Simply Complicated Facts of Life

Day 1 of Giving: 29 Gifts in 29 Days

I decided that I wanted to give something every day during the holidays - and that same day as I strolled through Barnes & Nobles, I found a book called "29 Gifts in 29 Days" - perfect. I decided I'm going to do 29 gifts in 29 days through the holiday season in the way of time, talent and treasure.

Day 1 of Giving: Inspired and Inspiring 29 Gifts in 29 Days

It’s finally the Sunday after my llloonnngggg extended Thanksgiving vacation thanks to Snomageddon 2010 that hit Seattle on Monday of last week that also closed my office for 2.5 days to move us right into Thanksgiving and a long weekend. The snow and ice came sweeping into Seattle with a vengeance and shut down our city in one beautiful but chaotic winter wonderland.

But all that meant for me was laser focus work from home (which was actually great!) and more meaningful time with friends and family. I spent Thanksgiving wrapped in gratitude, warm conversation, much laughter and ending the day with a full heart. Family and friends really make the holidays what it is and helping us to remember what matters to us most.

The day after Thanksgiving, I woke up at 6 AM but not for Black Friday shopping with the rest of the crazy world, but instead to load up my car to meet 10 Firefighters in Auburn and 1 wonderful family – the Pretz family that includes 11 year old Colby with muscular dystrophy, to do our Fill-the-Boot fundraiser to catch those Black Friday shoppers. As you all know I absolutely despise mornings especially when the sun isn’t up yet so I wasn’t all too thrilled to head out in freezing cold temperatures. I will say, there is something to say about that silence when you’re up that early in the morning however – the startling yet beautiful silence is enough to put your heart at ease and to refresh your mind in a way that can’t be cleansed at any other time in the day.

Fill-the-Boot provides much needed funds for my organization (Muscular Dystrophy Association – MDA) but the thing that I love the most about Fill-the-Boot is just seeing how happy people are when they are dropping money in the boot because they know they’re doing something good. Today, however, Fill-the-Boot is a little different. We are moving into the holiday season, during a time where giving means more than ever. During the holidays giving is what we do, but during these economic times especially that giving is saved, measured, and prioritized. Seeing people drop money in the boot gave people an extra sense of pride and fulfillment that I normally don’t see and I know it’s because of the holidays. I especially loved seeing the families who are showing their kids what it means and what it looks like to give back to your community and how proud they are of the lesson.

Fill-the-Boot on Black Friday really drove it home for me that the holidays is all about giving. On my drive home, I thought about what means the most during these times and just as I mentioned previously, time and conversation with my family and friends is what makes it worthwhile. But there are a lot of people that didn’t get the extravagant Thanksgiving dinner that I did, and didn’t get to have meaningful conversations like I did. Giving is the one thing during the holidays that really makes me feel fulfilled, and I started to brainstorm on ways that I could give during a time where people feel most alone, depressed, and need meaning in their life more than ever – both people I know and love as well as strangers.

I decided that I wanted to give something every day during the holidays – and that same day as I strolled through Barnes & Nobles, I found a book called “29 Gifts in 29 Days” – perfect. I decided I’m going to do 29 gifts in 29 days through the holiday season in the way of time, talent and treasure.

So let it be known – I am declaring the month of December as the month of giving.

After my initial blog post and the overwhelming response I’ve gotten from it – I am now considering this blog post my Day 1 of Giving to inspire anyone that wants to join me in this journey or learn more about other people that have done it – you can check out www.29gifts.org. I’m not necessarily following the mold of what the book goes through, but the premise of giving during a time when it’s needed most is more definitely my underlying theme.

This officially marks my 29 days of giving and I will be blogging my journey along the way about what I give, why I give, and what I get in return because of it.

Happy Holidays everyone – tis the season for giving!

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