Christmas Means So Very Much More

“Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

Theodor Seuss Geisel, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

It’s that time of year.  In a few days it will be here.  The excitement is building but then so is the stress and tension and anxiety.  Traffic is horrible already!  Christmas lights are on steriods!  It’s enough to make anyone go “humbug” and hide in the closet.  Christmas, dear friends, IS so much more.

Over the next few weeks, we all need to remember that it is so much more than shopping, partying, expensive gifts, long days, fights, stress and on and on.  Christmas is about none of those things.  It’s about family and friends, laughter and love, gratitude and blessings and, oh, so much more.  Try this over the next few days before Christmas Day.  Put away your checkbook and credit cards.  Put away the lists and endless errands. Focus instead on reaching out and contacting those you love, those you see all the time and those you have not seen in years.  If you make a list – make a list of them and call them and tell them that they are thought of with love during this Christmas season.

Give the gift of your time and it doesn’t have to be a lot of time but time just the same.  Reach out to help someone else have a merry Christmas by showing that you care by donating time, energy, a hug or a smile.  We don’t get through this journey alone even if it feels that way at times.  There is someone or many someones who are there to give love and support and we need to take the time to acknowledge that and pay it forward.  What better time than during the Christmas season which by the way – should last in our hearts and actions all year long.