Uncommon Gifts

I recently went to a business event where one of the sponsors was a dentist. As a result of his sponsorship, each attendee received a neatly wrapped toothbrush. With toothbrush in hand, I headed off to my printer to pick up an order.

Once at my printer’s, I asked myself whether he might like a new toothbrush. Having recently purchased an electric toothbrush which has changed my dental life, I had no need. Not knowing him that well, I wondered how odd it might sound to ask a relative stranger if he needed a new toothbrush. I pushed aside that fear and decided “what the heck?”

“Sure, I’d love the toothbrush,” Brian said. “But let me tell you what I’m going to do with it.” As it turned out, Brian was a volunteer with the Boy Scouts and he and the boys were in the process of putting together shoe boxes for children abroad. It gets better, though. Brian was on his last shoebox, which had to be filled that night. It was missing only one item: a toothbrush.

I left the print shop not just happy with the ending, but thrilled that I had trusted my intuition. I had dared to offer the uncommon gift of a toothbrush and to the recipient, it turned out to be the perfect gift.

Are you trusting your intuition as much as you’d like? Are you gifting–and by that I mean giving–to others in the ways that make their day and fill your soul?