I’ve got the holiday spirit. Mostly because my daughter is getting in to Christmas for the first time. She is so excited that Santa is going to come to her house. I’m off work now until after the first of the year and am just spending time at home with my wife and daughter. I definitely feel very fortunate.
The one drawback to the Christmas holidays is the rampant amount of spending going on. It’s really amazing to me to see people wandering through the stores trying to find things to spend their money on. As I get older, I really find that I’d prefer not to get much at Christmas. I usually buy the things I need/want during the year when I need it. When people ask what to get me for Christmas, I really struggle to give them a list. And when I do give them the list, I feel like I’m just making up ideas so that people can spend money. I know, probably a bit of a scrooge on that, but it’s just my reality.
I’d love to go back to a simpler holiday time where it’s more about being together with family, and a LOT less about spending lots of money on gifts. I don’t remember where I read it, (on somebody’s blog), but it’s true that all those things you buy for people, probably aren’t remembered for very long after Christmas. I know I can’t remember who got me something last Christmas. I’m sure the gifts were expensive, but they didn’t carry a ton of meaning for me.
I am finding that the things that have given me the most contentment, and happiness over the last couple years, are the things we have done for other people we don’t even know. Giving money, and gifts to people less fortunate is such a rewarding experience because I know the gifts that we give them will have far more of an impact than some token, expensive gift I might give to a friend of mine that didn’t really need it in the first place.
So, that ends my rambling about gifts. I hope that every gift you give and receive carries an important meaning for you and I hope that you and your family have a VERY Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I’m sure I’ll be posting a bit over the next week, since I’m off for the holidays, but just in case I don’t, I wanted to get a Merry Christmas in here.