GIFT DAY 056: where do gifts come from?

My journey in abundance continues…
as I give away a gift a day.

It’s Day 56 around here, which means I am on to my 56th gift.

I have given away gifts of all sizes so far. From calendars to tee shirts. From meaningful (picking up the lunch tab) to barely believable (keeping my mouth shut).

Last week as I rode the bus to Delaware, I chalked up my “gift of the day” as a bus ticket to go see my friend Laura.

Ah, the bus.
It’s quite an odd place isn’ it?

A travelling taxi with its own overflowing bathroom that never seems to work and is always out of hand sanitizer.

But somehow, last week, that was not the case.
I hit the LOTTERY of BUS RIDES.

The people were pleasant. The bathroom was not overflowing. Sanatizer galore.

I even had an electrical outlet next to me!

I scored a table seat where I could work on my laptop. (Of course, the WIFI that was advertised all across the MegaBus website didn’t work, but who’s counting?).

At our first bus stop, a young man approached me, looked up and down my computer and I followed his gaze to the electrical outlet.

He stood in front of me, almost pleading. “Could I use that electrical outlet?”

“Sure.” I smiled back but something inside of me stirred, as if the giant protector of the electrical outlet was unleashed. Then an evil voice spoke from my own mouth, “But, I don’t know where you’re going to sit?”

I said it like it was a question, but really it was a statement. As soon as it came out of my mouth I immediately gasped. Who was I to be so territorial? I tried to take it back but the damage was done.

He walked away and plugged his computer into the socket behind the bus driver while the bus was parked for a pit stop.

I sulked in my seat, feeling sheepish and small. And terrible.

An hour into our drive the same man came back through the aisle and looked at me again. He stood with his computer in hand looking lost. None of the electrical outlets on his side of the bus were working.

I jumped on the opportunity as if it would make up for my previous power hog behavior. “Do you need to plug in?” I practically sang across the bus.

“Yes.” he looked relieved.

I shuffled my body around to sit sideways on the seat, just to make room for his laptop on the table. I moved the backpack of the woman who was asleep across from me to make room for him. We arranged the cords to snake his down the seat and plug into the wall.

I felt like such an electrical outlet hero — and just then, the power went out of the bus.

I grimaced. I had been plugged in for hours. And, just as soon as I was ready to share, we all lost power.

Luckily, with a flip of a switch, the bus driver returned power back to the bus. I spent the rest of the ride talking with my new friend.

But the lesson wasn’t lost on me.

As I look back, I could have counted my “gift of the day” as my offer to (finally) share the electrical outlet with a stranger.

That “gift” was really a profound reminder to me.
In the form of a lesson about why it is so important to share.

Because in the end — aren’t we ALL riding the same bus?

More tomorrow.
Lovemore,
Jamie

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Tags: bus