To Share Or To Give

I've long been absent, some of which was due to being in a slump as well as being pretty busy.

The good news I have to report is that I finally got my car back after it being at the repair shop for over a month. I think this was a large contributor to my shlumpy mood. Not having a car and having to constantly rely on someone else for help and transportation is not my thing. I don't like being a burden and that is what I ended up being. But now I'm back in control for the most part. My car is beautiful looking once more! I had forgotten how much fun she is to drive. She even has a toll tag now!

Last week I started thinking about the difference between giving and sharing. Sadly I think this mental pondering took place at church (shame on me) but it was an interesting realization none the less. There's a book about the five love languages, I read a few years ago so the exact title and author escape me. The book discusses how everyone is different in the way they show and receive love, and that often this is the problem in relationships, people are showing love differently and the other person doesn't understand it. For example Andrew and myself. I show love to others through gift-giving. Andrew on the other hand doesn't receive love best that way. His love language is physical (no not that way). He likes physical contact especially in the form on head scratches or back massages. Sadly I haaaate doing that, I have arthritis in my hands so to do that is painful plus it's just not my thing. We've had to work our way around this and try to understand one another better.

Now having said that I show love through gifts let me explain further. I absolutely love to give gifts. I get ridiculously excited and try to plan gifts that all go together or tell a story, etc. It's been proven that most people give gifts to others of things that they would want themselves. However, that is not what I do. I try get or do something the other person would love based off of comments they've made, etc. While I thrive on giving gifts or small surprises to others I absolutely hate sharing. To me there is a big difference between the two. Giving is saying have this for yourself, and that's easy for me. Sharing is basically loaning something that will be returned. I hate sharing. The reason for this being that I am incredibly neat and organized. When I was younger I would have to share things with my sister who for the most part would generally ruin or mess up anything that was mine. For that reason I've never enjoyed sharing but I'm getting better!

To all the givers and sharers, may your day be terrific!