The gift of acceptance is perhaps the greatest gift you can give. Certainly it’s very special.

It’s not the easiest gift to give because it means risking. And it means loving “what is”.

It means putting ourselves out there, venturing into the unknown. Going where we have not gone before and where we do not know what we will find or experience.

And ultimately it means whatever happens, it (and we) will be ok.

No requirements for us to change. No requirements for others to change. No requirements for circumstances to change. It’s just all ok. And so then are we.

No one knows what the future will bring. All we have is now. I accept that. I encourage all of you to do the same. Can we agree to make that our “through-years” resolution?

MRIs reveal that making a donation activates the brain’s reward center–giving you a boost of dopamine. When you help others, the primitve part of your brain lights up to experience pleasure.

So, if you’re looking for something to do with a few saved pennies, consider giving them away.

And, if you don’t have any pennies handy, consider joining us tomorrow for our last Final Friday Fundraising call of 2008 and donating $10, $25, or $40 to help us finance the dreams of entrepreneurs in the developing countries of the world through Kiva.org.

No spare change? No worries, we’d still love to have you join us on the call.

Just read about the 10,000 Women global initiative launched by Goldman Sachs.

They’ve publicly committed to spending $100M over the next 5 years to support expanding the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in developing and emerging economies.

The program is being run in partnership with leading academic institutions like Columbia University and other key development organizations. The intent is to provide 10,000 women with a solid business and management education, a strategy seen as one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth.

The global initiative is expected to help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances prevent them from ever receiving a traditional business education. They will be provided with the opportunity to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA scholarships funded.

In reading all about the new program, I was reminded of what Alex and I are committed to doing through the SMARTSTART Business Success Program. Except that we’re not limiting the education to women and you don’t have to live in a developing country to qualify for the support. Oh, and it won’t cost $100M for us to implement it either.

Kind of makes me wonder why there haven’t been more takers. Particularly since the only people who will ever have income security are those who create their own work and run their own businesses. Maybe it’s as simple as we should be charging a whole lot more than we are for the gift of this first rate opportunity to learn, grow and prosper regardless of one’s circumstances.