{"id":17692,"date":"2019-11-21T09:13:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T14:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nearariver.com\/?p=17692"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:23:10","slug":"the-gives-near-a-river-bj-rae-encouragement-bald-eagle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/the-gives-near-a-river-bj-rae-encouragement-bald-eagle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gives"},"content":{"rendered":"

How about the \u201cgives\u201d instead of the \u201cgive me\u2019s\u201d? \u00a0Like a hug, both parties benefit from the \u201cgives\u201d.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a small child, I thought like a child. Around Christmas and my birthday, I naturally wanted gifts. I seldom received my heart\u2019s desire, and sometimes I got nothing at all due to my family\u2019s poverty.<\/p>\n

Before I was four years old, my Grandma taught me to enjoy what she called the \u201cgives\u201d instead of the \u201cgive me\u2019s\u201d. She took me with her when she helped someone else or gave someone a gift, and let me watch the interaction.<\/p>\n

As I sat on her lap after these excursions, she hugged me. Then she asked me if we both benefitted from that hug. Naturally, I said yes. Then she explained that giving is like a hug, that both giver and recipient feel the benefits. And, the benefits of a hug are lasting.<\/p>\n

When Grandma did this, she gave me the most valuable gift that I have ever received: the gift of the \u201cgives\u201d. Now, every year for Christmas and my birthday, I find someone else to whom I can give gifts.<\/p>\n

This year, my husband and I chose a family that was new to our home area. We delivered furniture to them, computers, coats, and whatever they said they needed. We also gave them some cash to get a few important items. \u00a0Then, a friend\u2019s husband died, and we helped her as much as we could.<\/p>\n

Now our home is filled with joy, the joy of giving. We feel content knowing that others\u2019 lives are better than they were, and this is our gift to each other for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Research explains why the positive feeling my husband and I receive from our gift to each other is a lasting one.<\/p>\n

In two studies, psychology researchers Ed O\u2019Brien (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) and Samantha Kassirer (Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management) found that participants\u2019 happiness did not decline, or declined much slower, if they repeatedly bestowed gifts on others versus repeatedly receiving those same gifts themselves.<\/p>\n

In other words, the joy of giving lasts longer than the joy of receiving.<\/p>\n

Can you think of a way you can give yourself this lasting joy?\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to spend money. Instead, you can give your time or kind words to someone who needs them.<\/p>\n

Never forget that the best thing you can give is a hug!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let the\u00a0encouraging words<\/a>\u00a0in these\u00a0near\u00a0a\u00a0river<\/a>\u00a0posts help you<\/h4>\n

soar like an\u00a0eagle<\/a>\u00a0above life\u2019s storms.<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

What is the most important gift?<\/a><\/h4>\n

Do you feel sad around the holidays?<\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enjoy BJ\u2019s\u00a0encouraging words<\/a><\/h4>\n

on\u00a0near a river<\/a>!<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How about the \u201cgives\u201d instead of the \u201cgive me\u2019s\u201d? \u00a0Like a hug, both parties benefit from the \u201cgives\u201d. When I was a small child, I thought like a child. Around Christmas and my birthday, I naturally wanted gifts. I seldom Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1089,137,550],"tags":[1588,2612,77,1271,1269,1328,1334,1270,1329,1337,1714,1332,1321,12,9754,1331,9755,9753,1330,1320,1273,1322,1302,1274,1323,1325,1326,1324,19,1275,1319,1318,716,9410,9552,10755,10756,10754,328,1882,10759,1327,1336,1335,1268,10758,1333,297,10757,1299],"class_list":["post-17692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-happy-holidays-near-river-bj-rae","category-live-happy","category-change-world-near-river-bj-rae-eagle","tag-common-core-eagle-reading-book","tag-bald-eagle","tag-bj-rae","tag-books-for-children","tag-books-for-kids","tag-child-eagle-reading-book","tag-childrens-book","tag-childrens-books","tag-childrens-eagle-reading-book","tag-childrens-reading-book","tag-common-core-book","tag-common-core-reading-book","tag-core-reading-book","tag-eagle","tag-eagle-book","tag-eagle-book-for-child","tag-eagle-book-for-children","tag-eagle-book-for-kids","tag-eagle-child-book","tag-eagle-children-book","tag-eagle-childrens-book","tag-eagle-core-reading-book","tag-eagle-kid-book","tag-eagle-kids-book","tag-eagle-reading-book","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-child","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-children","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-kids","tag-encouragement","tag-encouraging","tag-encouraging-childrens-book","tag-encouraging-kids-book","tag-encouraging-words","tag-for-children","tag-for-kids","tag-give-me","tag-give-mes","tag-gives","tag-grandma","tag-joy","tag-joy-of-giving","tag-kid-eagle-reading-book","tag-kid-reading-book","tag-kids-book","tag-kids-books","tag-northwestern-university-kellogg-school-of-management","tag-reading-book","tag-soar-like-an-eagle","tag-university-of-chicago","tag-words-of-encouragement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17692"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21291,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17692\/revisions\/21291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}