It was dinnertime the other evening when there was a knock at the front door. It was the neighbor lady from up the street. Oddly, she rang the doorbell then disappeared to her car. When I stepped out onto the front porch to see why she left she returned with a magnificent surprise. She gave me an enormous lavender hydrangea bush. It was so large and heavy it took two hands to hold it and I had no hands free to give her a big hug in return. “What is this for?” I asked. She said, “No reason, you’re just nice people.” I invited her in, but she insisted on getting home, so off she went. It’s been a week and I’m still in disbelief that someone would do something so out of the blue incredibly nice for little ole me. Which got me thinking about just how much “creative offerings” can make someone’s day, week, and sometimes their life.

Life can be so busy and hectic, but with a little bit of thoughtfulness it doesn’t really take much to make a special person feel like someone cares in the world. As a matter a fact, with so many people living on their computers a site like Yahoo's American Greeting Card site makes it very easy to simply send an electronic card to someone just to say, “I’m thinking about you!” I’ve used humorous dancing e-cards often as a pick-me-up for my son who’s in college or for my husband to say, “I Love You.” Of course the traditional card is always a winner too. The key is to catch people off guard when they least expect it. That’s when an offering is especially a creative offering.

Lovers, anytime of the week is a good time to do something special for that special person in your life. Bring a special breakfast to him or her in bed; it can even be some fast food or specialty coffee. There is never a wrong day for flowers…you can always surprise a lady with flowers any day of the year. There is nothing more creative than for a man to pop up with a fresh bouquet of flowers on no special occasion and say, “They are just because I love you.”

At work, coworkers often like to slide their birthday past people in hopes that no one will notice. That’s a good time to treat people like you would a sibling; bring in a helium balloon or a coffee mug with their name on it. Or better yet, on no special day at all, offer to take a coworker out to lunch “on you” just because you feel like it. You might want to time such a lunch as a pick-me-up when you see a coworker is feeling down.

Grieving is a time when people don’t want to think about how they are going to purchase things or cook, especially when someone has passed away. If you can afford it, this is a good time to make a cash donation to a family to help out with purchasing meals or flowers. Better yet, cook a dish and take it to the family, as this is a time when the family is not thinking about cooking.

Many disabled and elderly people are unable to cook for themselves, care for themselves, and or drive to grocery shop or go to medical appointments. If you have time to assist the elderly or disabled by driving them to appointments, taking them meals, cleaning house for them you most assuredly would be giving of yourself in the most creatively meaningful way possible. After all, we all end up elderly and in need of assistance eventually.

The knock at my door reminded me just how thoughtful people can be. It reminded me how genuine an out of the blue creative offering can turn someone’s day completely around. Creative offering is contagious for once you are the recipient of one’s wonderful kindness you can’t help but want to pay it forward.