Create Opportunities For Joy

100 Days of Giving at Amazon

Each day of 100 Days of Giving includes a daily reflection for you to consider and the story behind the reflection. Today's giving reflection "share a new memory" is so important considering the number of homeless youth who surround us. Those homeless children, teenagers and young adults have only the items they can carry to connect them with their childhood. Why would they want to remember their childhood?, you might ask...read today's story for one perspective and then consider how you are going to help create or share a new memory for someone.

Here is the link to the story behind the reflection: Day 26 of 100 Days of Giving

I began the exercise of giving every day at a time when I could have used a little push to get underway; we often need that little extra encouragement, accountability, support...whatever you want to call it, so this time around I am giving to all of you a few questions to respond to, journal about or contemplate related to your individual daily giving experience. If the questions stir something in you - great, if they do not - great, write about that. The most important part is to do something...and as one of my favorite mentors Yoda said, "There is no try, only do." Each day in 100 Days of Giving offers you an opportunity to read about alternative giving options as well as some questions to consider...

Today's Giving Thought: "Share a new memory."

Day 26 - For your daily giving journal:

• What did you give today?
• What new memory did you help create for someone?

Please feel free to write about your experience in the comments section, share with someone else, or keep to yourself...whatever works for you, just keep in mind that one of the most important part of giving is being open to receiving and the more you share with others, the more you will receive in return. As difficult as receiving may be for you, it is an essential part of giving, so challenge yourself and give receiving a try, or a "do...there is no try, only do."

Now that 100 Days of Giving is available as an e-book you can purchase it for $3.99 at Smashwords: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Smashwords and get all of the daily experiences, journaling exercises and stories.

To read Day 26 click on this link: Day 26

To read about all 100 days's giving experiences you can download the e-book in a variety of formats at: 100 Days of Giving at Smashwords
or through Amazon for your Kindle: 100 Days of Giving e-book at Amazon

Day 26 ❦ Today, share a new memory.

Day 26

The Gift: Two photo albums

Over the course of this one hundred days you may notice the theme of photos. I take photos all of the time and with all of the technology available am so appreciative that they are so easy to take. I can use my phone, webcam, a variety of cameras - but more importantly - I like to print them out...in fact, I love to print them out on photo paper, as pages in photo albums, on cards, anywhere. I think if I got into scrap booking I would be dangerous but I stop at photo albums and giving people envelopes of pictures.

Despite the ease with which I can take a photo, I can just as easily lose that same photo and I think that is one of the things that drives the gift today. How often does a computer crash? A phone is dropped into water and all photos disappear? A camera battery dies and now real photo printing no longer exists for all of those negatives I have stored. But an even greater thing drives my craziness for taking and giving photos in photo albums...I have only 2 photos of me as a child and I miss being able to connect visually with that part of me.

There are few words to describe what it is like to lose your childhood at nine when the Sheriff stands at your door with a lock and announces to the world that you no longer call this place home and that all of your belongings will be sold to someone who can pay for them. My life and photos all put up for sale in the blink of an eye. Now granted, I may not particularly want to revisit those times in photos, but as an adult, I would like to just once peer into the eyes of that little girl and see if I can remember who she was, what she was thinking. I would love to be able to pull out photos of me and compare them with those of my children and their children like we can with my husband’s photos. I would love to be able to laugh about the silly things, blush at the embarrassing things and coo over the cute things captured in photos - but that was taken away from me as it has been for many children whose homes have been foreclosed on, who have lost everything in floods, fires and devastation. All we can do is move forward to provide opportunities for others to be able to laugh, blush and coo over the pictures of their lives. And, that is what this gift is about today - I gave 2 photo albums filled with photos of wonderful memories to our exchange student and oldest daughter so that they can look into the eyes of a child whose experiences are vast...and remember.

  ❦ Today, share a new memory.