What do you do when you receive a gift?
Do you try to understand it, or do you savor the moment?
I remember receiving gifts and being so excited that I didn't even inquire why or where they came from. I was just eager to use them, whatever they were. Other times, there was little pleasure, replaced by a compelling desire to understand what's behind the gift. I wanted to understand. As a child, it was just the first case. No questions asked, just pure enjoyment. Growing up, I've changed. I've begun seeing life as transactional, so if I receive something, there must be something I have to give in exchange. What a trap this is. A trap that steals all the magic.
How mesmerizing is it to watch a child unwrap a gift and then run immediately away to use it? Often forgetting to even say thank you, such is the excitement.
I wonder if I do the same with the biggest gift of them all: life.
Do I hold back my excitement trying to explain and justify the gift I received, or, like a child, do I use it with joy as if there's nothing else in the world?
Because life is not a transaction. It is not something I've been given, and I have to pay it back somehow. At least, that's not how I see it.
Life is a gift to enjoy and use. And like we do with the best gifts, share. And if there's something to pay, it should be paid forward, not back.
What are you doing with your gift today?