Leading up to Thanksgiving, each day I will blog about what I’m doing to be more grateful. I invite you to join me, and to share your thoughts, observations, suggestions and ideas.
Day 17: Give someone a gift that reminds you of your gratitude

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.

~William Arthur Ward

This week I am looking for ways to share the things I’m grateful for. I guess that’s like the gratitude golden rule? Or paying it forward?
Usually I advocate choosing gifts with the recipient in mind — what would he or she really like?
This is a twist: giving gifts to others to help remind me what I am grateful for. Not that I won’t still think of whether the recipient will like the gift, but I’m starting from my own gratitude then seeking a good receiver for it.
For example:

• I am grateful I got a good education at Central Michigan University so I will make a donation to the journalism department there
• I am grateful my colleague, Jay, often treats me to a latte so I’ll be sure to return that favor
• I am grateful for homecooked meals in our cozy apartment so I recently cooked up a storm for an impromptu Sunday night dinner party to share a homecooked meal with friends. I’ll be looking to do that again soon.

If you’re broke, remember gifts don’t have to be extravagant or expensive. How about giving away a book or CD you already own? Or giving the gift of your time or talents?
Looking for inspiration to get you started on the gift-giving path?

• If you’d like to make a donation inspired by something you love, Charity Navigator evaluates their efficiency and effectiveness to make sure your money does what you hope it will. Here is a list of their four-star charities.
• Cami Walker’s book 29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life. Check out 29 Gifts to read about how gift giving wasn’t just good for the recipients but transformative for Cami.

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I’m also really grateful every time I open our mailbox and find a hand-written letter, so I can combine today’s pay it forward exercise with yesterday’s plan of sending thank you letters. It’s a two for one!
What do you love that you can share with someone else? Have you felt more gratitude when you’ve given a gift to someone else?