Recently, a friend and colleague of mine lost her husband of 48 years. After some time away she had returned to work, one of our company’s business partners sent her a beautiful flower arrangement to express their condolences. My colleague was touched and loved the gift. She mentioned that she wished she could dry the flowers so she could preserve that arrangement as it looked for as long as possible.
As the weeks passed, she was unable to find a solution for drying the flowers. Soon they became brown and withered. I watched her pick at the pieces and throwing away only the rotting parts until there was just a few petals left.
However, when I initially heard her talk about the gesture and how much she loved the arrangement I suggested she take a photo while the flowers were still fresh. Remembering this I had an idea. So I asked her permission to take whatever was left home with me for the weekend . She agreed. I took the glass vase and what was left of the arrangement.
I went to Michaels, a craft store where they sell art supplies. I found a section filled with artificial flowers. I used that image as my reference and tried my best to match artificial flowers to the original ones. When I got home I began. I cut off the stems, I carefully tucked the new artificial flowers into place, making it look as beautiful as the day she received them.
After the weekend upon my return to work, I delivered the new arrangement to my colleague. I saw tears in her eyes, tears of appreciation. She was so touched that she even offered to pay me. I was flattered so I thanked her and kindly refused. I had not done it to receive anything back. I was happy I took the time to try and restore something my friend appreciated. Especially something that reminds her of her beloved husband.
Do you have good things you enjoy doing for others? Even small things? My husband and I often pay for the bill of someone behind us at a coffee drive through at Tim Horton’s. It has also happened to me more than once, when I have arrive at the cashier’s window to pay, only to find that someone already paid my bill. I tell you, this always makes me feel that there is kindness all around us.
What do you give to others? something that brings you joy? It doesn’t even need to be something tangible, it might just be your time or some other way you do something that makes others feel special.
There have been times when life has been so busy that I have felt like I’m caught up in a whirlwind and I am just trying to catch up…catch up to event invitations that I accepted, catch up to meeting friends and connecting; whether face to face, video calls, phone conversations, emails or texts. Then there is folding clothes after every laundry routine and ironing…yeah, my friends have expressed that I tend to iron more than most people they know. I even cringe when I see someone on the street with creased clothes. I feel like making an offer to iron what they’re wearing. Anyways, back to feeling like I’m in a whirlwind, I got to a point where I was tired of trying to catch my breath. I had to reassess.
Now, I mostly do not accept any invitations more than a week away, except if it’s a one in a lifetime kind of event like a wedding or graduation and so forth. There are times when I am organising an event or a group outing and there’s always one or two people who are constantly excited and talking about the event to come so much that I feel exhausted before the event arrives. It’s not that I don’t get excited about things. I will express my excitement the first time I hear about it or decide I am doing it. Then I plan. While I plan, I want to enjoy the process and details leading to the event. But if someone starts to tell me how they want to enjoy it and the things they want to do over and over…I start to feel as if they are giving me the experience prematurely then what’s the use of the actual experience? So I often tell those involved that they shouldn’t be surprised if I don’t talk about it, it does’t mean I am not excited, in fact I will have a genuine experience and fun at that occasion because I don’t put too much energy on the build up or create too many expectations in my head. I want to experience the actual occasion, what is and the moment.
Giving myself the opportunity to catch my breath means I’m also okay with doing the laundry in little bits and pieces. I am okay with coming home from work and not taking calls or texting and just be. I am okay with declining invitations even if it means I am home doing nothing, being with myself and being conscious of my breath, my thoughts and meditate or read or watch something funny and laugh out loud; alone or with my husband.
Pacing myself in everything has made me more thankful by giving thoughts of gratitude in the now. I am constantly in gratitude for everything. I give gratitude for big things like how my life is surrounded by love, family and friends to the feeling I get when I enjoy the sun’s rays on my face or when I am having a glass of water or taking a shower, or when I eat and taste my food to when I tend to plants and flowers on the deck and I tell them that I am grateful for their beauty. I notice when a stranger does an act of kindness and I say “thank you” looking at them so they know I have acknowledged their gift to me. The constant feeling of thankfulness makes me content and at peace.
As I thrive to be in a constant state of gratitude, I do get a little whirlwind now and then. There are times when a day just turns out to be a crappy one, notably, this happens more at work or when travelling and dealing with surprises in foreign places. I have learnt to take a moment to myself, breathe, then think of something that brings joy to my heart and I acknowledge gratitude for it. From there, I don’t dwell on the problem but I think of a solution. It all doesn’t feel like the end of the world after that. The most amazing part is that gratitude gives me more gifts in life that I keep being thankful for and the feeling of gratitude feels me with joy.
