What Will You Give?

It is the season for giving and forgiving. As we approach the end of 2018, it is time to reflect on how the year was and more importantly, is your heart filled with gratitude? Did you give people enough reason to smile when they think of you? If not, it's never too late. You can follow simple steps to help people and end the year with love and gratitude in your heart, which will make you not just a happier person but also a healthier person, because gratitude helps us feel faster, reduces blood pressure, makes sleep sounder and repairs our immune system. Enough reason for you to open your heart, isn't it?
 
Clear your wardrobe. This is the easiest. Decluttering not only helps us, it also helps those around us. Just rummage through your clothes, shoes and whatever you have not worn in all of 2018, you know very well that you're not going to wear those items again. You have been through winter, spring, summer, autumn and now winter again, you have been through office, casual evenings, celebrations and yet, you have not used these items at all. So you know that you're not going to use them. Take them out, lighten your wardrobe, and look around you. Someone in your staff needs decent clothes and essentials, donated to them and watch them give you that grateful smile.

Carry chocolates and blankets in your car. Almost on a daily basis, we come across little children begging at streetlights. With the Christmas festivities and lights everywhere, these kids with frugal clothes and food don't know the meaning of pampering. They need a blanket to keep them warm and a chocolate to make them feel like a child again. Every time you stop at a crossing and a child comes up to you, just rolled down your window and donate these items.

Make a year end list.  In 2018 from Jan till now, there must be a few people who must have touched your heart, done a good deed for you without you asking, looked out for you, cared for how you need, work, sleep. This could be your spouse, an office colleague, a buddy or your child who brought you joy unknowingly. Did you tell them? Did you say that you are thankful that they were part of your life and that gesture of theirs really touched you? If not, now is a good time. Very often, we forget to thank those who care the most about us and end up taking them for granted. Work will come and go, organisations will survive without you but these people may not. More importantly, you may not end up surviving without them. So why don't you just tell them and watch them smile with surprise? You know who I want to end up surprising by saying thank you? My gardener who makes my plants healthy and flower, that particular waiter who gives precise instructions to the chef so that I can get food to my specifications. I'm sure you never thought of such people, right? They are also doing a day's job for a living, just like you and I are. A little bit of appreciation helps them do their work better.

Let go. Just like appreciating somebody helps you feel better, forgiving people and walking away releases negativity much more than holding onto a grudge. If somebody has been unfair to you, wronged you, it is their misfortune. If you hold onto that grudge, you are festering the negativity. Let go, walk away. You will be surprised at how much peace it gives you. If they were mean to you, they’re not meant to be in your life. So why are they in your thoughts? Move on, find people who appreciate you and start your 2019 on a clean slate.

This December and in 2019, stay healthy, spread the cheer, gratitude and receive the blessings. Wishing you and your families a merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy and warm 2019!