Day 7❦ Stay focused on my goal.

Day 7

The Gift: A spatula set

Today tested me and required me to look at my non-existent rules again. As the end of the day neared and I put my attention to the fact that it was eleven thirty at night and I had not availed myself of any giving opportunities I knew I had to get busy. But what? I know - my husband had mentioned several days ago that if I wanted to get him a gift in the near future, I might want to consider a spatula set. Our current set had seen better days before running through the garbage disposal and being exposed to the heat of the gas flames. I ran to get my keys and as I was driving into the parking lot (where apparently I also have sudden bursts of thought) several questions popped into my mind:

• Does it count if I get someone something they have asked for?
• Does it count if I buy something for a family member?
• Does a late night run to the store to salvage a giving opportunity count?

I love taking advantage of giving people something that they have asked for. As a strong advocate of encouraging people to ask for what they want I love giving positive consequences for those who do just that. So, I was able to dispatch my concern about giving someone something that they have requested, in fact, I think it would be fun to encourage that behavior and will need to incorporate that concept into my giving plans.

Now for another question, the concern about giving something to a family member might pose a more difficult question. My husband and I have been together for thirty years and have always practiced the act of giving to each other as the opportunity arose. That practice had taken a lot of pressure off of the expectations that grow around some of the more traditional giving holidays like Christmas and Mother’s Day. When we give to each other on a routine basis as the opportunity reveals itself and make it happen, we do not have a long list of pent up desires and thus no inflated expectations about what we might get. That does not mean we don’t get into the surprise aspect of giving - and really work hard to find times to add that extra surprise in giving, we just stay away from giving simply because “society” or advertisers tell us we should give. So I decided that giving to family and my husband will count in my daily giving exercise - I just need to not rely on giving to him at eleven-thirty at night to get me off the hook.

The eleven-thirty store run brought up a significant gray area that would be too easy to slide into so I realize that a guideline needs to be drawn -

GUIDELINE # 3 - A giving day begins at one minute after midnight and runs through mid-night. Once a day is done a new giving day begins.

While I would like to think that I will not be making many more runs to the store at eleven-thirty at night just to satisfy my daily giving requirement - I knew that I would much rather do that than miss a day. Missing a day is simply not an option, that would defeat the entire purpose of the Simple Gifts exercise. I can already think of so many excuses about why I couldn’t, or why I didn’t - so my resolve is to remain focused. This is actually one of the core issues related to why I need to do this exercise - I need to make the choice about staying focused on giving to keep me from falling back into that dark place.

❦ Choosing to stay focused on my giving goal will keep my mind from wandering away from my purpose.