For the past few years, the commercialization of Christmas has become overwhelming. I generally don’t appreciate being forced or manipulated to make any purchase. I am the kind of person who plans their purchases. I decide what I want, I window shop until I am sure and then I budget. It doesn’t matter what a great salesperson one may be. There is just no way you can ever convince me to buy something I was not planning to purchase.
There are rare occasions I may be walking past a shop and something in the window or on a rack catches my eye and I have to have it! So I buy it. However, I cannot stand advertisements that instil an urge for things that people really don’t need. The message in these commercials is that if you don’t come out to get it now! The World will end and you’ll never get another chance to buy it. Especially at such a low price. The truth is that if I don’t need it I really don’t care how cheap it is. It seems Christmas has become a shopping madness.
I truly love giving, especially meaningful gifts but I often get overwhelmed by Christmas commercials. I have noticed they start them a day after Halloween or even as soon as the evening of October 31st. This is how I feel as an adult. I cannot imagine what goes through the minds of children. Or what an ‘I want’ generation this is breeding. But I won’t even go there.
To keep me grounded, I often reminisce of how I spent Christmas when I was growing up in Zimbabwe. The emphasis was not put on individual gift exchanges but on people coming together to eat, drink and dance. As a little girl, I often got two new outfits at the end of the year. One was to wear on Christmas Day and the other on New Year’s. On Christmas Day people cooked more so they could invite their neighbours and strangers. Passers by were invited in to eat. The emphasis was on sharing and showing kindness to others.
For the past few years, the commercialization of Christmas has become overwhelming. I generally don’t appreciate being forced or manipulated to make any purchase. I am the kind of person who plans their purchases. I decide what I want, I window shop until I am sure and then I budget. It doesn’t matter what a great salesperson one may be. There is just no way you can ever convince me to buy something I was not planning to purchase.
There are rare occasions I may be walking past a shop and something in the window or on a rack catches my eye and I have to have it! So I buy it. However, I cannot stand advertisements that instil an urge for things that people really don’t need. The message in these commercials is that if you don’t come out to get it now! The World will end and you’ll never get another chance to buy it. Especially at such a low price. The truth is that if I don’t need it I really don’t care how cheap it is. It seems Christmas has become a shopping madness.
I truly love giving, especially meaningful gifts but I often get overwhelmed by Christmas commercials. I have noticed they start them a day after Halloween or even as soon as the evening of October 31st. This is how I feel as an adult. I cannot imagine what goes through the minds of children. Or what an ‘I want’ generation this is breeding. But I won’t even go there.
To keep me grounded, I often reminisce of how I spent Christmas when I was growing up in Zimbabwe. The emphasis was not put on individual gift exchanges but on people coming together to eat, drink and dance. As a little girl, I often got two new outfits at the end of the year. One was to wear on Christmas Day and the other on New Year’s. On Christmas Day people cooked more so they could invite their neighbours and strangers. Passers by were invited in to eat. The emphasis was on sharing and showing kindness to others.
I know that beneath all the commercialization of Christmas there is a spirit of giving that this holiday signifies. It’s a magical time in many ways. I don’t want to be so put off by the advertisements that I end up not appreciating this time of the year. I initially told those around me not to get me anything this Christmas. It was my way of refusing to be exploited by commercialization of the holiday. But then I found out my fiancé’s family hasn’t been able to spend a Christmas together for almost 20 years and this holiday everyone will be there. So, in the spirit of making this Christmas special but not excessive, it was agreed to have a name raffle. This way each person buys a gift for the name they pick.
I wonder if there are people who are changing the way they shop for Christmas gifts. I would love to know how you are making this time stress free. I hope you all take a deep breath, be present in everything you do with family and loved ones. This is what makes beautiful memories. Merry Christmas.
I know that beneath all the commercialization of Christmas there is a spirit of giving that this holiday signifies. It’s a magical time in many ways. I don’t want to be so put off by the advertisements that I end up not appreciating this time of the year. I initially told those around me not to get me anything this Christmas. It was my way of refusing to be exploited by commercialization of the holiday. But then I found out my fiancé’s family hasn’t been able to spend a Christmas together for almost 20 years and this holiday everyone will be there. So, in the spirit of making this Christmas special but not excessive, it was agreed to have a name raffle. This way each person buys a gift for the name they pick.
I wonder if there are people who are changing the way they shop for Christmas gifts. I would love to know how you are making this time stress free. I hope you all take a deep breath, be present in everything you do with family and loved ones. This is what makes beautiful memories. Merry Christmas.
For the past few years, the commercialization of Christmas has become overwhelming. I generally don’t appreciate being forced or manipulated to make any purchase. I am the kind of person who plans their purchases. I decide what I want, I window shop until I am sure and then I budget. It doesn’t matter what a great salesperson one may be. There is just no way you can ever convince me to buy something I was not planning to purchase.