A couple of months ago, I received a book in the mail from my friend Suzanne in Virginia. The book was
"29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life," by Cami Walker. The book is about the 29 day challenge. The challenge works like this: For 29 straight days, you give a gift.
You give it freely, and without any desire for reward. You don't skip a
day. If you do skip a day, you start over. I don't know what the
significance was of exactly 29 days. I don't think Cami, the book's
author, ever really found out from her meditational and spiritual guide who told her she had to do this.
Suzanne had just finished the book and took the challenge. Giving me the book was one of her 29 gifts. She said, "you have to read this book, it will definitely change your life." I took her advice and began reading it immediately.
It didn't take me long to realize that I both wanted and needed to take the 29 giving challenge. I started the next morning, and began writing down the things I freely did for others every day. I found that I had no difficulty coming up with gifts for others, as I was doing anywhere from 3 to 4 things for others every day. I am heavily involved in volunteering in my church and, at the time, I had a lot going on, and I included all of those things I did for the church. I also included things I did for my family, such as favors for my husband or my mother-in-law. Lastly, I included things like phone calls to girlfriends I hadn't spoken to in a long time, to let them know I was thinking about them.
The 29 days ended and I felt really good about myself. I went on with my life thinking, I need to tell people about this. What happened next I need to shout from the rooftops.
I have been a freelance writer and editor for nine years. But over the past year, the market has considerably deflated in price. I have had tons of work, just not a lot of income. At the same time, I felt like nine years was enough. My mom passed away and, after dealing with her being sick for seven months and then dying, I came home from Arizona feeling like a desperately needed a change in my life.
I wanted to get out of the house. I wanted to work among people again. I wanted to wear pretty office clothes. I wanted to travel for business. I started looking for a full time job.The market was incredibly difficult. In my field, there were at least 500 people going for every job. If I wasn't among the top 10 resumes they opened, that was it. They stopped there. I was growing more disheartened by the moment.
Then I read the book and did the challenge and my professional life completely turned around. Out of nowhere, I received a call from a client I hadn't heard from in two years. The client had an assignment for me, and it wasn't a low-paying one, it was a going-market-rate project, so good money. That same week, I got a call from another client I hadn't heard from in two years. They also had an assignment for me, and it was top dollar as well. Then the icing in the cake. I got a full time job working for a client.
It hadn't dawned on me when I was giving that it was going to come back to me tenfold, even though they said it would. I am so amazed by this. I am just now finishing up the last few pages of the book and can't wait to mail it off to another friend whom I've already told about the book.
I'm so grateful for my good fortune that I've decided to do the 29 day challenge again, starting with the day I mail off the book. I want to give thanks for all that has been given to me.
If you are interested in the 29 day giving challenge, go to 29gifts.org. And by all means, treat yourself to the book at 29giftsbook.org. I am certain you will not regret it.
Please check out my novel, In Fashion's Web on Amazon.
