It Truly Is Better To Give Than To Receive...

Image from Lonny

This is the season of giving, and what a delight it is to be surprised by a wonderful gift. However, the saying "it is better to give than to receive" holds a lot of truth!

While the holidays are a great time to focus on generosity, the opportunities to give are not limited to the holiday season. When I think of the "gifts" that have been most memorable to me they were not traditional gifts, nor did they come during the holiday season.

The first memorable gift I recall was given to me by a woman I greatly admired. She was visiting the family I nannied for in Chicago, and we were all sitting on the front stoop on a hot summer day. She had just returned from an exotic trip and was wearing the most fabulous pair of earrings found during her travels. I complimented her on them and before I could blink she took them off and handed them to me. I couldn't believe it, and was absolutely thrilled. I wore those earrings for years, each time remembering the feeling I felt when they were given to me.

The second memorable gift was given to me a few years later, after I had graduated from S.A.I.C. and had begun my own business designing and manufacturing a line of clothing. I went through a hard spell when accounts were not paying their bills on time. After paying my accounts and help, there was often virtually no money left over for essentials. One day I was really down, and during a phone call to a friend I mentioned that it was getting so tight there wasn't even money left over for groceries. An hour later the bell rang and the friend walked into my apartment with two big bags of groceries, loaded with all my favorite foods to help me get through this tough moment. I'll never forget their thoughtfulness and how much it meant to me!

Recalling these "gifts" it is a wonderful reminder to find opportunities to give and how you never know what the impact of an act can have on another...even years after the simple gesture.

Happy Giving...this season and all year long!


{and speaking of giving...today is the last day to enter the Kassapanola Pillow Giveaway! Enter here and look for the two winners to be announced tomorrow!}