Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve. – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Everyday we are given the opportunity to love one another, to make a life better. In my opinion, that is what we were created for – to love and to be love.  That is the gift we have to offer the world.

Some gifts come in big packages and some gifts come in small packages. Our unique wrapping is what makes the gift so appealing. This gift neatly wrapped with red shiny metallic paper and topped with the big perfect silver bow is just waiting to be open. I feel like ancy child on Christmas morning. I can’t wait to rip through the paper and the box to find out what is inside 🙂

Not all gifts are the same. For some, our gifts come in the form of words. We uplift, we encourage, and we openly state what is needed to be said. For some, our gift comes in the form of action. We catch those ready to fall and leave no one completely on their own. We bail each other out from life’s predicaments. We defend and believe when the world tells us not to. There are times when the best gift is to simply listen. No words or actions are required. Just a pair of ears willing to listen.

No matter how hard we try to give our gifts, there are some that won’t easily accept them. They are not quite ready to open the gift.

Maybe they are too prideful to accept the gift. By accepting it, they would tell the world they have failed because they had to accept help from another. They hand the gift back not realizing all it wanted to do was help.

Maybe the gift makes them uncomfortable and they think it will require them to change or give up the life they’ve worked so hard to create. They return the gift because it’s too much for them to accept.

Maybe they don’t feel worthy of the gift. How can they accept such an incredible gift when they have nothing to offer? They reject the gift not realizing it wanted nothing in return.

The beauty of the gift of love is that it does not give up easily. It does not take the rejection personally. It keeps giving chance, after chance, after chance. Love has no long list of requirements, just open arms to receive it. It wants nothing in return. It’s not trying to change the ones it loves, it simply wants to make them whole 🙂

If she loved him the way she said she did, she wanted him whole. Maybe this was what love meant after all: sacrifice and selflessness. It did not mean hearts and flowers and a happy ending, but the knowledge that another’s well-being is more important than one’s own. ― Melissa de la Cruz, Lost in Time

As you move into the next season, I hope you leave no gifts unwrapped. And I hope you accept them, regardless if you think you deserve them or not 🙂