The Giving Tree

Over the Summer I had the wonderful opportunity to travel and meet some pretty incredible people. On one of my travels I experienced the act of loving kindness from a stranger and being who I am I offered the same in return with a Gift as a gesture of gratitude and appreciation. However, my gift was met with some resistance and it left me to really contemplate the acts of giving and receiving.

All my life I have always given of myself willingly and wholeheartedly from a place of authenticity. It has always been a pretty easy process for me to give as a woman, person, nurse, mother, and wife. Giving is always a good thing, right?

The exchange of giving and receiving is a loving act of kindness. On the giving and the receiving ends something beautiful and delightful occurs, making the Universe a much better place to live in, one little act at a time. The Giver feels prompted to give from a place of love, thought, and consideration and the Receiver is moved to feel gratitude for the Act of the kind gesture. A win, win for both. Right?

How about when you offer a gift and the opposing party declines to accept? This is what exactly happened to me and I really had to think about the situation. I know the resistance was not meant to be hurtful or mean or negatively intentional. I think it was much deeper and I really wanted to understand the process. So i thought about it and prayed for guidance. The next day after much thought and consideration I approached the same person with a message. I offered my most sincere understanding for not accepting my gift and I also offered light on the part of the Giver (myself) and for perhaps others moving forward. This is the message I offered.

Life is all about giving and receiving. Not just in gifts or in monetary objects, but in time, in presence, in laughter, hope, a lending ear, a shoulder to cry on, a compliment, a smile, a hug, a conversation, the touch of a hand, a phone call, a nice text, holding the door open for someone, letting someone pass you in a car, buying someone a cup of coffee. The List can go on and on. The positive energy that is exchanged among the giver and the receiver can cause a shift not just between the two people but between the next person who is in contact with the giver/receiver. It feels good to Give, and it feels good to receive. That goodness is carried on to the next person and the next person causing positive, vibrational energy that can last for days thus making our world a better place to live one act of kindness at a time. You know the Starbucks line where one person pays for the coffee in the car behind them and so on and so forth, causing a domino effect of coffee being paid for by someone else. Ive been in those lines! I was car 25, it was a pretty cool feeling knowing that i was in a line of thoughtful, kind coffee drinking people. Another aspect of the Giving/Receiving story is that sometimes it has nothing to do with the actual gift at all, it has to do with the actual intention. No matter how big or small, the exchange is just as crucial for the Receiver as it is for the Giver. When the exchange is coming from a loving place and a kind heart, allow the goodness to flow! You can create a shift of positive vibrations for days to come!

Over the years I've also learned how givers can sometime find themselves in a pickle, by giving too much and sometimes even getting taken advantage of. Leaving a person feeling distant, closed, afraid to accept, reluctant to give and jaded. So I've comprised a short list of Give and Receiver Etiquette

1. Always Give from a place of Love and Kindness

2. Always Give with NO expectations, don't even expect a thank you!

3. Never Give as a replacement for something else, or a wrong doing

4. Giving and Receiving is a two way street

5. If a Gift is not received or if a gift is blocked, know that it not about you. Everyone is on a different journey, continue to be who you are, continue to offer your gifts to others. Your offerings of kindness continue to serve as an example of goodness, as a light of radiance, and a blessing.

6. Give from the heart, no gift is ever too big or too small! All gifts have purpose and meaning, you will never know how a small gesture can make the difference in someone's day! Give a smile, a hug, compliment someone, send someone a thinking of you text, mail a card or small note/letter to someone you love. Snail mail is Amazing!

7. Be your authentic self when giving

8. Give with Grateful Heart

9.Give to YOURSELF, take time to eat healthy, drink plenty of water, take a nap, take a long hot bath, go for a walk, spend time outdoors, connect with the natural beauty of Mother Nature, under the Sun, next to a tree.

10. And last and most definitely not least,

Be a Reflection of What you want to receive, what you give out will always return

From My Heart to Yours,