Share Your Enthusiasm

1/2/2013  Share Your Enthusiasm
I am so excited to focusing on giving instead of focusing inward.  I have had several ideas of what I wanted to give on day 1. I have a gift card to give to a co-worker that does everything for everyone.  She never takes time for herself.  I have to say I am in awe of what she does.  I thought she was going to be my first recipient but I'm gonna wait until a later time.

I raced into school this morning to tell a Nicole, who is struggling with many medical conditions and issues about the book 29 gifts.  I wanted to share my enthusiasm with her.  I wanted to help her order the book and have her join my book club on Friday to talk about it.  I wanted to get to know her better, but she wasn't at work today.

So, I started the day off my sharing my enthusiasm with one of the other wonderful women that I work with.  I was so excited to talk about the book, I think I was gushing.  Then I told another woman about it, hoping that she would want to join in the gratitude community.  In all, I talked to 3 different people at work about the challenge.  I shared the book with them, recommending them to read it on their own.  (I think that one of these days I am going to purchase a few hard copies of the book to share with friends, family, acquaintances and strangers who might benefit from its wisdom.)  I still have a few more people I want to talk to about the book, all in good time I guess.

At lunch today, I found out that a dear friend received some awful news about her dog.  This is her baby, the child she had before she had her two children.  She is struggling with the pain that her dog is in and the fact that she is going downhill so quickly.  She has the name of a vet that will come to her home and put the dog down in their home surrounded by family.  She is struggling, that's not how she wants to remember her dog.  Its not how she wants her children to remember their beloved pet.  I suggested that they take a day as a family to play with the dog and say their goodbyes.  I offered to take her to the vet when she is ready or to take the dog for her if she needs someone to do that.  Only time will tell if she takes me up on the offer but even then, this is not my first gift.

I have decided that my first gift will be to my 7 year old.  I always say I have 5 kids but in reality, I have 1 daughter and 4 step children.  (I was not supposed to be able to have children but was blessed after I married a man with 4 kids. A long story, I might tell at another time.)  My daughter spent many days over the holiday asking me to play "Monster High Dolls." I avoided it all winter break.  Yesterday, she was able to talk her dad into playing with her, but I was too busy reading to play. I feel guilty about that, I want her to know that I love her unconditionally. I am going to give her my time, undivided, no TV, no phone, no computer,... just time together to do whatever she wants to do.  I won't push her in one direction or another to play or do what I want to do,... it’s time for her,... about her,... it’s my gift to her.     :-)

1/2/2013  Give with an Open Heart
UGH- who would have thought spending time with a 7 year old would be hard to do.  After having to work a full day, we had shopping, dinner and homework that brought about tears and a temper tantrum. No I didn't cry or throw myself on the ground but I thought about it while she was screaming at me that she couldn't do her homework.

I wanted to give her the gift of my time,... of uninterrupted time and attention.... doing whatever she wanted.  It was quite a struggle to get everything taken care of that needed to be done so that we could have that time together.  It wasn't until 15 minutes before her usual bedtime of 8:00 that with homework done and emotions in check we headed up to her room to play.  She was so excited that I was doing to play Monster High with her,... 5 minutes of explaining who got to play who and what each girls "thing" was,.... we got into playing.

She had a blast and I did too,... we giggled and made the dolls talk to one another.  It was so nice to see her enjoying herself.  I finally felt like I was doing something right as a mom.  When we finally had to get ready for bed (45 minutes after the usual bedtime) she asked me to read her a story. Now usually at night she reads to me, to practice her fluency and to get minutes for her reading calendar.  She has a book shelf in her room and a pile of books on her vanity.  I reached for a book on the pile, without looking and pulled out the children’s bible....
Imagine my surprise,... isn't the one thing I want out of this is a renewed faith of some kind,... Another 15 minutes of reading her children's bible (which- I can't recall the last time we have done that) brought about a closeness and feeling of peace that I didn't expect.

I am excited about day 2.  I have decided to not plan ahead today,... I want to see what opportunities fall into my lap... Much of my life is planned out for me,... I have to get up at a certain time,... take care of my mother in law,... take care of my daughter,... thankfully the teens take care of themselves many a days,... but I do dinner for them,... clean the house,... do much of the laundry,... I want to see how the day unfolds,....

I am open to the possibilities that life puts in my path...