Dear Reader Column 07-22-09

Join my email book club. Over 350,000 people read 5-minutes a day. To see what books I'm featuring this week, go to: http://www.dearreader.com/

Dear Reader,

I renew myself through the act of giving. Most days giving isn't an easy thing to do. The hard part for me isn't letting go, nobody has to earn what I want to give them. The hard part is finding the time to give.

Then again, there are days when it's an easy task, feels built right in. The act of giving, the feelings that come with it, they are embedded deep in my soul. They fill my heart--there's no room for any problems that happen my way. And even if trouble does find its way through--the giving outshines it.

The act of giving changes who I am. Some days I know I need to give, but I feel all used up. A few weeks ago, when I desperately needed my eye injections, could barely keep my eyelids open, there was a tugging in my heart. It sounds a bit bizarre, but I knew I needed to bake bread and give it away. At first it was a struggle to bake, but by the time I handed the loaf of bread to my neighbor, even though my eyelids were still rebelling, my spirit had been renewed.

Repeating again and again the act of giving, the kindness and goodness of doing for others, it always gives the best back to me.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
http://www.DearReader.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. To comment on the book and enter the Penguin Classics Drawing, go to: http://tinyurl.com/JulyClassics

Comments

[Eric Snyder]

Hi Suzanne:

Thanks for the inspirational note. I've been a follower of the Business books groups for a few years now. I find that to be a great gift that just keeps on giving.

[Beth P.]

Hi, Suzanne:

Here's a gift you helped give a young patron of mine (I'm a children's librarian). This young man is a very good reader, but a little picky. I managed to find a few books he thought he'd try, but nothing grabbed his interest, until I remembered a book from the Teen Book Club - The Devil's Breath. I told him about it, and found it on our shelf, and he was thrilled! I would have never known about that book, but for the club. So, thank you!