This is a week where we’re supposed to be grateful – and it’s going to be a challenge for many.
With COVID cases rising again, many Thanksgiving celebrations have been canceled. That means lots of families won’t get to spend time together this, even though it is so desperately needed.
I often write about gratitude and how we can implement a gratitude practice in our lives. But this year I think I want to focus on the other aspect of the season: giving.
Yes, it’s a time when we are supposed to be holding our loved ones close, but it’s also a time when we are supposed to give back to our communities, especially to those in need.
In 2020, there are a lot of us in need.
So I encourage all of us to open up to the opportunities we have to make someone else’s situation even marginally better. And the opportunities are ample.
Here are some ways we can give hope to someone who is struggling this year:
Save a plate for the solo folks
Remember back when we used to have real Thanksgivings with family, extended family, sometimes friends, and then that one person who’s family wasn’t around so they were invited too because that’s what Thanksgiving is about? Yeah, they’re still around. In fact, there are more of them this year.
I’m reminded of Elizabeth Pearce, a Communications professor at the University of Iowa who sent out an email to her students — many of them by themselves and unable to go home — offering to deliver them a Thanksgiving plate prepared by her family.
There is someone close to you who will be by themselves. Save a plate for them if you can.
At the very least, give them a call and let them know you love them.
Support a local business
Businesses are hanging on by a thread, especially smaller locally-owned businesses. As the time arrives for the gift-giving season, I’d urge you to consider shopping local. Not only can you get unique gifts that have a story behind them, you are helping put food on someone else’s plate — someone who lives, works, and pays taxes in the same community you do. If you are in the practice of buying corporate gifts for your clients, this is the perfect opportunity for you.
Even for your holiday meals, you may consider buying your food from a local restaurant or caterer. It will save you time, help someone else, and I’d be willing to bet it’ll be much better than that same old bland dish you prepare every year (wink wink).
Give to a stranger
It’s hard not to be jaded and cynical this year. It sucks. There’s no way around it.
But there is always someone else out there dealing with a worse situation than you are. I often hear complaints about the people at busy intersections asking for money. But to those people complaining I ask, “Do you think people want to be standing out in the cold all day begging for money? Or might they rather be somewhere warm, with a good meal on their table? Or working a steady job that allows them to afford a place to sleep at night?”
This is not the time for cynicism. This is the time for compassion. There’s plenty to go around. Compassion is not finite.
So if you have something to give, allow yourself to do it with no questions asked and do it for someone you don’t know. We don’t need to calculate the ROI of a gift.
Donate to a charity
The reality is, we may not have the time, energy, or mental bandwidth to be as helpful as we’d like to this year, even if we want to give. But that’s okay. There are professionals that do this every day and we can help them.
I work with a lot of nonprofits and almost all of them have struggled. Although many of them have found creative ways to pivot and are able to serve their communities better. A client of mine, Reinvestment Partners ran a successful crowdfunding campaign in the middle of the pandemic and because of that were able to help people all across North Carolina remain in their homes.
The people who have dedicated their lives to helping others haven’t gone anywhere. And when you help support what they do for the community, your donations compound. There’s a ripple effect and your dollar goes way beyond one person or one family.
Share your story
The collective mental health of our society has fallen significantly, especially among the younger members of our communities. Exacerbating the situation is the disruption of mental health services due to social distancing rules.
This is a time for us to provide guidance.
But not by lecturing and certainly not by telling people to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” but by listening to what they’re experiencing and sharing our own stories with them (if those stories relate to their struggles).
When people hear stories that they relate to, it creates a bond — a human connection with the storyteller. That feeling of connectedness is crucial right now. And hearing a story that makes them feel like their experience is valued and understood, is the first step to not feeling so alone. Isolation fans the flames we should be helping each other put out.
But beyond that, stories give people hope. They show how obstacles and struggles have been overcome before and give us the belief that it can be done in our situation as well. Being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel is imperative to us continuing to move forward healthily.
I hope you are well this year. I hope you are safe, healthy, and happy. But in the likely event that you aren’t all of those things, please remember you’re not alone.
And if you are one or all of those things, remember those around you who might not be.
If all you can give this year is hope, then that just might be enough for someone.
But if you have more, this is the year for giving.
Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.
You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column!
