Paying it Forward with Time Shares

Holiday gift giving drives me crazy! I hate shopping, writing cards,  traffic, wrapping, and worst of all I hate trying to figure out what to give this friend or that relative, etc. I hate it. It's sucks my time away from me and at the end of the holidays I just feel tired, financially drained, and like it wasn't worth it. Most of us have too much stuff anyway and I hate the idea of contributing more stuff to an already over stuffed world. 

This year, after a great deal of contemplation, I think I have come up with the perfect and certainly most creative holiday gift. Rather than spend my time shopping, driving, wrapping, blah, blah, blah, why don't I just give the time to people in my  life who make living better than bearable. After all, time is my most valued commodity why not pay it forward putting a little of my time into someone else's bank. Once I give it, it's gone. I can't get it back so what I do with it should be something worth doing. What's more worth doing than helping the people in your world who make life all worth it?

So I put the idea on a business card. Anyone that I would  give a Holiday gift to this year will get a simple black and white card offering them a chunk of my time. The front of the card identifies me as a "Time Sharer" and gives my contact info. The back of the card gives the reasonable fine print.  See below. 

The card gives someone important to me permission, not only to ask for help with no strings attached, but also to inconvenience me a little without feeling bad about it. 

The Time Card has it's limitations. It doesn't necessarily work for people who live far away . I wouldn't give it to my mother or my boss (the obligations there could get touchy). I certainly wouldn't offer my time to anyone that I wasn't pretty damn sure wasn't an ax murderer. 

I didn't put an expiration date on it either, although, I am trying to remember to put a date on the card so I can see how long it takes to get it back. I wonder what will be asked of me, if anything. Will a relationship be transformed or unchanged? Will people think I'm super looney  and toss the card aside? Will my offers be lost forever in the depths of someone's purse or wallet?   Will the cards come back to me years from now? 

For the moment, it remains to be seen. Stayed tuned. 

Peace! lw

Here's what is on the back of the Time Card.

s

12-8-14

So far the reaction to the cards has been mixed. Most people have thought it was a great idea. Whether or not they will cash the card in for a favor remains to be seen.  A few have thought me quite daft. One person even told me that it was "cute". Hmm!

12-21-14

Well the first cash in happened and  it's rocking my world.  The awesome person who cashed in the card asked for an evening of my time to attend a motivational meeting. No it was not a cult ! Anyhow, the most interesting thing about it is that I didn't really help the redeemer do anything, which was supposed to be the point of the card. She ended up using the card to help ME rather than get help with something.  So ultimately the time I gave up, came back to me. I gotta say it was worth it. And the best thing about it, is that my relationship with the card redeemer is different (in a good way) that it was before she cashed in the card. And that was the point of it all!! 

12-29-14

I received an email from one of the recipients of the Time Card. Hopefully, she is going to cash in this card and keep the movement going. Here's a quote : " thanks for giving me one of your cards..... When I got home that evening I read the back, and wanted to let you know what a beautiful idea I think you’ve had. I found it very moving. Kudos to you for being such a thoughtful and service-minded woman. Who doesn't love being called service- minded!