Today I want to talk about giving. Six years ago, I set myself a personal challenge: for 21 consecutive days, I would give something to someone every single day.
Sounds simple, right? In reality, it wasn’t that easy.
“Give and you will be given”
You’ve probably heard this quote before. I was curious to see if it was really true, so I tested it in my 21-day challenge.
But the first days were surprisingly difficult. People didn’t want to accept my gifts.
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A little boy on the street didn’t like the crisps I offered.
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My friends didn’t want the free book I tried to give them.
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Another friend refused my invitation for dinner or coffee.
It shocked me. How could someone reject a gift?
Finding Ways to Give
At the time, I was living in Greece. I soon discovered that it wasn’t easy to find direct ways to give. Thankfully, I came across donation boxes in supermarkets and small businesses. Do you know those little cardboard boxes where you can drop in spare change? They saved my challenge. Every day, by simply going to the shop, I could donate—even just a few cents. That kept me on track for the full 21 days.
The Shocking Part: Rejection
What really surprised me was the rejection. I had never experienced that before. At first, it even made me angry.
But then I began to think about it in terms of universal laws:
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When we reject a gift, we’re telling the universe we don’t want anything.
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We signal that we don’t feel worthy to receive.
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And if that belief is repeated, the universe complies—giving us less and less.
Who would ever want to receive less and less in life?
What I Learned
Despite the struggles, I completed the challenge. And the lesson I learned was powerful:
I give because I love giving. It fills me with joy, no matter how small the gift is. Giving elevates the energy of both the giver and the receiver.
But when a gift is rejected, something is lost. I realized that refusing a gift doesn’t just deny the item—it denies the giver the joy of giving. That rejection hurts both sides.
Now, I see it differently. Accepting a gift is also an act of generosity. It allows the giver to feel joy and to share their energy.
My Promise to Myself
From that day on, I made a promise:
👉 I will never reject a gift again.
Because giving and receiving are deeply connected. By saying yes to a gift, we honor the giver, we keep the energy flowing, and we remind ourselves that we are worthy of abundance.