We may be striving to learn how to give more openly in our lives, and now is the perfect time to practice.  It is a wonderful time of year to focus on giving more than receiving and in doing so, you will open yourself up to receiving more love, light and joy into the holiday season and your life.  I challenge you to give every day for the rest of the year, and see how it makes you feel.  Below are a few ways that you can do this with simplicity and love.  Please share your experience on the blog and the Facebook community – what did you give, how did it make you feel?

• Smiles – Share your smile with strangers that you pass.  On your way to work, while you’re shopping – anywhere you find yourself.
• Homemade food – Surprise a friend, family member or neighbor with some cookies, soup, or whatever else you’re cooking in your kitchen.  Make a friend’s favorite meal and share it with them.
• Time – Offer to watch a friend’s child so they can take a much needed nap or go see a movie, or run an errand or do a chore for a loved one that you know they don’t enjoy so they can spend that time doing something they love.
• Simple acts of kindness – Hold the door for people; offer to help someone carry a heavy load.  Do something that doesn’t necessarily take a lot of effort but that rarely gets done.
• Make someone laugh – Good belly laughs are so important for our well-being.  Tell a funny joke, make a funny face, or have a tickle fight.
• Write a letter – Send a letter (or an email, but it’s always fun to get snail mail) to a friend or a loved one who you don’t reach out to as often as you’d like.  Tell them why you appreciate having them in your life, why you’re grateful for them, and share some fun memories.

What these ideas have in common is that they are low cost, low effort, but huge impact.  Think for a moment about how you would feel if someone did any or all of these things for you.  Pretty amazing, right?  You may start to realize that all this giving is addictive, so keep doing it! The magic of giving is that in the simple act of giving, even something that seems as small as a smile, is that we receive so much back and open our worlds and our hearts to new possibility, love, and light.

Peace, Love, and Wellness,

Xandra