There is a tenuous relationship that humankind maintains with the natural world. For some, it is based on economics and a transactional relationship. We trade our money to consume whatever nature is willingly supplying to us.

We go to the market or the gas station and trade our hard-earned dollars to obtain these natural resources.

We begin to change our relationship when we hold a perspective that what we have can be given as a gift.

Those of us with summer gardens often share our abundance. When we give, the giver feels our goodwill toward them, and often time will give a gift back: a thank you, a return of the favor when there is abundance that they have that can be shared.

Our world, especially in our relationship with nature, is not just a commodity to be used, it's a world to be treasured.

Starting with accepting something so simple as the seasons or the weather as an unchangeable gift that we are challenged to share with others begins to move us out of a transactional mindset toward gratitude and connection.

Our lives become richer.