If I could teach my daughters one thing....

I used to love to shop. Don't get me wrong - I still love shopping but it's just not nearly as big a deal as it used to be. After I had children and as I have gotten older, I have found that finding a really good deal or something marked 80%off (which happened just last week) is really what thrills me to no end. What I have learned is that I really love giving away more than purchasing something for myself. I am not sure what changed or exactly what happened in my life or when I found that I felt better when I gave away than when I added to my own stack of stuff. Giving away makes my heart sing and my soul soar. My life has a feeling of completeness that I don't get from anything else when I am doing something for others rather than something for myself. If I could teach my daughters one thing it would be: buying stuff or things for the thrill of buying will never make you feel good for long - the only way you will feel 'filled up' is by doing something for others. Doing something for others will fill your soul in a way that no dress or shoes or purse can.

My mother passed away a few years ago and on her birthday this past March I decided to do something a little different. Rather than sit at home and be sad I decided to go out and give away some gift cards to strangers that I felt would appreciate a random gift of kindness. It was a day I will never forget and I felt that my mom would have been proud of the choices I made. I know that my mom lives through me and I hope that I am a reflection and reminder of the wonderful woman she was.
My daughter decided that for her birthday she wanted to do something similar. She came up with 14 Random Acts of Kindness Celebrating Caroline's 14th Birthday. We thought it over and made a list of random acts of kindness that wouldn't be too hard to do on a Satuday afternoon.
First, she had her guests watch this video.
Then we got busy.
All the girls got these tshirts as gifts and we loaded the cars and headed out. Caroline and her friends left coins and laundry detergent at the laundromat for people that came in to wash their clothes.

Gift cards were handed out to people in Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. Deciding to whom the gift cards should go was sometimes a hard decision.
This sweet girl received a gift card. A few minutes later she handed Caroline a birthday card she had just bought with the gift card in it as a birthday gift. She had written a sweet note about kindness. Caroline and her friends then passed the same gift card on to someone else. The girls talked a lot about how kind people are and how kindnesses and spirit of generosity should be passed forward to someone else.
Target customers got gift cards too.
The Fort Worth Fire Department got a big sack of cookies and in return they got to tour the fire station. They left notes on 10 Fort Worth police cars that said, 'thank you so much for your hard work and keeping our city safe'.
Cooks Children's Hospital received a big sack of coloring books and crayons and playing cards for the children waiting in the emergency room and for siblings of the sick children.

The more we give of self the richer we become in soul.

The more we go beyond ourselves in love the more we become our true selves

and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed.

Bishop of London

4-29-11

at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge