I wrote on Tuesday about busyness.

I’ve been thinking about what I wrote. And it’s all true.

But then I saw a meme that was most helpful. It used the word “fullness”.

There’s a difference between living a fulfilled life and just being busy for busyness’s sake.

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I like to think that even though I am busy, my life is very fulfilling as well. I like everything I do and much of what I do isn’t for self-gratification. And that’s what I failed to mention yesterday.

I love giving gifts and much of what I make I give away. It’s a ministry for me.

Have you ever thought about making some of what you do a ministry? It brings me such fulfillment I thought I’d share a few suggestions.

First of all, let me explain why I am sharing with you.

My other blog has a much larger audience than this one. What I share on this little blog feels like I’m sharing with a few close friends, even though your number is quickly growing as well.

At the same time, it’s anonymous enough that I feel safe in doing so. I wouldn’t share this on the other blog because too many people I know follow that blog and my secret would be out. Part of doing what I do is the wonderful feeling that no one knows. (Of course, you do now, but I trust you’ll keep my secret.)

Plus, I wouldn’t want anyone to think I am patting myself on the back. I share this only because it has brought me such joy and I think you might find that it does the same for you.

It makes me feel all warm inside to know what I’m doing and yet not broadcasting it. My husband does know, of course.

I will share one such anonymous gift I came up with.

For a few years, I made necklaces. Some were paper bead necklaces while other were from clay. I would make up a dozen or so. I packaged them nicely and attached a note that said this was a free gift to whomever found it and that I had prayed a blessing over the recipient. I asked them to not throw it away if it wasn’t their “thing” and to leave it for the next person.

When we would travel, I would leave my little “gift” in bathrooms, hotels, restaurants, etc. It would get a little tricky sometimes because I didn’t want anyone seeing me do it.

My daughter buys Starbucks gift cards and around Christmas that she leaves in various places.

One of the reasons I do it is because I imagine the smile it might put on someone’s face. I think about some of the bad days I have had and how much something like that would’ve brightened my day.

But you might be interested in knowing what prompted all of this.

A number of years ago, I was going through a really tough time with depression. I had tried everything I could think of, pills, counseling, etc. and it only seemed to be getting worse. My husband was traveling a lot then and I really missed him. I felt lonely and defeated.

I came home one afternoon and checked my answering machine. At that time, we still had a house phone in addition to cell phones. To my surprise, one of the messages was a prayer. Not a recorded prayer. An honest to goodness prayer being prayed for me by someone I didn’t know and someone who didn’t know me.

And yet the words that were used were exactly what I needed to hear that day. The prayer could not have been more timely or the words more encouraging. I think that prayer might have actually saved my life.

The message after the prayer was something to the effect that this person simply picked out someone randomly from a phonebook, called the number and prayed for them. They said they felt the Holy Spirit led them as to what to pray for for each person. I got the impression that there was a group of people doing this.

That prayer meant so much to me and because it was so unexpected, I thought, “Why not do something similar?” That’s when I thought of leaving the random gifts.

Currently I am working on a rather time-consuming gift that I will start to distribute.

If you knit or crochet, you could knit hats, scarves, mittens. If you sew, you can come up with all kinds of small projects. If you’re an artist, the possibilities are endless. If you write, it could be a poem. The only gift I think that wouldn’t work would be food. I mean would you eat something left somewhere without knowing what was in it?

I sure wouldn’t.

One of the best ways to beat depression or at least take away the sting is to reach out to others. For me, I like the whole anonymous part because I always remember that prayer.

And I was just thinking, in case you don’t think you have anything you could “gift” a stranger with, how about a smile? Could you make that your ministry?

I realize that sounds kind of dorky but I truly mean it. A smile can absolutely change someone’s day. You will never know the impact of your smile on that one person whose life you might have saved.

And in case you think I’m being melodramatic, there are countless stories of people whose lives have been changed just because a smile gave them hope that maybe the world isn’t such a bad place.

God bless and have a good day.

The post, “How to change your life and impact another’s.” appeared first on thegiftofdepression.