Gifts

Gifts.  

Have you ever received a gift, and after a period of time found it to be a burden? 

When my daughter was in kindergarten she received a coupon for a free hermit crab from a local business. Thirty dollars later after we purchased the "free"crab, its accessories, and a companion crab we brought it all home. 

As much as we enjoyed our new little pets, once the newness wore off we realized that we had just signed up for the responsibility of caring for these little lives. Now the word burdensome might be an overstatement, but I think the point is made. 

Sometimes we wish for something, and when it arrives we find ourselves wondering what we were thinking? The other day I was listening to the podcast Happier featuring Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elizabeth Craft. One of their guests was sharing the points of a manifesto she had written about her life. Included was the idea of not allowing gifts to become burdens. 

She had traveled across the country to begin graduate school, and was transitioning into her new life. She considered this opportunity a gift, and did not want to slip into considering it a burden once the hard work of the semester kicked in. 

I really took to her words to heart, and vowed not to fall for the trap of thinking gifts might be burdens. Eventhough, circumstances might get tough at times they most often are worth the effort.