By Pattie Mihalik

In this, the season of gift giving, I’m thinking about timeless gifts we give and receive.

Best yet, they cost absolutely nothing.

I was given one of these gifts while standing in line at Sam’s Club with a hot chicken burning my hands. Since I was only buying one item, I didn’t bother with a cart.

When the woman in front of me noticed my dilemma, she said, “Here, get in front of me.”

Like a chain reaction, those ahead of me in the long line insisted I check out while they waited.

That’s definitely the gift of kindness.

The more I receive that gift, the more I want to give it away to others.

Most of us have special gifts, yet many of us don’t realize how gifted we are.

There’s a quiet guy in our church who has the gift of kindness in spades. Although Bob doesn’t say much, his actions say it all.

When someone new comes into our meetings, Bob makes a point of sitting with him and chatting so the newcomer feels welcome.

When a group needs someone to stay after a meeting to clean up, he does it without being asked.

When a room needed to be painted, he did it.

Quietly, in his own way, he showers the gift of kindness on others. Yet, when I told him I noticed he constantly gives away the gift of kindness, he was truly taken aback.

“I don’t see myself as having any special gifts,” he said.

A lot of us are like that. We are fast to acknowledge our failings but slow to see the inner gifts that make us special.

My friend Fran has the gift of encouragement. She always seems to find the perfect thing to say that lifts up spirits and makes others feel better.

One single father trying to raise five children after his wife died admits he was mired in problems and drowning in depression.

“Fran’s encouragement made me think maybe I could do it,” the father told me.

It’s not that Fran solved his problems for him. She simply gave him the encouragement he needed to tackle those problems.

Some people have the gift of fortitude — they seem to have an inner strength that keeps them going no matter what hits them.

Did you ever notice how some who have to deal with a problem let it drag them down to the point where they find it hard to function? But others are gifted with an inner strength that helps them survive one trial after another. They have the gift of fortitude.

My friend Jean has the gift of a happy heart. She told me about taking her cranky 80-year-old mother to a waterfront restaurant for her birthday. But her mom did nothing but complain.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s raining and if you don’t like the food,” Jean told her mother. “Let’s just enjoy each other’s company. I’m happy just to spend the day with you.”

Her mother looked at her and said, “You have the gift of a happy heart. You always had it.”

Jean says she never thought of her happy disposition as a gift until her mother said that.

Some people have the rare gift of listening. Instead of just waiting for a pause in the conversation so they can talk, some truly listen and care about what you’re saying.

Some have the gift of caring. Some are peacemakers. Others have the gift of understanding.

All of that brings me to the important gift of gratitude. The more we are aware of all we have been given, the more gratitude we have.

Perhaps you never looked at gratitude as a gift.

But two people can have the exact same set of circumstances. One person will be grateful for all he has in life, knowing he is blessed.

The other person with the same set of circumstances will completely discount how he has been blessed.

I just had a conversation with a guy who has an exceptionally fine life with grand luxuries. It’s always been that way. When I told him he was blessed, he said no.

“I wouldn’t call it blessed. I call it lucky,” he said.

Something tells me he wouldn’t have the gift of gratitude. I came to that conclusion when he said he is “a self-made man.”

See what I mean. Not everyone feels gratitude for his or her life.

Compassion is another attribute we don’t normally recognize as being a gift. Yet some do so much for others simply because they do have compassion those who are hurting.

This week I met a quiet woman who insisted she didn’t do enough for others because she doesn’t have the financial means. She says she lives at the poverty level and barely gets by.

But there she was, volunteering at an outreach center when a client picked up the sweater the volunteer had on a chair. When she told the outreach worker she longed to have a warm sweater like that, the woman could have told her to go to the clothing center and pick one out.

Instead, she gave away her own sweater. Here’s the amazing part. She gave away her only warm sweater.

Yet she insisted she doesn’t have any gifts.

Most of us have more intangible gifts than we can begin to realize.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.