The Thanks and Giving Project Recap

All this week, I've been spreading a little love through the thanks and giving project with a group of awesome bloggers.  Each day we had a task to complete.  I chose to complete the tasks in a very different order than assigned, but I completed them none the less.  Here's how it went:

Day 1 (Nov.18):  Treat a stranger.

I treated a neighbor this day instead.  I'd been wanting to bake for our new neighbors and just kept putting it off.  I knew if I waited until Wednesday to do this task I would just put it off again so I decided to do it on Monday so I could bake on Sunday and it'd still be fresh.

 

Oh, y'all.  I don't even know how to begin telling you how this went.  The lady we share a wall with is...I'm really trying not to say crazy here....not quite right in her old age.  She's adorable and hilarious but I have to be in the right mind to socialize with her.  I had a rough day and really wasn't feeling it but I convinced myself that this project wasn't about me, it's about others so I took a mini apple pie over to her anyways.  After 10 minutes of me yelling, literally yelling, through her door, I convinced her that it was just Jessica, her neighbor, and safe to open up (this was after she cracked the door then slammed it to run back inside and put on her wig).  Once she actually opened the door and I handed her the pie she looked me in the eye and asked me what my name was.  You guys I've talked to her 3-4 times a week every week for months now and I had just spent 10 minutes yelling "IT'S JESSICA" through her closed door.  All I could do was smile. 

 

30 minutes later she called me and told me what a blessing it was to have us in her life and how grateful she was that we moved in next door.  That's what this project is all about.  I'm so glad I sucked it up.  This is what this whole project is all about!

 

I took the extras to work and treated my "neighbors" at my new job too.

 

Day 2 (Nov.19): Send Handwritten notes.

 

I loved this day.  I really enjoy both sending and receiving mail and I try to send letters frequently.  I hadn't done it in a while so I made up for it on Tuesday.

 

Day 3 (Nov. 20): Treat A Neighbor.

 

Since I had treated a neighbor on Monday, I treated a stranger on Wednesday.  I debated for quite some time on what I wanted to do for this.  The whole pay for the next person in line at Starbucks was too easy and I don't even like Starbucks.  I had to stop at Target on my way home from work so while I was there I picked up a small gift card.   I truly wanted the stranger to be a stranger and I didn't want any acknowledgement for what I was doing so I decided to leave it on a car in the parking lot.  At first I was going to choose the car based on who looked like them might need it (taped up windows versus a BMW) but decided I wanted it to be random and not based on any prejudgments I might have had so I eventually decided to put it on the car that was parked next to me and that's what I did.  I have no idea who received it but I hope it brought them joy and blessings.

 

Day 4 (Nov. 21): Leave messages of kindness.

 

I didn't even think about the project on Thursday until I was on my way home from work.  I was just too busy and it slipped my mind.  I knew what I wanted to do for day 5 so I skipped ahead and treated the hubby instead.

 

Day 5 (Nov. 22): Treat Your Family.

The last task I had to complete was "leave messages of kindness".  I woke up thinking this was going to be an easy one but my mood was drastically altered around 9 am (I forget not everyone understands and appreciates my sarcasm) and I was struggling to be pleasant to the people around me, kind wasn't even in my vocabulary at that point.  Myself and the other new girl in my office were sent home early (slow season and everyone we support took off on vacation) and a few hours with my husband had me back to my usual self.  I headed off to the grocery store without a thought of the T&G project.  Twice while I was grocery shopping I had a stranger say to me, "that was nice of you" (once for moving out of the way to let an older lady get through a congested area and once for telling the person in line in front of me that they had opened a new lane instead of jumping ahead of her).  This reminded me that I am a nice person, even when I'm not trying.  My actions sent messages of kindness without me even having to try.

I'm so glad I participated in this project.  It made me step back and appreciate kindness and refocus my heart on service, where it belongs.  Huge thanks to Nicole for putting this together and including me!