{"id":1658,"date":"2011-05-15T03:30:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-15T03:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/?p=1658"},"modified":"2012-03-29T21:29:44","modified_gmt":"2012-03-29T21:29:44","slug":"no-thanks-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.handsfreemama.com\/2011\/05\/15\/no-thanks-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"No Thanks Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"
The week before Easter, I had a proposal for the good people of The Hands Free Revolution<\/a>. I asked that we ban together and collectively recognize those who are underappreciated and often forgotten.<\/p>\n And our targets were the faithful trash collectors and mail carriers that diligently serve us in rain, shine, sleet, and snow every single day.<\/p>\n I asked that your family choose one day of the week leading up to Easter to leave a small token of appreciation on your trash container or in your mailbox. I made this request in a post entitled, \u201cThere Will Be Tears.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n It was my hope that our gestures would touch someone\u2019s heart to the deepest level, the level at which emotion is so moving it is revealed through one\u2019s tears.<\/p>\n And happy tears are the best kind of tears.<\/p>\n My daughters and I had recently left treats for our trash collectors and mail carrier on Valentine\u2019s Day, (you can read about the amazing results of that action in \u201cThe Clean Lines of a Loving Heart<\/a>\u201d). Yet, the girls were excited to do it again, this time uniting with our entire neighborhood and possibly with my blog readers from all over the world!<\/p>\n They were excited about the possibilities, and so was I.<\/p>\n In my neighborhood, Thursday, April 21st was the day.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, it happened to be one of those <\/em>mornings. (You know the kind of morning where you are surprised that one of your children is not dropped off at school with a disoriented expression, still in her pajamas, sporting major bed-head, munching on a Pop-Tart.)<\/p>\n Well, at least we managed to get the two Easter baskets to the end of the driveway and another one safely tucked inside the mailbox.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n But aside from depositing the treats in their proper location, every other intention I had that morning managed to slip right through my fingers.<\/p>\n I planned to catch the garbage collectors en route and witness their surprised reactions first hand.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I planned to drive around the neighborhood and take pictures of the colorful gifts that sprinkled life onto the dismal, gray trash containers.<\/em><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n I planned to stop at each treat, read the children\u2019s beautiful notes (while wiping away tears), and admire every creative illustration.<\/em><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I planned to hug the life out of Mrs. Jackie, my mail carrier, when she delivered my mail.<\/em><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t happen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I had all the best intentions. But yet,<\/em><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t get to see their joyful faces. <\/em><\/p>\n I did not get to see the precious hand-made cards. <\/em><\/p>\n I did not take any photos showing the incredible number of participants in this community gesture.<\/em><\/p>\n I did not get to see the results of our actions. <\/em><\/p>\n I did not get to see how it all turned out. <\/em><\/p>\n And I didn\u2019t get to see if there were any tears.<\/em><\/p>\n To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.<\/p>\n I felt like I truly let you all down. Everyone wants to hear how the gift is received. Everyone wants to hear the happy ending.<\/p>\n But then my Hands Free inner voice came to my rescue. (For as many times as that voice can annoy me with ridiculous requests, it does manage to keep Control-Freak Excessive Planner Extraordinaire Rachel in check.)<\/p>\n And this is the poignant reminder I received from my Hands Free inner voice:<\/p>\n A multitude of children just spent the last several days shopping, baking, icing, creating, stuffing, writing, drawing, and even praying for complete strangers.<\/em><\/p>\n These children did not do this because they were going to \u201cget\u201d something; they did not expect to have a reciprocated Easter basket on their doorstep when they got home from school; the thought of a \u201cthank you note\u201d from the trash man didn\u2019t even cross their mind. Those are not the reasons why they did it.<\/em><\/p>\n The reason they made treats and set them in an unusual place was for one simple reason.<\/em><\/p>\n They did it to make someone happy.<\/em><\/p>\n Pure and simple. No strings attached. No \u201cthanks\u201d necessary. Just wanted to make someone smile.<\/em><\/p>\n That\u2019s all.<\/em><\/p>\n (If that is not a lesson for the Hands Free Mama in training, I don\u2019t know what is.)<\/p>\n Now this\u2026THIS\u2026.is exactly how I want to live my life: Expressing love and kindness to those around me without expecting anything in return, without expecting a reciprocated favor, without waiting for a thank you\u2026 simply expressing acts of kindness to others because it is the right thing to do. Because that is how I would like to be treated. Because exhibiting love toward someone else without a hidden agenda is a generous and content way to live.<\/p>\n And if these children could set their gifts upon the trash can with the mere satisfaction that they PROBABLY made someone\u2019s day, then surely I could be satisfied with that, too.<\/p>\n Now at this point, I could wrap this baby up and tie it with a bow.<\/p>\n But there is more to the story. And it is too good not to share.<\/p>\n As I have seen time and time again on this journey, the best things come from the unplanned. The most meaningful things are unexpected. The best things come when I simply let things BE, when I let them unfold the way they were meant to unfold.<\/p>\n A few days after I let go of the need to know how everything turned out, I received this message from a dear neighbor:<\/p>\n I just happened to see Miss Jackie on the day of her surprise and wanted to tell you about it\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Miss Jackie pulled up in our driveway to give me a package. My three-year-old son and I came out with her Easter basket.\u00a0 She began to cry. Through her tears, she said, \u201cI have never experienced so much love and gratitude from a neighborhood like this before.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Then she opened the door to her truck. There stood a heaping pile of cards and gifts.<\/em><\/p>\n She pointed to the abundance and said, \u201cThis is better than Christmas! Y\u2019all have blessed me! Y\u2019all have blessed me so much. You just don\u2019t even know.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n