Day 29 of 29 Gifts!

Thursday 27 May. As they say in Toastmasters meetings, this completes my assignment! My 29th of 29 days, on each of which I consciously gave a gift of some sort. Loved the journey. On my last day the gift was an educational speech to a Toastmasters 'Speechcraft' gathering (it was at Toastmasters I heard about 29 Gifts). And I also created a 'Last Day Bonus' - I acknowledged and thanked five people in my life namely my colleague Ivan, my colleague/ coaching buddy Kristen, the two Toastmasters stalwarts David and Margrit Fisher, and my beloved partner and wife Judy. Good way to finish. And I don't think I'm finished with giving gifts. An extraordinary psychological/ spiritual journey!

Days 26, 27 and 28 of 29 Gifts

Mon Tue, Wed 24, 25, 26 May... On Monday I called and offered to my long-time friend Maggie the gift of 29 Gifts! I sent her the link to how it started, and will email her my whole blog, when completed. (Which is tomorrow!) My gift on Tuesday was to offer to another good friend, with a fair bit of uncertainty, the information about how I've reduced my weight by 12kg - how I did it and the little speech I wrote about it. Uncertainty because it might seem intrusive to tell someone how to lose weight. He received the offer with grace and gratitude! (I've had so much unexpected value from the losing weight, it's good to offer it to others.) And today, Wednesday, I offered again the gift of 29 Gifts to a person I'm coaching - she was very interested in it, said it fits her approach to life - and am also sending her the Kahlil Gibran piece about 'Children'. Her two are about to finish school, a turning point. It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Day 29 of 29 Days!! What next?

Days 23, 24 and 25 of 29 Gifts

Fri, Sat, Sun 21, 22, 23 May. Quick, remember... what were the gifts? How quickly we forget what we did / offered / received. OK, Friday my gift was to the Sunrise Childrens Home in Nepal - six of us donate each year to maintain an orphan lad. We should have paid in January - well, now we have. Saturday, my gift was dinner for my sister and brother-in-law, aunt and cousin at our house at Mitchells Island, near Taree. The real gift was to US in that my daughter Amy joined Judy and me (confession: she cooked more than I did). Sunday, my gift was two poems and two speeches I gave Amy to read - about family and family-related things. For me on the weekend I got way more than I gave!!

Day 22 of 29 Gifts

Thur 20 May - Gee, only a week away from 29 Days!! Today, being not hugely original (poems were the gift of the week), I gave two more poems to Peter Wallman at the final day of the (brilliant) Passion Mapping Facilitators Training - one was a wonderful intense poem by Seamus Heaney about transformation at the moment of death, and the other from Yeats's 'Vacillation', the lines beginning 'Get all the gold and silver that you can...' And I read the group Rule No 6 from the great Art of Possibility (Ben and Rosamund Zander). And hey, I set up my first Passion Map to facilitate - with Kristen. That WILL be a gift.

Days 20 and 21 of 29 Gifts

Tues 18 and Wed 19 May. Yesterday I printed out three poems I love, by Yeats, Tagore and Derek Walcott, to take to the Passion Mapping facilitator training and give to Peter Wallman - poems that celebrate the miracle of life. And that's what passion mapping is uncovering. The four-day training is a great experience (in so many ways a gift to me!). Today I brought home to Judy (i) some comfort food - chocolate and liquorice - as she needs a bit of comfort in her tough job right now, and (ii) a promise of mentoring/ coaching/ passion map support from Roger West. He agreed to be a foundation member of the Friends of GECA group.

Day 19 of 29 Gifts

This is Monday 17 May. Actually every day is a gift, isn't it? My gift today was one of those 'Is this really a gift' gifts? That is, I would have done it anyway. I picked up a bunch of computers (10 of them actually) for my colleague Steve, to save him a trip into town, taking them to a meeting we had in Parramatta. Yes, it was just a normal shared business errand. But I'll call it a gift - why? Perhaps just because we give so many gifts to each other, it is worth sometimes noticing. Steve rarely asks for favours, and is always gracious around asking and receiving.

Days 16, 17 & 18 of 29 Gifts

Meaning Fri, Sat & Sun, 14, 15 & 16 May. On Friday I bought Judy a $2.50 single rose as I met her at the station. It seemed to me a small, easy gesture - but she was really touched by it. We don't know what our gifts mean to people. On Saturday, Judy and I gave Jess the gift of helping him move into his first share-house (a lovely place in St Leonards). It was very smooth, and he appreciated it. Also I gave Eve the gift of some flowers, another 'easy gesture'. But she said she loves the type of flower (ornamental capsicums). Same lesson. Today, Judy and I bought and took Jess a gift for his room - a little cactus (tough to withstand systematic neglect by a young single man...). He appreciated that too. The universe gave US a gift, in that we found a unit to rent for the next three months!! A not so small miracle, accomplished with NO effort...