When Do You Give?

The subject of this post came up during my “New to me November,” campaign – aiming to do one new thing every day.  Some things were physical (i.e. hill workout, olympic triathlon workout, a new glute stretch) and some were knowledge based (reading the bible, learning Russian, pasta making).  What I hadn’t hit on as much were the things that were soul based.

Soul based.  What does that even mean?  To me it means an action with a purpose mainly meant to serve others or an action meant to enrich your soul so that down the road you can better serve others.

One could say that enriching your soul is something like reading a holy book, a philosopher’s work,  or meditating.  The lessons learned and thoughts revealed can take us to a place where we have a better sense empathy, a sense of balance in our lives and patience for all that goes on around us, (so, I guess reading the bible is a two-for-one).  With this enrichment, we can be better people for those around us.

What about strengthening your soul through selfless action?  The things we do to help others, be it as small as a dime in the Salvation Army bucket, can make us feel better, too.  It could be letting the dad with two kids in front of you at the grocery store (because if you haven’t experienced it, it sucks waiting in the grocery store line with two little ones for any time longer than 3 min – any more than that and you are fighting the thousands of requests for candy and gum).  It could also be something like bringing an extra pair of gloves when you go through town just in case you see someone who could use a pair.  Also, it could be something as simple as giving someone a smile and a hello.

This past weekend, my family and I participated in a walk for the poor.  The walk raised money for some of the folks in our community that could use additional funds to heat their homes, make repairs around their houses and other odds and ends.  It felt great being able to support a great cause, but even better, it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time together as a family and community. Win win!

Today, my sons and I packed up bags of food to give to our local food pantry for holiday meals.  As we packed the bags full and heavy, I couldn’t help but think how easy it was to do.  Then I thought, why don’t we do this more often?  The food pantry has always been asking for food, but why is it only now that we are doing it?  The saddest part is that up until this year, my rationale was that there wasn’t enough time.

Time.  There is never enough time is there?  I recently took a leave of absence from my job so that our family could take the frenetic pace down a notch, value the more important things in life, and take stock in how we are living.  The leave of absence certainly gave us more time.  Less money, but more time.  So far, I am okay with the less money, and so is the rest of the family.  We spend more time together doing meaningful things.  We have way less outbursts because our patience hasn’t been drained already.  Time.  We also have time to process what we are doing- it seems like there are so many things we just do and don’t question how or why.  I think that when we are in the thick of it, it seems like there isn’t time.

Time.  I have it now.  I can build my mind, body and soul.  And,  I am able to reflect on how I use my time so that when I do get back to work, I can maintain my whole (mind-body-soul) development.  Looking at it now, we are fortunate enough to be able to buy these things for others, and it is so easy to do- just pick up extras at the grocery store. I thought I didn’t have time, but I do, and I did, I just didn’t realize it.

So when do you give?  You give when you can. It doesn’t have to be something physical, it can be a gesture. Maybe you’re in a bad place right now and you can’t.  No judgement,  I hope you find and get what you need.  But, if the reason is you think that you don’t have time…perhaps it might be time 😉 to think about you are spending yours.