Gratefulness

What is the ultimate gift?

Life.

It’s all downhill after that.

We require food, shelter, education and love to survive after receiving life. As children, I don’t think we have any clue that life is the ultimate gift. I certainly didn’t. I knew I was fortunate to have the family and home and friends and “stuff” that I had. And I was truly grateful for all of it. But as I’ve lived and learned, I now see that most of it is just fluff. I’ve found that living more simply is so much less stressful. If I don’t have a hundred shirts to choose from, then it’s easier to make a choice as to which one to wear. I’m not suggesting living like a monk and I’m not suggesting foregoing the holidays. Personally, I always look for the middle ground. It does exist and there is always a way to get there.

We are such a consumerist society. Every year I talk to people all through the holiday season that say they hate how commercial everything is. Then they turn around and shop the Black Friday sales at 5:00 am. People don’t know how to NOT be consumers foremost. It’s not taught anywhere. And it causes so much stress to people this time of year. It doesn’t have to be that way. Every one of us can turn our thought pattern around. It’s not easy, but it can be done. And you’ll be happier and much calmer.

For me,  my first step was gratefulness. I am grateful for simply being alive. I am blessed with this life. And upon realizing just how blessed I am, I don’t take a moment for granted. Be it anything from walking the dogs to cooking to sitting in traffic or paying bills. Everything I do, I’m in that moment. For, without this life, I wouldn’t have that – including the mundane or boring. My next step I just gave you – living in the moment. Funny, I learned this one from the dogs. If you watch dogs play, sleep, eat or just be, that’s how they live. They don’t worry about tomorrow or have remorse over yesterday. There’s no need for those things. And there’s no need for those things for us, as well. I can’t change the past any more than I can predict the future so it’s pointless to expend any energy concerning myself with it.

For me at this time of year specifically, I used to find myself hating Christmas shopping - trying to find the perfect gift for each person in my family. There are quite a few of us so it’s not easy. I realized I kept getting hung up on the thought that I had no idea what to buy. That’s the only thought I had and it blocked any creative, thoughtful ideas from coming through. So instead I’d think of that person – who they are, what they do, what they like, where they go. And at least one idea would come to me. Heck, that’s all I need is one idea! And, the nice thing nowadays is online shopping. You can find nearly anything online and many places have free shipping. So, you don’t even have to hit the mall if you don’t want to. In the last few years, I’ve graduated on the holiday calmness scale and, while I do some of my shopping online, I do also like to hit the mall – just once. Spend part of a day or evening there with some ideas and some plan of action, but doing it in a non-hurried, strolling fashion. I smile at people – sometimes just to see if they’ll smile back. Which they often do just because I have a Santa hat on. I wear my Santa hat out every day from Thanksgiving to Christmas. That simple act alone brightens my holiday spirit.

There are no aspects of the holiday season that are life and death. And ultimately, death is the only fate of life. Everything else is an experience, an adventure, a memory to be savored. Good or bad, every happening adds to the fullness and richness of our life. Every one of us has a story to tell. Living life creates that story.

Nurture your most precious gift.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, all!

Namaste.