"The Generous Giraffe" Teaches how we can Help Others

The countdown to Christmas is on. Like you, I'm doing everything I can to make sure everything is ready for the big day.

There's still plenty to do. I'm still working on sending my Christmas cards to friends and family. I sort of started my shopping. Wife and I are figuring out logistics when it comes to visiting family. There's lots to do, as usual.

It's not Always Merry and Bright

It's a busy time, and things get hectic. Everyone is running around making sure they have what they need for parties and gifts for loved ones. Buying things for people can be easier for some then for others. It's not easy raising a family. People do what they can to make sure spouses, significant others, and children have what they need. My family tries to do what we can to help people who are in need.

There are many people like us who like to help people out. Help is more keenly felt during the Holiday season, and many people like to make sure everyone can have a Merry Christmas. 

"At this festive season of the year... it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many... are in want of common necessities; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts." - Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"

"The Generous Giraffe" by Michelle Eshkeri

Gina the Giraffe
habit-heroes.net

Generosity can be practiced by anyone. It doesn't even matter what age they are, just ask Gina. Gina is a generous giraffe, and she is always ready to help her friends when they need it. Her story, part of the Habit Heroes book series, is told in "The Generous Giraffe" by Michelle Eshkeri. Michelle's book focuses on Gina and the fun day she is about to have on the beach with her friends at school.

Gina meets her friends in the schoolyard, and everyone waits for the bus that will take them to the beach. While they wait for the bus, there is a child or two that notices they have forgotten something. It happens to adults, too. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we are able to backtrack and head home or to the store and get what it is that has been forgotten. For children, however, who do not have their own means of getting places, sometimes they are stuck in school or daycare, wondering if there is any way they can get back home to retrieve what they have forgotten. If only they had been a little ore mindful and careful when they were getting ready to leave for the day.

Lucky for our friends, Gina has extra things that she is happy to share. Her extra packing and generosity come through and she is able to share her things with her friends. Everyone enjoys their day at the beach, and she is excited to have fun and help others.

The Season of Giving

It's always nice when we are able to help people in need. It doesn't have to be during the Christmas Season, but it's this time of year when the needs of others are more prevalent and on our minds. Michelle reminds us how important it is to help, but it doesn't have to be people we know who can be helped. Many churches and secular charities remind us that there are people right in front of us who are in need of help. It's a good feeling when we are able others. Gina shows us how happy we can be when we do.

"... Christmas Eve. It's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we... smile a little easier... We share a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people we always hoped we would be. It's a miracle... because it happens every Christmas Eve... There are people having trouble making their miracle happen. There are people who don't have enough to eat, there are people that are cold. You can go out and say, 'hello," to these people, you can take an old blanket out of the closet and say, 'here.' You can make a sandwich and say, 'Oh, by the way, here.'" - Bill Murray "Scrooged"

Michelle Eshkeri's book teaches children and adults how important it is to think of others and how far a little generosity can go towards improving someone's day. If you help someone, your day can even improve. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of this.

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