When you see the opportunity... give

Well, what can I say, today did not go as planned, but I did end up giving a random gift rather than something that I had planned.

I was with my niece and we were driving home from picking up our sewing machine which had needed repairs. We stopped at a red light and I saw a homeless man looking for help. Not usually one to give money to the homeless (though I have been known to buy bags of non-perishable food for people doing the same).

Well, before we had left the house I had grabbed a five just to be sure I had enough to pay for the sewing machine repairs. So, I saw this guy and decided that that was going to be my gift for today. I reached into my pocket and held out the money for him. He took it gratefully and I wished him luck on his journey, wherever that took him.

It’s so strange that this happened, it’s not something that I normally do, and so odd that I would have cash on me. I guess fate led me to give that man standing at a red light $5. I hope it aids him in whatever way is for his highest good, and may he find some peace.

Until tomorrow.

Hiking is like life the 5th day of giving

Yesterday’s hiking gift ended up turning into quite the adventure. I had picked out a 2.5-mile hike for us to go on, but the information I found online was wrong and it turned into a 3.5-mile hike.

It was interesting hiking with a ten-year-old who likes to complain about going uphill until we get to the top and we see the view, then she is in awe of the magnificence of the beauty of nature.

I realized as we were walking that the hike was just like life. If all we do is complain until we get to the top we miss all of the beauty around us as we make our way to the top. How do we want to remember this life? Suffering and all of the times that we didn’t get what we want? Or do we want to bask in the beauty of the journey? Either way, the hike (as life) will end, but how we choose to walk through it will determine how we walk through life.

Today's gift was a little different. I am working with an older gentleman who is trying to sell some really amazing inventions that could change the world. He sent me some information to put on his website and as I was reading through it I realized that it just didn’t make sense. So, I rewrote it not just for the website, but also for him to use in other situations. It wasn’t part of my work, and I could have just used it for the website, but I decided that today, that was my gift; to continue to help him change the world.

Tomorrow I hope to drop off some baked goods at a friend's house for a gift, but we will see if another opportunity arises.

Playing a little catch-up on the blog...

Well, my lack of a schedule has made daily blogging basically impossible. Sorry about that! I’ll work on getting something in place to make sure I can update everyone as my 29 gifts journey goes forward. Until then, I’ll be posting when I can to update everyone on what’s been going on.

I’ll be honest, Friday I almost forgot. I tend to get sidetracked and really focused on what I’m doing, so when 4 o’clock came around I had a mini panic attack thinking that I wouldn’t be able to give anything that day. And I’ll be honest, that tends to happen a lot. I put so much pressure on myself to give something that when I realized I haven’t consciously given that day I start to go down the rabbit hole of bashing on myself… which let’s be honest, isn’t at all the point.

So, I took a deep breath and decided to reach out to a friend as my gift and see how she was doing. We live on opposite sides of the country so we mostly keep up with each other on Facebook. We had a great conversation on Friday, though. We are both taking this whole pandemic thing in stride, and neither is worse for the wear.

Saturday I already had my gift planned, which was helping my oldest brother move. They are moving into a smaller place so they can pay down some bills and buy a house in a couple of years. We had a good morning and I was able to help them with some stuff before I had to leave to run some other errands.

Today I also kind of half my gift decided. I had some blueberries in my fridge that needed to be used so I had made Blueberry Buttermilk Banana bread and was planning to take some to some coworkers in the afternoon. After getting up I decided to make Buttermilk Cake as well and added that to the gift bags I took over.

I kind of wish I could be more spontaneous with this whole thing, but I’ve noticed it’s best if I have a plan of what I’m going to give. Maybe that will change as the month goes on, but who knows? Tomorrow I’m taking my niece hiking as my gift and I’ll be sure to do a post with lots of pictures of our adventures.

Until then, stay safe, stay well, and be kind.