If you were a fan of the Seinfeld television sitcom you will remember the iconic episode where the term re-gifting was born. If you haven’t ever seen it – you should do some due diligence and find it. A classic!

Since then re-gifting has taken on a life-form of its own. Search the word and you will find an unlimited number of articles teaching us the rules of re-gifting.

Yes- there are rules! Even the articles have a comedic flair.  One of my favorites and most practical comes from Dave Ramsey’s blog post 10 Rules of Regifting.

I’ve been giving thought to this of late in terms of what it is we would choose to re-gift. Throughout this past year an area of focus for me has been letting go. In some cases, beliefs that were not serving my best life and work, in others habits that were comfort zones but not driving excellence. But it was also about things. Including things that had special meaning for me. Why let them go? Because letting them go to the right person at the right time allowed me to create a stronger bond and continue a legacy.

One particular item was a small statue I gifted to my Dad many years ago depicting the safety of a father’s arms. When he died, my Mom re-gifted back to each of us the things we had given him. It was a lovely thing for her to do as we could now have those as remembrances of special times with him. The thought occurred to me that those items could now be an incredible re-gifting opportunity. The statue went to one of my brothers who has borne a special mantle of protection for my nephew through cancer to the miracle of healing. I don’t know that I could have given him anything more meaningful.

There have been other opportunities as well and through all this the spirit of what gifting is all about was made fresh and new for me and, I believe, for the recipients.

My library has been another great source of gifts now in the libraries of others with my sincere hope that they learn from them and continue them on their way. Lives don’t change because of what sits on our shelves. They change because of what we allow into our hearts and minds and then share with others.

After a year of focus around this idea of finding new homes and owners for treasured gifts it has become more natural. What is most remarkable is the shift from it being about giving anything up to the joy of investing into others. When we do that, the dividends are endless. It is absolutely true that as we invest in others through our gifts, we find we in fact have more to give.

The idea of re-gifting revisited. Instead of it being about things we don’t need or want, let it be about things that have meaning and allow them to contribute to the lives of others. As we go into the new year, let’s focus on what we can contribute, what we can share with others and find significance there.

In the words of the incomparable Albert Einstein: “Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.”

Live (gift) today like you want tomorrow to be. Live (gift) well.