For years now I’ve been buying myself my own birthday presents. I don’t need my kids to buy me stuff with money they don’t have. And I no longer have a mate (who used to buy stuff HE liked and gift to me, ugh). So I make a list and fill it for myself for my birthday. Tea, plants, new feather beds (I now sleep on 3), fresh sheets, new towels, all kinds of garden stuff. This year I bought myself an air-fryer. No I don’t wrap ‘em.

So when a boxed arrived for me containing things that I had NOT bought myself I was surprised. When I opened it up it was full of presents, each wrapped carefully. Here’s what was in the box: a bird house, some lovely tea, a leaf-shaped cookie cutter, a magnetic list pad, and some ginger dark chocolate.

Lovely right? Even more lovely, this box of gifts came from people I don’t know who simply sign themselves, “Stephanie & Dave   P.E.I.” And they hit the mark dead on. My daughter looked at the presents as I unwrapped them and said, “Wow, they’re really paying attention.” Yup. All my fav things.

This is the SECOND time Stephanie & Dave have done this kindness for me. Here’s the stuff that came for my last birthday.

When people are so thoughtful, so kind, so generous it’s enough to make a grown woman of 59 years cry. Truly.

I consider myself a generous person. Whenever I can help out, I try to, be it with a small indulgence, a financial hand-up, or time and laughter. But I’ve never shopped and wrapped for a complete stranger like this.

I am also a grateful person, and I’m sending a huge THANK YOU to Stephanie & Dave. I’m not just grateful for the wrapped pressies (the only ones I will unwrap this year), I’m also grateful to be in their thoughts. You bet I’ll find a nice spot for that birdhouse, Stephanie & Dave. And the fairy door from last year sits inside my dark brown bookshelf like an entry to the joys and mysteries waiting there for me.

I’m a very lucky woman and I count my blessings regularly. I look up and the big sky and say thank you for the beautiful weather. I say thank you for rain. I say thank you for a parking spot. I say thank you for healthy, happy children. I say thank you for the wild roses growing on the walk Tabitha and I take each Sunday. I say thank you for the birds, the chipmunks, the squirrels, the bunnies, the bees and butterflies that inhabit my beautiful garden and provide me with hours of pleasure. And, funnily enough, I find, the more I say thank you, the more things I have to be grateful for.

We ‘human beans’ are an odd lot, y’know. We have so much and choose to focus on what is missing, what we want, what we desperately believe is our right to have. Yet, if we take the time to say thank you for what we’ve got, we fill our lives with abundance.

This year I participated in an event in Brighton that I just loved. It was called The Big Give. People donated all kinds of stuff – clothes, books, household furniture/ appliances, sporting goods, DVDs, CDs, jewelry, toys – and on The Day, anyone was welcome to come and take what they wanted for free. There was free food too. Someone even donated a bunch of plants. The Big Give was all managed by a local church. It was a MASSIVE success with over 700 people coming to share in the abundance of the community.

More and more people are getting in on sharing our abundance. I have a girlfriend in Ottawa who puts together bags of supplies for women who live on the street. I know of two women (separately) who cook and serve meals for the elderly/shut-ins every single week. I know an elderly woman who uses a walker, who always has a garbage bag with her and picks up trash as she goes on her long walks about town.

At the beginning of this year I promised the universe I would do something nice every week for someone. I think I’ve missed a couple of weeks, but I’m okay with how I’m doing so far. And, of course, I continue to be grateful to the universe for the blessings it has given me.

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Deborah J Peel is the winner of the Audible coupon code for the copy of Debt-Free Forever. Send me an email at getgvo@gmail.comand I’ll send you the code Deborah.

And since I love to give as much as I love to receive, I’m offering two more coupon codes for Debt-Free Forever from Audible.  To be entered, leave me your favourite inspirational quote. Same rules, random draw. You have until Wednesday, midnight. Here’s one of my favs: “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”  Mary Anne Radmacher