Everyday we move forward with things we have to do or want to accomplish. Today & on other occasions I have been reminded that as focused and consumed as I can be on the things on my to-do list, I am actually trying to also live a life of purpose ON purpose.
So there are small moments or incidents that a higher power aligns itself to my inner being to refocus my attention on these basic beliefs: ‘We all have gifts inside of us. Our gifts are not for ourselves. And while I am the strongest advocate for self-preservation, we are to be unselfish with our gifts!’ I think often we conveniently give our gifts to our favorite people or try to morph our gifts into something profitable. That’s not wrong, but what does it look like when we are a planet of people who wake up in the morning looking forward to who the day will show us to share our gifts with? If anybody we encountered was a candidate. If experiences and visions led us to live, respond, create, and love in a way that our focus was to share our gifts.
On a recent visit to my Mom’s, we arrived at her house after being out all day & upon arriving at the door she noticed a huge bag of peaches. No note, no name. No clue. Just a big bag of peaches hanging on the door waiting for her. It was not random because getting to Mom’s door requires finding or knowing how to enter this hidden backway to her address, walking past the car port, opening the gate, and coming inside the yard. So somebody went out of their way to leave those peaches for her on purpose.
Later we found that they were from a friend who participates in a food co-op. She pays a small fee to get a bunch of naturally farmed produce on a monthly basis. It’s never a guarantee of what will be in the co-op share that month and you get what you get in terms of amount or variety. So Mom’s friend realizing that she couldn’t eat all the peaches herself decided to give them away. This was a good match because Mom loves to eat fruit, makes a mean cobbler, and always has people that she can share good things with (insert photo of peach-loving daughter here).
It’s like that! We should see, own, and operate with our gifts in the mind and heart that whatever gifts we have are not to be kept to ourselves. Somebody out there needs what we have. We should realize the unlimited natural source that these gifts come from, our good fortune to have access to them, and then be inclined to give them away….unselfishly. Why hold tight and hoard or waste that which you do not own??? We should be facing every dawn intentionally clearing a space to say ‘May my heart and mind lead me to people, places, and things that need my gifts. Let me move out of the way and be selfless enough to recognize who is in need and can benefit. And when I encounter that moment, let me wrap my gift in love as I share it, that the receiver may be like a kid on Christmas morning (or a sweet lady finding a bag of peaches at her door – lol).
The thing I find most beautiful in this concept is that while we all love a great gift, usually the thing that blows us away more is the actual giving. The gift is wonderful, but I am touched when people think of me and act on wanting to share with me. That is the gift! That we acknowledge and remember each other. That we live wanting to bring goodness and joy to someone else. That’s love and if you’re blessed, that’s life!
I work daily still to share unselfishly, but am grateful for the reminders & nudges to keep me focused on living with this purpose in mind. What are your gifts? How and when do you share them? Have you trained yourself to be consumed daily with sharing your gifts unselfishly? What has been your perspective as a giver and a recipient? I shared my perspective. What is yours?
Jai Perspectives 
What a beautiful gesture by your mom’s friend. I love hearing stories like this, showing how beautiful the world is.
I have a ton of junk that has accumulated over the years, and I’ve been meaning to have a yard sale, but it just hasn’t happened. It didn’t help that when I mentioned I was having a yard sale that my friends and family started bringing over their junk. I just need to get my butt in gear and have it this Saturday.
Hey Keri,
Yes! Thank goodness for random acts of kindness that bring us back to the basics…in the forms of juicy peaches! 🙂
I have been where you are with the collecting with a good intention (my girlfriends waited forever for me to host the ultimate swap party / girls night) but finding myself not making it happen as quickly as I had hoped. It has caused me to do some deeper looking at my priorities as well as my needs to do, give, be productive, etc. Sometimes there’s an underlying truth we can discover about ourselves. I had to ask myself if I was trying to do too much based on the energy, time, and resources I had. Sometimes I found yes, sometimes no.
Sometimes I have the best plans but if too much time has passed and I haven’t executed a plan, I try to update the plan to something new that I can attain with an immediate outcome (like your plan to yard sale this Saturday – brilliant, btw). My aforementioned swap party got tagged on to another function I hosted (Ironically, I realized along the way that I didn’t even have anything to swap. Go figure…so Jai of me. But I liked the idea and it served others more than it did me.)
Good luck with the yard sale!!! I hope you make great cash, get rid of all the items, and feel accomplished in your goals!!! WHOOO-HOOO!!! If that doesn’t work, maybe just give it all away in one good drop off to a thrift shop…because there will always be more things to collect and usually we could be using that collecting space for something else NOW, even if it’s just peace of mind! Let me know how it goes. I’d love to know how you worked it out.
Thanks for sharing,
~Jai