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Hard Bonus: Include a favorite holiday memory
Easy Bonus: Incorporate shining stars
Depending on what’s going on in your life, as well as post shutdown, often, it’s hard to Let the Spirit Move You! Just remember, it doesn’t have to be the winter holiday season to do it, this cheer should be something that lasts throughout the year, without the stress. Whether it’s Christmas, Channukah, 4th of July, a random Tuesday in August, if you can make someone’s day, do it, and make the holidays a little less stressful by going at your own pace. The right people will understand.
My favorite holiday memory is when my son was maybe about 6 or 7, still young enough to believe in Santa Claus but on the cusp of discovering that the actual jolly man is not… We always lived modestly, don’t have a lot of excess but often, we have a few things to spare. I’d found out about a family who had some sort of disaster (not sure if it was the water heater or furnace, but needed to pay for that) and literally didn’t have anything for Christmas, except their new big appliance that was necessary. They’d posted on social media, and some people can be cruel. I’d found out their address, and gathered small gifts for the children, to which we fortunately had age appropriate items. Mind, none of these things were high money gifts, just more like stocking stuffer priced items that we mostly already had… I had an extra roll of wrapping paper, spare roll of tape, and because of the way I shop, had an extra token for a free turkey (they’d missed the sign ups for a lot of these, and I’m thinking the pick up day was the same day they were getting their new item put in), and because we’d gotten things from not only the church, but many of the free or seriously discounted sales for the holidays made it so I had double, even triple of everything, so a food basket as well. I think the whole thing, the gifts & food & extras combined, I probably didn’t spend $20, which was still a lot for us at that time, but nothing crazy… I grabbed the heavy box of food with the turkey coupon, my son grabbed the lighter bag of small gifts for everyone, and we placed it on the porch. I asked him to be very quiet, and found a safe spot that was still accessible from the front door. He asked why we were going to leave after dropping & knocking. I explained to him that I wanted them to have a surprise when they found it all, and his face lit up “Oh, just like Santa Clause”! I said yes, and at that moment, I realized he just understood the Spirit of Santa Claus. We ARE the shining stars of the planet! What might be small & not a big deal to you might be huge for the person that is receiving the blessing.
Happy holidays to you all, into the future!
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