My gift for Day 25 was the gift of Public Service.
My gift for this particular day was completely unplanned; admittedly, I was preoccupied with work, feeling incredibly swamped and hadn't spent a stitch of time thinking about what my gift for the day would be. I was overwhelmed with assignments and wasn't feeling particularly creative, so in all honesty, I was slightly relieved that the opportunity to give - more or less - presented itself (just keeping it real, folks).
Getting out of my car in the parking lot, I was distracted by the envelope that fluttered at my feet, swirling in rhythmic circles as if dancing to music I could not hear. I bent down to pick up the envelope, preparing to throw it into the dumpster on my way into work. While doing so, I spied the crushed, empty, paper coffee-cup near the rear tire of my car. I picked up said coffee cup and made my way to the dumpster while surveying the entire parking lot. There was litter and garbage everywhere.
I don't normally view the parking lot with these eyes; most of the time, I am deep in thought or distracted by the days events to notice such things, but for the first time, I noticed just how ugly this type of litter can be.
And right there, I released gift number 25. For the next (approximately) 10 minutes, I walked around the parking lot and picked up litter and trash that skittered across the pavement or hugged at the curbs. And all the while, I was amazed at what people can casually throw out their car windows; cigarette boxes and cigarette butts, empty food wrappers, empty coffee cups, straws, paperwork, plastic bags and even a dirty diaper (and no, in all honesty, I couldn't bring myself to pick this up). Seriously...what gives? WHO does that?
I realize that my gift is a mere drop in the bucket as to what needs to be done for the earth as a whole, but it has certainly opened my eyes to such things that are so easily missed on any given day. It's not often that I acknowledge the trash that litters our sidewalks (and beaches!), but on this particular day, I was reminded of ways that I can help to keep this world we inhabit, beautiful.
Friends, wherever you are, if you see litter or trash on the ground, do your part and please, pick it up!
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Today's Gratitude List:
1) Waking up before the alarm clock, thus giving me an extra 20 minutes to lounge in bed.2) Finding the "perfect" apple at the grocery store.
3) Receiving a hand written note and a CD in the mail from my friend on the East Coast (thank you, Ashley!).
This really is a great gift...never thought of it that way. Simple...but so important.
ReplyDeleteI Will do! Today!
Your challenge has really struck a chord with me and I've been regularly thinking about what I can do. During the last snowstorm, I found myself up at an ungodly hour and went outside and cleared the snow from around my neighbors' cars in the street. I felt great being able to be a positive start to someone else's day and I got a great workout out of it as well. :) Thanks for being an inspiration to everyone reading this blog.
ReplyDeleteI love this one and I am so sad this 29 gifts series is almost over:-( Sad I read a book once about a family who went on a "service road trip" and one of the days they stopped at the beach to pick up trash and by the time they were done they had recruited dozens of other people by example.
ReplyDeleteHi Angie, What an amazing and difficult journey this has been :-) I feel sort of silly saying that it was difficult as most of my gifts were quite simple. I think it was the process of consciously coming up with something new every day. Like you, I go about my day helping where I see a need. I am easily pulled into the plight of those less fortunate than myself and I offer help where I can. This challenge was somehow different, though maybe I made it more difficult than it needed to be. I found myself sometimes anguishing over giving this gift or that one on a particular day. :-) I'm not sure "I did it right," but I persevered and completed the challenge. I was always struck my your sweetness and your openness as you journeyed through your own challenge. You have been so creative and I have been inspired even more. What if everyone picked up trash in their path, or noticed the pup in the truck and actually did something about it? What if everyone who passed "the man" actually acknowledged his existence? What if everyone served their friends and family and strangers? What if? You have given me much food for thought this month and I am so grateful to have jumped on this bandwagon with you. It has been another gift this month and I look forward to what you have in store in the coming months. Have a wonderful day...~Blessings, Janet
ReplyDeleteAngie, I wouldn't be able to take myself to pick up the diaper either, but you have a heart of gold. You're absolutely right, we should all help out and it only takes a few minutes, as you've proven here to clean up. Even though at that point in time it isnt your mess, there will be a time where someone may have or will clean our mess up :)
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Katie
Jen: Hello, friend! Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteJan: You have no idea how much I love knowing that I've inspired others to do the same; I love hearing stories of how you've all reached out to extend kindness to others. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment here. I imagine if I lived in an area that had so much snow, I would dread shoveling as much as the next...that was a really nice thing to do for your neighbor; what a great way to start their day! xoxo!
Shalyn: If you happen to remember the name of that book, please let me know...I would love to read it!
Janet: Oh girlfriend, if anyone can understand how "difficult" this challenge is, it's you! I found it really hard to come up with creative gives every day, too! Phil was surprised that I managed to stick with it and that I didn't use simple things like smiling at a stranger, holding doors open or letting people cut in front of me in traffic as my "gifts". Please don't question whether or not you "did it right", because you absolutely did. You gave from your heart and went out of your way so many times just to extend kindness to others, and that says so much. I was so happy that I inspired you to do the same, and I thank you for going on this journey with me. I have to say, it was nice to see you blog entries in my dashboard; I was always so excited to see what your gifts were! Much love to you, my friend!
Katie: Yeah, I draw the line at dirty diapers! ;)
We have a very small public area by our Camp. During the summer people leave trash there all the time. Sean and I have gone over there and picked it up multiple times - even finding a dirty diaper that I let him take care of. I can't even get myself to spit gum out outside let alone leave an envelope or a cup or anything. I don't understand the lack of respect people have!
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