Day 41: The Ripple Effect of Giving

Day 40 / A Gift

Every day I GIVE something back and today I was the receiver – not only of one but two great gifts I wanted to share with you.

The first is from a dear friend and loyal 365give follower. Here is the GIVE she gave me today.

“How can do something to support Jacqueline in her Chef’s Challenge for a Cure? How can I donate to women’s cancer research and add to my own increasing strength, while showing my gratitude for my life and give a gift to others.

I had kidney surgery for cancer a month ago and had 1/2 a rib removed. The best thing I decided to do is to rake lawns here in Toronto. The lawns are covered with beautiful spattering of Fall, while the weather is complimenting The Challenge!
I acquired my first contract last evening and this morning joined nature to rake! I am on my way…………Two lawns a day would be quite wonderful accomplishment and a donation in return.
The Renegade Raker

Thanks “TRR” what a huge personal gift for me, the ongoing research for women’s cancer’s and what a gift to yourself. I believe that this additional fitness regime will help your continued recovery in a wonderful and postive way and what an excellent way to show others what you can do if you really try after cancer surgery. My personal motto is “it’s not what you can’t do but what you can do” Thank you for your support and dedication in helping to find a cure to women’s cancers.

PS Just as a note “TRR” is 73 years old!!!

The second gift I received was a gift of time.

If you have read my blog you will know I am a full time Mom, I have my own small business in event production and I work on 365give every day. Some days I am overwhelmed, stressed to the limits and exhausted. I have never had a nanny, and I only use our local Community Centre for child care 2 days a week for a couple of hours. I work when he is sleeping so I get up at 6:00 am every day and work again during his nap in the afternoon, then back at the computer most nights (if I haven’t fallen asleep while putting him to bed). To get “extra time” hands free without my son is truly a gift.

I work no harder than so many people out there but when someone offers me a few extra hours to do whatever I want it is a GIVE of epic proportions.

I have a dear friend named Liza that called me to ask if she could babysit my son for a few hours today. She required no payment, and she called me to spend some time with Nic. Liza is a very young retired school teacher and she is the ideal person you want spending time with your child. She picked him up at his play class and returned him home exhausted 4 hours later. He is now sleeping like a baby as I write away.

I was hands free for 6 hours!

Each day I write about my giving every day and how it makes me feel. Some GIVES inspire a feeling of hope, some a feeling of love and some just pure satisfaction that I did something. Today I wanted to tell you how it feels to receive.

I had an extra time ponder life over a coffee, accomplish some work that had been on my “to do list” for weeks and to just breath. I feel refreshed, de-stressed, and so happy to know that now I have an evening to really sit on the floor and play with my son without the feeling of having the chore list looming over my head.

As much as I love to GIVE to the world every day I wanted you to know how good it felt to receive from someone and the ripple effect it can have without even knowing it.

You may not always know the outcome of each GIVE you do every day, but it does have a ripple effect. By Liza giving to me today I had more time to fund raise for women’s cancers through the charity event I am participating in called the Chef’s Challenge for a Cure. My son had a ball which makes him happy and now I have more quality time to spend just playing and having fun. We know how quality of time with your child effects their life forever.

The ripple continues as the money I raised today may just be the funds that find the cure for cancer or bring hope to someone that has the dreaded disease. The ripple continues….. just maybe one women may not suffer from breast cancer and just maybe that women in turn does something great for someone else. It’s how giving works. We could follow the the same path with the generous donation “TRR” is giving by raking leaves. Who is she helping by raking the leaves and how does that inspire them?

There is a great booked called “the five people you meet in heaven” by Mitch Albom. It is about the effect you have on someone’s life and you never realize it until you die.

Every GIVE has a ripple effect. What was your give today? What did you receive today? How did it make you feel? It only takes a minute to GIVE and it effects someone or something in a positive way. The gifts given to me today certainly did.

Thank you Liza for GIVING to generously to me and to Nicolas today. Your time and effort is valued and so appreciated.

Thank you JMR for working so hard to help find the cure for cancer.

Liza’s Time: 4 hours

JMR’s Time: to be determined

Cost: 0