Happy FIRST DAY of the 29-DAY GIVING CHALLENGE! And, it's also the FIRST DAY of our VERY FIRST EVER Blog Every Day in February (BEDiF)! (It's almost as cool as another first: Hank holding Pringles and a non-nailed down Picasso painting at the same time in a swanky hotel. Almost, but not quite.)
So, yes, Kendall already told you about the premise of this challenge and the story behind it in his post today. Mr. U read the book on which this challenge and the website are based (we didn't...yet) and he suggested that we do this. And so we are! I think Kendall and I are innate givers, in the first place, but I don't think we've ever consciously reflected on giving and its real impact on others, you know, which I think is probably the biggest part that we'll get out of this learning and growing experience. The other is the "initiative"--now, it's not exactly "initiative" because Mr. U introduced the idea to us but it is, to some degree, because we actually sat down and agreed to do this together.
And so here we are.
As Kendall mentioned, we're switching it up, sprinkling our 29 days with both spontaneity and careful planning. While Kendall chose to start off "out of the purple" style today, I prepped my official gift the night before. I have had these two cute little penguin toys sitting near my headboard for about a year now. They're only about two to three inches high. I can't remember how I got them in the first place. But I do remember thinking that since I have two penguins, I should give one to someone special to me, thus metaphorically connecting the two of us by way of possessing these feathered friends. It's like the turtle doves tradition, but cuter and fluffier.
So I wrapped one of the penguins in pink tissue paper and put it in a semi-transparent red baggie and left it for a very special friend of mine to find sitting atop her textbooks in school. I slipped in a short note explaining my randomness of course (We can't have people thinking that I'm weird for no reason, now, can we?).
This very special person is one of my besterestest friends and adopted sister, Adrienne. You may have seen her name on previous blog posts. Anyway, I have never ever felt so protective about anyone besides my little brother until I be-bestfriended sweet, innocent, honest, and good-natured Aid. Though she was generally shy back when were still wee ninth-grade lassies, Aid has slowly opened up to our circle of friends over the years. She's still shy and introverted, but less so now than she was before. There is no other person in my life who will sit quietly and listen to me rant, rave, complain, gush, and giggle about a myriad of things without making faces, laughing or shaking his/her head at how ridiculous and bipolar I am or can be sometimes. In short, she is the perfect friend for someone like me who loves to talk about everything and nothing. She is the perfect listener and the perfect person to comfort me and/or assure me that I'm just as sane as everyone else.
But, unfortunately, and I say this with great shame and disappointment in myself, I greatly under-appreciate her for most of the time. And that's why I chose her to be the first recipient of my 29 Gifts. I wanted her to know that although I can be quite selfish sometimes, I am and forever will be thankful for her friendship, and that I, in turn, will always be the ever present sister by her side, ready to give her a comforting hug, a shoulder to cry on, (hopefully) useful advice, a small smile, a big smile, a high five, a sheet of paper for her math homework if she doesn't have her binder or folder with her, and anything else that she may ask of me.
Mission accomplished, I believe. I didn't mean for her to cry, but she did and she gave me a tight hug when I saw her walking back from her painting class. And that concludes the "planned part" of today's gift-giving.
Here comes the spontaneous part. Now, I didn't plan for this to happen. (Well, of course, you didn't plan it. It was spontaneous. Silly Jen.) What I mean is that I had never before realized just how many opportunities to give to others one gets per day. There are tons. But I was so focused on Aid's planned gift that I failed to realize that it is still possible and perfectly okay for me to react to these aforementioned golden opportunities when they do come up in my day.
A couple of weeks ago, I remember telling Kenneth, a hands-down awesome sophomore friend from speech and debate, about a critical thinking problem or puzzle that Mr. U (oh Mr. U, that fountain of amazingness...this is the second time I mention his name in ONE blog post! OH SNAP, haha!) had shown us at the Leadership class sleepover. I didn't think it had interested Kenneth so much until I saw his face light up when I walked in the room and he immediately asked, "Do you have the numbers for that puzzle about that historical event that you were telling me about?" His enthusiasm was evident and his excitement gave me so much delight that I immediately went over to Mr. U's for a copy.
It was a matrix that showed the number of deaths that a specific historical event caused. The numbers were all categorized into groups such as women, children, men, rich, poor, etc. I told Kenneth that he could only ask me yes or no questions--and he named the historical event after, I think, five or six questions! Well, he is a history buff after all...after he figured it out, he had this huge smile on his face. I asked him how he did it and he explained to me a couple of the inferences that he made based on the data. Then he looked at me and said, quite calmly, "Also, I looked at the total number of deaths shown here and I vaguely remember this specific number when I was reading about it." Then, he earnestly asked me, "May I keep this paper?" And that nearly killed me. Such wonderful emotions.
Whether it's the feeling I get after seeing a friend's tears of joy or facial expression of both excitement and triumph, I can't get enough of it. And I'm excited because, come on, 29 days of being on a roller coaster that only goes up? YES.
Risks taken: 12 (......at least one is on its way, man....)
Hugs: 3
Current food cravings/obsessions: Rice...Jasmine Rice...
Playlist(s) of the Week: "Add 30 Years and Some Free JD's Ice Cream"
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