Visited a family friend and brought along 2 bags of rice paper salad for their daughter. The girl never once forgets to mention about this snack (which apparently is her favorite). It was a "Why not?" moment when I decided my gift for the day would be to present that little girl with a pleasant surprise of her favorite snack neatly placed inside her bedroom.
People say when it comes to working, your boss is one of the most important factors affecting your career, both current and future and I cannot agree more on this. I consider myself significantly lucky to have the most supportive and understanding manager who sees me not only as a colleague but also as a younger sister. She makes sure I have all the resources needed to best fulfill the task as well as there is no inconvenience on my side. Huge bonus point is that she always asks to share her bubble tea with her : )
This morning, upon entering the coffee shop I frequented, the idea of bringing the manager a small morning surprise popped up, which soon translated to a green tea freeze frappucino – her all–time favorite.
She was delighted to see the drink on her table and needless to say, I was delighted to see such a happy beam from her : )
I unintentionally overheard my mother speaking to her colleagues over how ironing has never been in her favor. The revelation surprised me. I’ve lived with my mother since birth and as much as I can recall, never once did she allow anyone else to take the job of straightening clothes, not to mention the countless times she brushed me off when I offered to help. Be it my naivety or not, I simply interpreted those reactions as her unspoken cues that she found joy in doing so. And I let her be.
Accidentally knowing what she never once spilled ignited my desire to give something that could make her smile and it did not take me long to decide on my gift: taking over the task, in secret and let it become a pleasant surprise because I know for sure she would turn the idea down had I brought it up to her. She did not like ironing, so she assumed I must hate the job just as much – I later figured out. The last thing my mother wanted was to upset me. My mother has gotten used to waking up at least an hour before me so she would have time to decide on what we should wear (yes! we!) and iron them straight. And there’s no way I can beat her in being an early bird. Knowing our patterns, I decided to shift the (secret) clothes picking and ironing sessions to the time before we headed to bed. It was sort of a light headache to be the stylist for my mother for she is known for being a picky fashionista among her peers, and our tastes in clothes are anything but similar. Nonetheless, it all went well. My mother had no clue about my plan to ‘steal’ her job and I was satisfied to see clothes, now neatly straightened, hanging in the closet, ready to be used.
Needless to say, my mother was all smiley when I (half-asleep) pointed to the readied clothes on the shelves this morning.
I started my 29 Days of Giving today by giving two lunch tickets to the personal trainer who has been with me for over 6 months. The guy is a third party employee and therefore not subject to benefits for officials, one of which being tickets to trade for lunch at the cafeteria. He was mildly surprised, but received them with a smile of gratitude, which left me soaked in a good feeling about the 28 days ahead of me.
The personal trainer was grateful for the two lunch tickets and I was grateful for him for having helped me with my fitness routine. Today, I give with gratitude.
