Welcome back to Camryn's Tea Time. You reading this post right now is a precious gift you're giving me. Thank you. Hello to all my beautiful new subscribers! I hope you enjoy seeing my name pop up in your inbox. :D
Today we're going to talk about gift-giving, but not the presents wrapped in bright colors under a tree kind of gift. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful feeling finding the perfect present for your loved ones and watching their reactions as they open it, but I want to bring to your attention a different type of gift you can give. This gift ties into intentional living. It's all about what you can do for other people to make your experiences filled with positivity.
Although this is a relevant topic for any time of the year, I felt like it was most fitting to bring up now since we're in the season of giving! Before we spill the tea on this, there are a few pictures I wanted to show you from my weekend. Will and I went into the city to have some Christmas fun! I figured I'd sprinkle some holiday cheer into this post because when do I ever turn down an opportunity to show off my dessert findings!
Now that I've shared with you my holiday fun, I want to bring your attention to a new podcast I'm getting into! This post was inspired by the podcast Awesome with Alison, episode 106; Family Fun Survival Tips. She started talking about how we can all take certain actions that can be viewed as gifts to other people. Now, bear with me for this post. Maybe I'm being self-conscious and allowing my inner critic to take the wheel, but I'm not a fan of how my writing is here. :( Nevertheless, this topic will hopefully give you a new perspective! It's completely reframed the way I think about chores!
Think about it....When you do the dishes for your mom, shovel snow with your dad, share advice with a friend, hold the door open for the person behind you, send a random loving text to someone, comment on my posts about how much you love my blog (hint hint) and so on, you're giving those people a gift. You're giving help, kindness, joy, selflessness, and positivity to those people. Let's consider these gifts as sprinkles of positivity that you can leave.
What gifts can you leave?
Reflecting back on my last post about intentional living, we talked about setting intentions to influence our day. Let's give that a specific example, shall we? Imagine you're going to a family tea party. For some, when the family gets together, the dynamic becomes a little chaotic. So, for today's family tea party, we're going to set an intention to help the afternoon run as smoothly as possible. With this intention in mind, we're now looking out for opportunities where we can give our family our gifts. If we notice there's commotion as the main course is switching to dessert, we could help our relative with the dishes. Or maybe we have a knack with children and start keeping our cute little cousins entertained which in turn prevents tantrums. Just allow yourself to see different ways you can intentionally help others.
Physical gifts are also a great way to spread that cheer. Maybe your intention is to make all of your loved ones feel special. Perhaps you're crafty and decide to make everyone you know personalized Christmas cards this year. This is something you love doing and you can share that love with others. It's all about sprinkling happy magic everywhere you go!
Having the mindset that the things you do for others are gifts to them makes you realize how precious you actually are. Take a moment to think about all the wonderful ways you've helped your family, friends, and peers today alone. Just because you help vacuum the kitchen every day or hold doors open for people often doesn't mean you should ignore how huge these gifts are for others. You're sharing pieces of your generosity with others and that should be celebrated. Now you can think about all of your chores and kind gestures with thoughts that supercharge them with good vibes!
Thinking that your actions are gifts sets good vibes around you and the people you're sharing your gifts with. We're creating an abundance of positivity. And just a reminder, be ready to selflessly share these gifts without expecting a thing in return. Do these things because you want to be a source of light and love. Believe that you're spreading goodness around and that should be enough to let your heart overflow with warm fuzzy feelings.
With all of that being said, I hope you go into this holiday season thinking about all the incredible ways you can share your gifts with the people around you and carry this mindset out into the new year. You, my beautiful friends, are all gifts and you each have astounding souls to share with the world.
I hope that me giving you my writing and sharing my thoughts was just the present you needed to find under your tree this year! For me, today's post was as exciting as honey lavender tea served alongside warm, buttery madeleine cookies aka tasty and heartwarming. And if you've never had a madeleine cookie, we need to change that. Please please please let me know what you thought of this post in the comments below. Of course, like this post and if you haven't already, subscribe so you'll be alerted about each cup of tea I have to spill!
Lots of love,
Camryn