Sometimes I feel like I totally missed the message in those Christmas Classics that I watched as a kid..  I can get very caught up making Christmas “perfect”.  I spend a lot of time looking for just the right gift and making sure that the tree looks perfect.  I buy the most beautiful Christmas cookies from Wegmans, take them out of the plastic container and put them in one of the cookie tins my mom gave me, pretending that I made them. (well I’ve thought about it!)

All this on top of what I already have to do makes me stressed out at a time when it’s supposed to be “the most wonderful time of the year”.  All this extra stress, and then we’re supposed to get together with family and friends with big smiles on our faces!

Remember how the Grinch stole all of the presents and decorations and even the cheese for the mouse and Christmas still came?  They still had each other.

Remember how Charlie Brown got the smallest half dead Christmas Tree?  

It just needed a little love. Then they all held hands around the tree and sang?

What about the Christmas Holiday looking like this?  

We let go of the need for the perfect presents, decorations and food and make the Holiday about quality time. We get together with friends and family and have meaningful conversations, play games and sing.  

So, all the stressful stuff is taken out and all of the meaningful stuff is kept in.

We search everywhere for The Perfect Holiday Gift, when it’s right where we’re standing.  We are the gifts!

But we’re not much of a gift when we’re all stressed out and grumpy.

Every place that we go from today until Christmas, lets have an intention to make a connection with at least one person per day.  A time where we give someone eye contact for a sustained amount of time.  We smile at them. We send them love with a compliment.  We really listen to what they have to say to the point that they feel like they’re the only ones in the room……even if we’re in the mall with a thousand other people!  They get to feel really special, like they matter!  

Now, that’s a gift!