A Gift We Are All Able To Give

“You weren’t home so she left it in the mailbox.”

The message was from a neighbor. His eight year old daughter Kenzie had stopped by but no one answered the door. Kenzie was going door to door dropping off the hand-painted Christmas ornaments she had made to all the houses in our small neighborhood. When we got home, I looked in the mailbox and there it was. A blue snowflake with a white string looped through the top. 

It was beautiful. 

On many levels.

Kenzie and her family had moved into the neighborhood a few years ago. For the most part we’d exchanged pleasantries when we’d encounter each other walking past or driving by each others homes. We’d been neighborly, but not to the point of exchanging holiday gifts.

Apparently Kenzie didn’t let that concern her, never getting caught up in the nature of neighborhood dynamics. She just wanted to create something and share it with each of her neighbors. 

So, she did.

Honestly, her kind gesture felt as if I was living in some idilic Hallmark movie in the perfect neighborhood so perfectly filled with unbridled Christmas joy full of the spirit of the season. All that was needed was a few snow flakes, a gazebo, and some hot chocolate.

Kenzie was the one who captured the true spirit of the season. At eight years old she found a way to give something of herself to bring some holiday joy into the lives of people who live next to her. She just gave what she could, expecting nothing in return. 

I’ve thought a great deal about that ornament this week. Mostly about the kindness and thoughtfulness which came with it. How a simple act could remind me of the true intention of the season, the true intention of our own collective humanity.

We are all capable of sharing our own acts of kindness and thoughtfulness with all whom we interact with. A smile, a moment, our full presence, to give of ourselves simply for the joy it may bring to another. We need not create a physical gift the way Kenzie did; her true gift was in her act of giving. 

Yes, life gets busy, often leaving us to at times feel we are living life reactively instead of proactively. But if I can’t make the time to share a smile, share a moment, or share my full presence, maybe I need to rethink some of my priorities for the life I have been living.

It doesn’t take much to make a difference in the life of another.

Only the willingness to do so.