western Hemisphere would agree that Christmas is a very special time. Whether they believe in the religious ideas behind the season or not, most persons at least enjoy the holidays.

Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays closely coincide, and these are times to share with family and friends. People usually come home to be with their loved ones and to celebrate. Some have large family and work gatherings with lots of food and drinks.

There are many traditions which began in the Christmas season, both religious and secular. These include the Christmas Mass or Church Service, Christmas Caroling and Singing, Decorating the Christmas Tree and the home and Santa Clause, who is said to come on Christmas Eve and give all the children gifts. Of course, we can't forget the traditions of Shopping and Gifting.

The traditions of shopping and gifting to family and friends at Christmas is very popular, especially in North America and has become increasingly popular in many other countries also.

But why is Christmas Gifting so special? Some would even say it's an especially blessed tradition. It seems that more generosity and love are shared in the form of tangible and intangible gifts during this time than at any other.

We find that people not only gift friends and loved ones at Christmas but also complete strangers. Children homes, Homes for the Elderly, Places of Safety and Shelters as well as other such institutions tend to benefit more from cash donations and people help than at any other time of the year.

Many employers also tend to give bonuses, throw parties and offer other such 'feel good' incentives to their staff at Christmas than at any other time of the year.

Within the Christian Community, you will find a lot of extra giving also, to needy persons and children in the church and community as well as a lot of visits and calls, as everyone rallies to give support to those causes.

I believe the answer to the question of just what makes Christmas so blessed comes from the scriptures. I'm not here to argue about the exact time that Jesus is said to have been born, although it is celebrated on December 25 every year. My concern is only with the idea of whether Christmas is a blessed time to give or not.

The story of Jesus's birth as outlined in the Gospels give us some indication into the beginning of the gifting tradition.

Matthew Chapter 2:11

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."

The gifts by the Magi are said to represent Christ's Kingship, as he was given Gold, his Deity and Worthiness of Worship, as he was given Frankincense, and his Death, as represented by the embalming oil, Myrrh.

Jesus himself is regarded as mankind's ultimate Gift, in that, he came from God the Father in heaven, and freely 'gave himself' as a 'living sacrifice' to deliver humanity from the curse of sin and death.

We also read that God sent angels from Heaven to tell of the wonderful gift he had sent us, via some lowly Shepherds, who were keeping watch over their flocks in a field (see Luke 2:8-20).

Luke 2:13-14

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Not only were there valuable monetary and tangible gifts accompanying Jesus's birth, but there was also the intangible blessings that God Himself bestowed upon the whole earth, in the form of 'peace and goodwill toward men'.

When we do good to others at any time, I believe we are rewarded in like manner. It is an attraction law that whatever you give will be returned to you even many fold. When you give during the Commemoration of Christ's birth, which just happens to occur in December or the Christmas Season, you'll however reap even more. You'll find blessings of not just valuables and money but also peace and more goodwill being returned to you manifold.

Let Giving with heartfelt joy, appreciation and love become your sincere attitude, and you will surely reap the blessings this Christmas.

Email: irie.dawtajamaica@gmail.com