December 15, 2013

 

December 15th… can you please tell me how that happened!  Time is getting swallowed up in chunks, especially at this time of year.  I look back and wonder how as a working mom I was able to “get-‘er-done”; everything: the cards, the gifts, the parties… no problem.  And now as a retiree, well you know, it all seems more complicated.  Maybe when we’re younger we plow right through things, all systems go… and as we age we analyze things to death and take way too much time making minute decisions.  I’m blathering on and on here, which is kind of my point.

The word this week is SHARE: To give freely what is yours without expectation of anything in return.  It’s a beautiful concept really.  One of the first things children are taught on play dates is to Share.  It’s not an easy lesson; one that usually involving tears, tantrums and sometimes physicality that challenges the WWW Smack Down.   But at some point, usually, they get it.  So Sharing does not come naturally, it is counter-intuitive.  Once we get something we love, we want to cling tightly and never, never, never let go…especially if someone else shows interest in it.  MINE!  Ah, time to “Loosen the Grip”… Share.

A year or so ago my daughter in law Kathryn was talking to my grandson Jonathan about bullying and asking if there was anyone in his class who was a bully… Jonathan, who was six at the time, said…”Well there is this one girl who always tries to keep all of the hand-sanitizer!” So at six years old, he associated bullying with not sharing.  I think he’s got something there!

Sharing comes from kindness and caring.  There is no payback involved; it’s just to make someone else happy, more comfortable, or perhaps safer.  It is giving up a part of what you have to enrich another.  It is the exact opposite of hoarding… when you hold onto something so tightly you squeeze the life out of it.  That must stem from fear of loss or lack.

To me one of the most important things we can share is our story.  Through our most difficult trials and tribulations we can help someone who may be in the midst of a crisis or challenge.  Personally having survived what another is suffering can be the balm of hope to one who feels defeated, afraid, and alone. SHARE.

“We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for Sharing .”    Billy Graham

 

With love and jingle bells,

Bonnie