Day 29, and Round 2 - Day 1, 2, and 3 - Orange Roses, Yoga to the People Donation, A Chai for My Employer, and a Hot Chocolate for O

It's white outside - nothing but white. A little snow storm has hit New York, and Brooklyn is blanketed with fluffy, white snow. It's so heavily coated out there that the tiny store I work for across the street is closed. NY Public Schools are also closed! It's been a few days since I've blogged on here, and today provides the perfect time to settle on my comfy blue couch and reflect on everything.

I ended my 29-Day Challenge on Monday in a very special way - Steve had bought me a beautiful bouquet of a dozen orange roses, which had bloomed fully by Monday, so I decided to share those flowers with others. I wrapped up five bunches of roses in green ribbons and brought them over the O's school to give them to the ladies who work so hard to teach O's Pre-K Class. Well, they were more than happy to receive the gift, and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to double my gift by sharing with them my 29-Day Giving Challenge. I also decided to add a link on my blog to the 29gifts.org site (you can check it out at www.kissmyvegan.blogspot.com).

After thinking for a few moments about it, it seemed silly to not continue on with my challenge, so I started Round 2 on Tuesday. Gift #1 was a donation to my favorite yoga studio in New York - Yoga to the People, which runs on a donation-only basis. For only $2 (the cost to rent a mat), I can enjoy an hour of yoga with this organization, and I have always been so inspired when I leave this place. I was more than happy to throw my extra $6 into their donation tissue box.

On Wednesday, my employer from the children's store was having a really tough day, and I decided to help in whatever small way I could. There is this great coffee shop a few blocks away that makes delicious chai and has a variety of different non-dairy milks, so I'm always raving about them to my employer. Well, yesterday, I decided to buy her a chai so she could try one out for herself. Her gratitude was immense, and my heart was so warmed by this very small act.

Yesterday, I was having a really tough day myself. I was struggling a lot with negative, limited thinking, and to make matters worse, when I left for work in the afternoon, the snow that began piling up underneath me was so wet and slushy that my feet were totally soaked within minutes. If that weren't bad enough, by the time I got to the subway, I realized that I had left my cell phone at home! I had to go back for it, but there wasn't enough time to go back home and get to work on time, so I was having a real pity party for myself while struggling to get myself to the school to pick up O and M.

Fortunately for me, something deep inside pushed me to continue on with my giving challenge. Once i finally reached the school, I decided to treat O and M to a hot chocolate as gift #3, since it was so cold and snowy outside. Only O obliged, so off we went to Connecticut Muffin to get some hot drinks. When we arrived, I ordered O his hot chocolate, and I was very tempted to treat myself to a soy chai, since this place made awesome chai (can you tell by now that I'm obsessed with chai?). I explained this to the man behind the counter, and despite the fact that there was a huge line behind me and this would be yet another drink he would have to make, he told me to treat myself. He showed such care and kindness that I decided to double my gift - $5 went into his tip jar, along with very big "thank you!".

As tough as my day was yesterday, it's led me to realize something - I need to let myself off the hook a little more. I have a habit of getting in my head and really judging my actions (or inactions). I think in this American culture, we all have a hard time allowing ourselves to just relax and enjoy our daily lives. There is such pressure to work hard and use up every moment of the day, and it's exhausting to even think about, to be honest. I've decided that for this month, I am going to make a point of enjoying the down time I find in each day and not look at my enjoyment as being lazy or undetermined. Today, that means happily listening to Christmas music and blogging as snow falls gently down outside. And that's perfectly okay with me.