gifts – Looking to God

3 Things We Can Do to Show Others Gratitude

Posted on February 13, 2017February 14, 2018 by Jack Flacco

The other day I was thinking how awesome it would be if we showed people more gratitude. I am not talking about the superficial thank-you we dish out as a means to acknowledge participation in a mutual conversation. I am talking about acts of kindness that would replace the quick two words we throw around to get on with our day.

Of Course, I am not saying we should drop everything so that we can daily show appreciation to the ticket agent on the train or the security guard at the mall, otherwise we would never get anything done. However, there is nothing wrong with going back the next day to give them both a coffee.

Doing something like that will cause them to remember us, and who knows, maybe one day we will become a story to their friends and family.

Without spending any more time on introductions, let us have a look at three things we can do to show others gratitude.

1. Drop a Note

Every so often, Luana will drop me a note to tell me that she loves and appreciates me.

I am not recommending that you should give a stranger a note to tell them you love them. That would be awkward. What you can do, though, is compose a quick handwritten message to let them know how much you value them.

Sincere words have a way of making people feel good about what they are doing, especially if those people are working in jobs where gratitude comes less often than expected.

Even if not a stranger, words of thanks in the form of note will make any friend or family member feel appreciated.

So go out there and drop those notes of kindness. You will never know what effect it will have on others.

2. Give a Gift

No matter how small or how large the sentiment, everyone loves receiving a gift.

A token of appreciation goes a long way. It does not have to be pricey, weighty, or extravagant. As long as the gift comes from the heart, it will be special.

I once gave two bottles of wine—red and white—to a friend of mine to thank him for all the support he had given me throughout one year when things were not going so well with me. It took him aback. Since then, I can always count on him for an open and honest opinion.

Now before going on, I want to make one point clear: Giving a gift is not bribery. It is a heartfelt gesture to express our gratitude for a relationship. There is nothing wrong with giving and not expecting anything in return.

Otherwise, that would be bribery.

Therefore, have fun with this. Give a gift of gratitude that will mean everything to the recipient.

3. Perform a Random Act of Kindness

Sometimes a note or a gift just will not do it. Sometimes the situation calls for something more—something beyond the regular conventions of selflessness.

A random act of kindness dictates that there is no reciprocation involved. The entire act is a one-way street, outflowing and selfless.

The gesture could be as simple as helping our neighbor with the groceries, or giving our time at the local food bank, or even more so, providing financial aid to those in need.

It is up to us what that random act of kindness will be.

We can accomplish incredible things in another person’s life by simply giving without strings attached. Our actions can change someone’s life, especially when we are showing gratitude for the blessings God has given us.

For this reason, let us take this opportunity to show our appreciation to those who make our lives better.

Writing Tips

Posted on December 25, 2015May 9, 2017 by Jack Flacco

Christmas Day. I’m not here right now but if you leave me a message I will get back to you as soon as I can. Actually, by the time you read this, it will have been a full month since I wrote it. I cherish these long timelines before writing something and before it goes to press. I can play with the writing, add a little, take a little—it’s very organic. Sometimes, and this happens more often than you think, I scrap the post for something entirely different.

It’s not my intention today to ramble on about nonsense, so I thought I’d give you a gift instead. Many times, I have felt the need to elaborate more about my writing, but I have never had the will to do that, particularly for these reasons:

Writing sites crop up every day, and what I offer isn’t anything you can’t gain from other sites.
I’ve never felt comfortable about writing about writing. I know, I’ve written three thick books that I should be proud of, but I’ve always felt unworthy to impart any information to my audience. In my mind, it seems pretentious to do such a thing, considering authors such as John Grisham, who I admire dearly, has never written about his writing. If anyone should write about writing, it should be Grisham.

Anyway, today I’d like to give you three things I do to keep on track with my writing. With this I hope to overcome this huge feeling of unworthiness that goes through me when I’m writing about writing.

