29 Days of Giving: Days 5 & 6
Jun 7th, 2010 | By Rachel Elliott | Category: 29 Days of Giving, Personal Growth
June 5
Today I was lucky enough to have the time and fore-thought to be able to give my favourite kind of gift! One of the things that I love to do most is to cook for others. There is something about putting time and care into a meal that you can share with someone that just feels so good. A while ago I had arranged to go to my friend Joanne’s house with all the fixings for her favourite brunch meal: eggs benedict. We are both busy people so we had actually scheduled this brunch date into our calendars weeks ago, but the fact that this was a pre-scheduled gift didn’t take away from the experience one bit. It was so nice to be in her home and enjoying her company. It didn’t really feel like giving at all—I felt like I was taking a little!
June 6
As my giving challenge continues, I find myself going back to my perfectionist roots. When a giving opportunity doesn’t just fall into my lap, I have to think about what I can give and that makes me wonder if I am going about this the wrong way. I get critical of my gift of choice and wonder if they are good enough. This behaviour is far too familiar—too reminiscent of the perfectionist inside me. To combat it, I am going with my gut feelings about my gifts and what they should be.
Today’s gift was a coupon for a friend. A coupon? No wonder I am second-guessing my gifts—is a coupon a gift? But wait—the coupon was for 40% off at Banana Republic. It had value to me so I thought it would make a nice gift! It turns out that when I presented this little gift to my dear friend Erin, she was ecstatic, putting all of my fears of inadequacy to rest. She instantly knew how she wanted to use it, and it reinforced my belief that I really just need to follow my gut on gifts.
No more second guessing and thinking my gift is not enough—it was the perfect gift for the perfect person and I knew it all along.
Read about Day 4 in Rachel’s Challenge.
Read about Days 2 & 3 in Rachel’s Challenge.
Read about Day 1 in Rachel’s Challenge.
Read about why Rachel started the 29 Day Challenge.
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It really IS the thought that counts, isn't it? When you do something like that, it lets the person know you were thinking of them, which is REALLY the reason why we give, right?
Love you lots. You are wonderful.