Chanukah - the Festival of Lights. (Part 2)
If you like history, you may want to go back and read Part 1 of this series.
The candelabra lit each night of Chanukah is called a menorah or chanukiah and holds nine candles. Eight candles represent the days of Chanukah, and the ninth candle, usually placed in the middle, higher on the menorah, is used to light the others. This candle, the shamash, the helper candle, is lit first. Its small flame ignites the other lights.
The shamash reminds us that we have the power (and obligation) to ignite the light in others.
So how can you shed light unto others?
Grab your GRATITUDE journal, look back at your lists of GRATITUDE W.I.N.S. Who made a difference for you? Call or email these people and thank them for the impact they made in your life. Watch the effect of that simple acknowledgment. You thank them, they feel good, they thank you for thanking them, you feel good.
Another way to shed light and be the shamash is by doing Random Acts of Kindness (RAK). One simple RAK can cause a ripple effect of kindness. Truth is, you’ll never know how many people will be impacted; it could be 1 or 1,000.
True story… For twenty years, I taught in a Title 1 high school. My students came from lower socioeconomic areas. I know, like I know my name, that when you give teens (yes, I said teens) an opportunity to shine and give back, they will, and they will exceed your expectations!
About fifteen years ago, I started a classroom project called FEED Six for Thanksgiving. We provided families with an entire Thanksgiving meal. Even though I am no longer teaching, the project lives on.
Each year, students volunteered to bring in a food item on the list. As each FEED Six box got filled, my students saw how their contribution was more than a can of corn or a box of macaroni and cheese. It was a shamash, a helper, and an integral part of a family's Thanksgiving meal.
One year, Kevin, a ninth-grader, carried a FEED Six box out to a mom’s car. He came back to class with tears in his eyes… The mother told him, “Thank your classmates. Because of you, Christmas came early this year!” We gave her a gift of food, she gave us back way more.
In addition to the in-class collection, every November, we set up a table outside a local grocery store and asked patrons to purchase a few items on our list. One year, the mother of a former student handed me $20. She shared that her family received a FEED Six basket for Thanksgiving the year prior and now she was able to pay it forward. “Without FEED Six, my family wouldn't have had a Thanksgiving meal.”
Talk about a GRATITUDE W.I.N.S.
You see, you don’t have to perform acts of grandiosity. if you can, great. If not, no worries.
Take a look at this list of Random Acts of Kindness. How many will you do this week? Perhaps you’ll add a RAK a week into your schedule.
- Purchase a #GRATEFUL shirt for someone you think is SWELL! (They will be GRATEFUL, and so will I.)
- Read through your GRATITUDE Journal (or bag) & reach out to someone that made a difference for you.
- Reduce your carbon footprint.
- Write a positive review for a local business.
- Send a few cards to seniors in an Assisted Living Facility.
- Leave a coupon next to a product you’re not going to buy.
- Pay for someone's coffee.
- Leave a kind note in random public places.
Over the next eight days, be a shamash and make someone’s life a little brighter. It’s a GRATITUDE W.I.N.S. for all!
