Last Saturday, I went for a walk. After walking for about an hour, I realized that the exercise was making me feel so good that I felt like giving something to someone. I walked by a grocery cart containing a homeless person’s possessions, and I thought about slipping a $20 bill inside to give the person a nice surprise and allow her or him to buy a decent lunch. But there was no one around, and I wasn’t quite sure it seemed right, so I continued on my walk.
I strolled by a church and thought about making a donation in the offerings box. But the door was locked, so I kept going. I walked past a home where they were having a garage sale. A 12-year-old girl was minding the sale and asked me if I wanted to buy anything. All she had left were old Barbie dolls.
My granddaughter has out-grown her Barbies and I don’t have friends whose daughters who like Barbie, but I gave her $1.50 for a Barbie doll In any case. This doll was missing part of her blond hair and had permanent pink marker drawn on her face. As I walked away, the little girl had a big smile on her face.
A little while later, I came upon a group of girls who were drawing chalk pictures on the sidewalk. I asked them if they wanted an old Barbie doll, and they all ran to me to claim her. As I left, they were giggling and talking excitedly about what clothes they could put on her from their doll collections.
When I got home, my mailman was just leaving the mail at my front door. We chatted for a bit—about what a beautiful day it was, about how time flies and we just couldn’t believe it was almost the holidays. As we talked, I saw the extra broccoli plants that I had bought to plant in our garden. I asked my mailman if he had a little garden spot where he could plant some broccoli and whether he’d like these plants. It turned out that he’d planted potatoes and tomatoes before, but never broccoli, though he was wiling to try. So I bagged them up for him and off he went, carrying the mail in one hand and his new broccoli plants in the other.
Try experminting with giving something to someone. We are all blessed to be surrounded by abundance. Sharing with others is rewarding: It’s always a good time to do it.
You don’t have to give someone a material object. Maybe you give of yourself by extending a favor to someone. Or maybe your gift is as simple as offering someone a cup of tea or a hand with a chore. Whatever it is, give yourself and another person the chance to rejoice in your generosity.
Kathleen