Thursday, November 7, 2013

Day Seven



Building on yesterday's theme of investing in yourself and gratefully celebrating a gift you have, today we turn that celebration outward.  How can you pay your gift(s) forward? As Rev. Rebecca Parker asks, how can you "choose to bless the world" through sharing your gift with others around you? Being as basic or as creative, as simple or as elaborate, as you want to be, please share  your gift with others.  Notice how sharing your gift creates gratitude around you. How does putting a little love in your heart benefit others as well as yourself?

Here's an example of paying it forward that I found particularly creative and joyful.



-Ken

6 comments:

  1. This posed a bit of a challenge because the only time I'm getting out of the house today is to see my psychiatrist. About the only really nice thing I can think to do is to not dump my complaints on her, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

    So I brainstormed this morning and here's what I came up with: I have these Jolly Rancher Caramel Apple lollipops that I usually give the kids as rewards. I taped one lollipop each on to two index cards and wrote, "An apple for the teacher, To: [teacher's name] From: [kid's name]," and gave one to each of my twins to give to their teachers. Vienna's reaction was to give me a skeptical look and ask, "Why are we doing this?" Deva, who is the more generous and empathetic of the two, just beamed and thought it was a stellar idea. She didn't need to know why.

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  2. Today I feel much more refreshed after taking great care of myself yesterday. I will use my smile and my closed mouth to spread my gift today. I will listen. I will listen without interruption, no small feat I assure you. I will listen to my children at the library, I will listen to the library patrons, I will listen to my coworkers, I will listen to my husband, and I will listen to myself. I will do all of this listening with a generous heart in hopes of helping others today; all with a smile :-)

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  3. OMG! I love the subway signs!!! So outrageous! It's my practice - not really consciously - to look people in the eye and smile at them when I walk down any street. I find it's hard for people to ignore you when you smile at them. When I smile at little kids - as who couldn't - parents really love it and smile broadly. I feel more like smiling at people is a gift to myself because the returned smiles give me such a feeling of comfort.

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  4. Today was the day for the original Slinky to work its magic. It normally sits on my desk and helps entertain, as well as comfort those who are nervous and need something to do as they talk about difficult things. But, today, the Slinky belongs to all of us. I put up a sign in the waiting area inviting all to enjoy the Slinky and encouraging people to take advantage of the great stairs we have to watch it in action.
    It's already been fun to hear that familiar Slinky sound and watch as people re-live (or experience for the first time) the simple joy of a Slinky descending stairs. Simple joy.

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  5. (From Ken) This was fun! Went to a local Starbucks, bought a cup for myself and also a $50 gift card that the barista happily agreed to use for every person who came in after me so that their order would be paid for. (Starbucks employees get free coffee as I found out, or else I was going to ask them to use it for themselves as well.) I didn't want to hang around and make it about me, but while putting in cream and sugar in my coffee, a college age kid came in and when the barista told her it was free and pointed to me, she said, "This makes my day! Thank you!" Walking out of the store, I smiled broadly at the 3 customers coming in, knowing that they were about to enjoy some free coffee.

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  6. I love this one, too. Since I was able to reconnect with myself after a short time with a trusted person yesterday, I paid THAT forward today... not even sure she knew I was doing it, but at a "playdate" with another mom today I made it a strict point not to talk about myself or steer the conversation in any way. I simply listened to where she was, let her lead and direct where we went, and gave her loving attention at times when I might have typically been distracted by my own child or by the environment. She and I are both introverted, but I tend to talk more than I like (anxiety, need to please?) and she tends to say less. But today I didn't talk much at all... but she did. It was lovely her her, I think... I hope.

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