Gifts

If you are a lawyer, you give your clients legal advice and if you are a mason you build people’s houses. Each job provides a useful service to the community. This is the way each of us contributes to the general welfare, according to the job we have chosen or have been given. Yes, our working activity depends either on choice or chance. Some can decide what they want to do, while others must accept what they are able to find. Anyway, they are jobs. But there is another kind of contribution, a gift that each of us can give others. It does not have to be something almost heroic, like leaving everything behind to become a volunteer worker in a remote part of the world. It’s enough for you to examine yourself and discover what is the hidden treasure, the specific skill you can gift your fellows human beings with. Anything can be useful, as long as it is a “service” given from your heart and for free. Some examples? Easy. I know two ladies who, beside their regular jobs, have specific skills they are happy to share with any friend who asks for advice. One is a real expert in nutrition. It’s not her job, she simply loves it, so she unceasingly studies this subject, researches new findings, applies whatever she learns in her and her family’s life. Therefore, whatever doubt you may have about the value of a certain food, or you need to know the best diet for wheat intolerance or how to cure a sore throat with herbs, she can tell you in an instant. The other one is on a totally different line of interest, not less interesting and even useful, depending on your needs. She virtually knows everything about hair care and makeup. Do you need to know the best technique for straightening your hair? You are not too sure about how to use an eyeliner? Choosing the best shade of lip gloss for your complexion? Ask her. She knows, and will be happy to share her expertise with you. Now, let us talk about you. What is your major interest? What do you know quite a bit about that might be useful to your friend, colleague or neighbor? Be willing to share it with open hands. You will be appreciated. You will do something good that will also make you feel good. There is nothing as fulfilling as giving for the sake of...just giving.