It's
official. It's the holiday season. We've just passed Thanksgiving, Black Friday
and Cyber Monday. The lights of the season are sprouting up in my local
neighborhood and the number of emails offering special deals and sales is
prolific. It's that time of year when we start to think about what to give to
others.
When I was a kid, it was all about what I would be getting for Christmas. I used to sit with the JC Penny catalog on my lap, flipping through the pages at all the things that I really wanted for the holidays. I would fold the page, circling the item and move on. I wanted to ensure that my Mom had a good idea of what was on my wish list. Looking back...I had no boundaries. I wanted it all. Anything that I found the least bit interesting would have a dog eared page. On Christmas morning I would awaken in the pre-dawn hours, sneak out to see if anything had been placed under the tree with my name on it and then sneak back to bed. Invariably, I would get not one item from the battered catalog. Not one.
Now don't get me wrong, after all the gifts were opened, I would sit amidst my stack of stuff completely satisfied without a backward glance at all of those unreceived marked toys. And my Mom was a great gift giver. She was thorough in making certain all of her four kids received the same number and value of gifts. Looking back, it was seeing her joy in giving that now means the most. She would sit on Christmas morning with a satisfied glimmer in her eyes to see the delight in ours.
This leads me to my thought for the week. Showing and sharing gratitude. This past week, my end of class reading was around the theme of recognizing that we are never too busy to be grateful. Just think about the last time someone publicly acknowledged a specific thing that you did. Or when you received that handwritten thank you note in the mail, or perhaps someone sent you a link to something that was brought up in a recent conversation. How did that make you feel?
With the infusion of technology in all aspects of our lives, we have lost the art of connecting directly with people. We are bombarded with numerous emails, tweets and posts every day that we have lost the fundamental practice of simply responding. It's maddening to send an email, text or leave a voicemail to never hear back from the person. Yet, if we did we would realize that this not only feels that we've been heard, but the residual impact is powerful.
The time it takes to respond, to be grateful, to acknowledge or say thanks has a far greater impact than we might think (or remember). And nobody is THAT busy that doing so is impossible. It only takes a short amount of time to tap into gratitude and let others know about it.
So for this holiday season, give the gift of gratitude. Not only will it feel great, but people might even thank you for it.
When I was a kid, it was all about what I would be getting for Christmas. I used to sit with the JC Penny catalog on my lap, flipping through the pages at all the things that I really wanted for the holidays. I would fold the page, circling the item and move on. I wanted to ensure that my Mom had a good idea of what was on my wish list. Looking back...I had no boundaries. I wanted it all. Anything that I found the least bit interesting would have a dog eared page. On Christmas morning I would awaken in the pre-dawn hours, sneak out to see if anything had been placed under the tree with my name on it and then sneak back to bed. Invariably, I would get not one item from the battered catalog. Not one.
Now don't get me wrong, after all the gifts were opened, I would sit amidst my stack of stuff completely satisfied without a backward glance at all of those unreceived marked toys. And my Mom was a great gift giver. She was thorough in making certain all of her four kids received the same number and value of gifts. Looking back, it was seeing her joy in giving that now means the most. She would sit on Christmas morning with a satisfied glimmer in her eyes to see the delight in ours.
This leads me to my thought for the week. Showing and sharing gratitude. This past week, my end of class reading was around the theme of recognizing that we are never too busy to be grateful. Just think about the last time someone publicly acknowledged a specific thing that you did. Or when you received that handwritten thank you note in the mail, or perhaps someone sent you a link to something that was brought up in a recent conversation. How did that make you feel?
With the infusion of technology in all aspects of our lives, we have lost the art of connecting directly with people. We are bombarded with numerous emails, tweets and posts every day that we have lost the fundamental practice of simply responding. It's maddening to send an email, text or leave a voicemail to never hear back from the person. Yet, if we did we would realize that this not only feels that we've been heard, but the residual impact is powerful.
The time it takes to respond, to be grateful, to acknowledge or say thanks has a far greater impact than we might think (or remember). And nobody is THAT busy that doing so is impossible. It only takes a short amount of time to tap into gratitude and let others know about it.
So for this holiday season, give the gift of gratitude. Not only will it feel great, but people might even thank you for it.
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