I did it!
Gave away 5 leaves of the 10 Inspirational Quotes I'd created to 6 strangers; a couple, two girls and two guys... I was at a Mall yesterday and had carried the bunch of print outs with me...
I sort of 'picked' the people I gave the leaf to. The people I chose looked "at ease". They didn't seem to be pre-occupied or in a hurry. They actually stopped as I said "excuse me" and approached them, stood and heard me out and took the leaf from me happily...
Which is why I didn't give one to couples with kids (bad!). As all parents are, couples or a parent with children were pre-occupied, in a rush or on a short fuse. And I didn't want to hand over my precious leaf to someone who wouldn't have the time to go through it...or would just dump it...
Somehow, attaching an 'expectation' to how my leaf should be treated has also been a revelation of sorts for me... I mean I did "expect" some thing from complete strangers!!!! How human (and a gullible one at that) does that make me!
Which is perhaps the most important thing I have learned through the past 13 weeks. That each card I follow is not merely an act - there is a take away, a learning attached to every experience.
Letting go of my inhibition was difficult...but I had my kids to goad me on... And they also learned a
thing or two about approaching strangers. Most of all, I wasn’t feeling guilty
for having snatched even a minute of their precious time....
I am happy happy!
To join the Joy of Giving just follow the cards every week and post your experiences in a public forum - your own blog, note on FaceBook - or leave your story in the comment section of this blog.
To know how it started click here.
To track the Joy of Giving through the past thirteen weeks, click here