All right, enough of the self-loathing. Here are the points:

Schedule Writing Time—I’m a great believer in treating writing like a job. Well, for me, it is a job, so I have no choice. I clock in and punch out every day. That’s the secret as to how I get so much writing done in a day. I wake up at 4:52 every morning, wash up, have my walk, then I sit down to write while everyone is still asleep. My writing is scheduled. I don’t allow anything to interfere with my goal of getting 1,000 words done. Trust me when I say that when you become scheduled, writing will turn into a habit very quickly in your life. You’ll miss it if you do not do it.
Write What You Love—Everyone has something interesting to talk about, even if it’s a silly subject like the zombie apocalypse. When I first started writing, I had no clue what I was doing. In some respect, even today, I don’t know what I’m doing. But, I’ll tell you something you may not know. If you write about things you love, you will never run out of things to talk about, either in your novel writing or on your site. I find it easy to sit down and come up with posts for my site and scenes for my books. And the only reason for that is that I love writing about the things that interest me. Fortunately, the things I love happen to be the things other people love, too.
Don’t Rely on Muse or Inspiration—This is the only “don’t” on my list. Treat writing like a job. In a job, you don’t rely on inspiration to get things done. You do the job because you have to, and if you don’t get it done, you’re out of a job. Simple as that. Are you going to fire yourself? Of course not! You’re going to work hard until what you imagined in that brain of yours flows on the paper and you’re done. Yes, it will be hard, especially those days when you hear yourself saying, “I don’t feel like it.” I promise you though, if you treat writing like a job, you will never run out of anything to say.

One last thing before I go back to having my eggnog—always, always revise. Forget about the first draft. Sometimes I’ll knock out a first draft that appears publication worthy, but the usual thing I do is dump everything on paper, then revise.

Revisions is what makes your work shine. Never cheap out on spending the time with your writing to make it what you’ve envisioned.

Now, if you feel the need to write something, leave a comment. In the meantime, I’m sure at this very moment I’m getting ready to enjoy the rest of today with my family with tons of food and festivities.

Get the Ranger Martin trilogy now!

What writing tips do you have that you’d like to share with everyone?

Freedom Friday

Packaging

Posted on December 27, 2013December 31, 2013 by Jack Flacco

If you’re like me, celebrating the holidays and having gotten stuck unwrapping gifts, then you’ll know I’m not joking when I ask: Why does it take a degree in engineering to puzzle over how many handy ties keeps a product in place in its box? I mean seriously, manufacturers produce a lot of packaging for kids’ toys. Some of that packaging could go to great use, such as gasoline for our cars.

Given the subject matter, I think it appropriate to write this post for my Freedom Friday series. If anything, it’s a definite vote for freedom, for sure.

What am I talking about? One of my kids received one of those cool plastic toy characters a couple of days ago as a gift. Under normal circumstances, I’d appreciate the gesture from the giver, shaking their hand in a gracious act of gratitude. However, when it comes to kids’ toys—I surrender.

You see, as a deterrent to avoid shrinkage—that’s the polite term used by fancy-shmancy store chains to describe shoplifting—manufacturers ship their toys in virtually impenetrable packaging only a seasoned professional with safecracking qualifications would dare attempt to open. This, as the stores have said, keeps prices low in an effort best to serve their customers.

But I ask, is it necessary? Is it really necessary? Here’s my experience with the whole packaging drama bit. Let’s take a quick example of what I mentioned as the ultimate kids’ dream—the franchise plastic character toy.

First, I have the box to open. Easy enough, I’ll try to use my nail to break through the one-inch, high-tack sticker that seals the box. My nail doesn’t work, prompting me to grab a Swiss Army Knife to do the deed. Success!

Second, I remove the toy from the box only to find it sealed in a custom, see-through, plastic shell that I either could use a chainsaw to serrate the edges or an incredibly sharp knife. The Swiss Army Knife it is again. I slowly cut around the edges, hoping to get to the toy. I manage to separate the front face of the plastic from its casing. Success, I can finally touch the toy with my fingertips!

Third, three-inch, wire ties keep the toy from moving. Of course, the ties have had twenty-five to thirty twists added, which makes it impossible to gain access to the toy unless the customer uses wire cutters to clip them from their stationary positions. Yes, I use the wire cutters. Success once again! The toy is a tug away from being mine.

Last, now the tricky part. All that work is nothing for what comes next—attempting to pull the toy from its plastic mould. Now, I understand shoplifting is a problem, but in all honesty—manufacturers, malls, stores and bargain shops everywhere—is it really necessary?

I pull, I tug, I grab. The toy is almost out of its cryogenic chamber. I snarl, I sneer, I laugh. I can almost feel it floating in my hands.

Then? I heave a bit too hard. One of the toy character’s arms snaps.

I growl.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

Have you ever had to deal with a packaging mishap? Care to share the story with us?

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