Getting into the spirit of giving.

I visited the Naughty and Spice Blog today and found Amie Stuart's blog very interesting. She's blogging about another author, Colleen Gleason, who runs an unusual contest. Pay It Forward. For anyone that's seen the movie you'll know what I'm talking about, well the idea anyway. So Colleen sets a challenge, pay it forward, do something nice for someone else this holiday season, then make a comment about it on her blog and on the 20th Dec she'll pick some winners. I didn't check out the prizes but I'm sure they're cool. And Amie, 'good' girl that she is, is running a parallel contest. That's right, she's spreading the word and adding incentive. She's giving a free critique or course to the winning author and a half dozen books to the winning reader of her contest. But it's not the prizes that get me it's the things people do for nothing, I mean really, the prizes aren't that fantastic. So I checked out some of the comments and the things people are talking about are so small, just seconds out of our day or, as in one case, change out of our pocket. Then I got to thinking what's the one thing we can all give, everyday, that costs nothing? (picture light bulb moment here) A smile. Yep, costs nothing and yet we have the power to give it to everyone we meet, even if it is just in the line while waiting to use the bathroom at the local shopping mall. Think about a smile for a minute. How good does it make you feel to see someone smiling? How good do you feel when you're smiling? I know they say that laughter is the best kind of medicine so wouldn't it stand to reason that a smile is a small dose? Imagine how much better you're day would be if everyone you past had a smile on their face. I know that after our move to Singapore the kids didn't smile at all for quite a while, then as life began to settle and they got more comfortable the smiles came back, and there's nothing better in this world than a grinning child. If you give nothing else this Christmas give the gift that's free at every opportunity. The best bit is that it's a gift that gives back. Not many people can resist smiling back.
Naughty and Spice Blog
http://www.naughty-and-spice.com/
Colleen Gleason Blog
www.colleengleason.com/wordpress/
Visit both blogs and check out some of the things people are doing. Enter the contests if you want. I'm entering Amie's because I think it's cool the way she's riding Colleen's coat tails. I only wish I had something to give away in a contest as well. Maybe next year, until then I'll just pass the word along.

Sometimes your joy is the sauce of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the sauce of your joy.
Thich Nhat Hanh.

Rachel.C