Quiet Habits

Giving is one of the greatest things we can do with our lives. There are many forms of giving and many ways to give back to those around us and around the world.

If you have the means, you can give money or physical goods, like clothes, food, or hygiene products. This kind of giving helps take care of people's physical needs and is an important way to ensure that people who are less fortunate with physical things can feel the security of having a meal to eat, money to pay bills, or things to help them take care of themselves.

If you have an amazing talent, you can give your knowledge and time to others who will benefit from sharing your knowledge and talents. You can volunteer to teach business skills to young students or help unemployed people write resumes. You can teach young couples how to improve marital relationships, or budget, or basic household skills. You can delight, entertain, and open the creative minds of children with music lessons, poetry readings, or art lessons.

If you have an abundance of spare time, you can spend that time with the homeless, the sick, the weary. You can volunteer to hold and comfort infants in the hospital, visit children suffering with cancer, or talk to the elderly living in care facilities. You can comfort your mourning neighbor who just lost their spouse. You can write letters to lonely friends and family who live far away. You can invite anyone living far from home to join you for holiday dinners and activities.

If you have love in your heart, you can give freely to the mother struggling with a fussy child at the doctor's office. You can leave notes for your significant other to brighten their day. You can wave and smile at the drivers around you. You can recognize someone for their hard work and dedication at work. You can bake cookies for the new neighbors who you haven't met yet. You can secretly leave gifts for a young family to enjoy.

There are countless ways and things to give. And the wonder of giving is that the more you give, the more you get back. Because love always finds a way to multiply and return to the sender. Especially as we near this season of sales and shopping, remember that the gift of giving does not always have to be found in an ad or on a store shelf.