With Thanksgiving and Christmas approaching, the spirit of giving and gratitude come to the forefront. Giving brings joy and warms the hearts of those that can give without wanting anything in return. It is the feeling of knowing someone’s needs and extending gratitude to meet those needs. Generosity opens eyes to the giving season.
The season can also turn stressful and full of worry, but it doesn’t have to. Relax and let the joy of the holiday take hold and enjoy a stress-free holiday season with those friends and family and keep the focus on what is most important.
Themostactivecommunal season is centered around the fall holiday of Thanksgiving andwinterbringsChristmas. No matter what your background or culture, everyone comes together on one thing, the spirit of giving. When the giver sees another human being cry with appreciation, a child light up with joy or a senior citizen smile with warmth, that’s the joy of the giving season.
The holiday season extends through the winter months of December, January and February with old gestures of baked goods to the neighbor expecting nothing in return but hoping for an invite to make small talk. Invitations to Thanksgiving feasts and church Christmas services ring throughout the town with hopes to fill the seats to make sure no one is left without love and warmth this holiday season.
The commercially promoted holidays have taken an aggressive push to get everyone in the stores to see all the sales that might miss if they’re not the first hundred in line. If the family isn’t shopping Black Friday sales directly after stuffing their face with turkey and green bean casserole, is anyone even living in this generation?
Families team up and spend hours dividing sale ads among pairs to conquer the most out of the holiday sales to ensure maximum savings for Christmas presents. It is a group effort to maintain preparedness.
Maxed out and in desperate need of a foot massage, shoppers scavenge stores till the wee hours until the list is conquered.Whathappenedto shopping at one’s own leisure to enjoy the experience of browsing and looking at the stores beautiful display of the Christmas villages? Online shopping is a great way to beat the lines and be physically present in the moment with loved ones. Same great deals and sales are offered online just in the comforts of home.Manyofthesalesbegin early online and offer free shipping to try and reduce the in-store madness. Take advantage of better deals and everyone’ssanitybyshopping online this gifting season.
Relieving the stress of the commercial bustle of the frenzy can be achieved to enjoy the simple pleasures alreadyaroundinlifewithout rushing out to buy a vacuum on sale by leaving grandma’s house early to purchase a ticket for at a store twenty miles away. It is the holidays when friends and family are around the most.
Give piling up in the living room with a movie night a try. With all the streaming services and projecting devices, theater experiences have become more accessible for home experiences and is very inexpensive.
Start a new tradition of a pajama movie night, complete with a snack bar and popcorn. Maybe try game of gifting old items around grandma’s house until she notices. The family possibilities are endless.
Get the family involved in seasonal community work revolvingaroundtheThanksgiving, and Christmas holidays when volunteering is needed the most. Lending a helping hand in local projects that reaches the heart of those in need within the community can change outlooks on situations and can help prepare those future pillars of the community.
With food pantries, church programs,cannedfooddrives, coat drives, meals on wheels with senior centers and even local school projects there is plenty to get involved within the local community. If there is not one in the community, start one.
More importantly, don’t forget about the disabled, veterans and senior citizen this season, as well. They look forward to companionship in in the nursing homes and senior living centers. Socks andwarmslippersarealways needed.
How about finding a local angel tree for Christmas or even start one at a local business for others to join in with adopting local teen students for items on their Christmas list. Maybe surprise a neighbor with a box of all the food needed for their Thanksgiving meal.
Some don’t have access to online information so take the initiative to do something. Make up blessing bags with a toothbrush, a pair of gloves, socks and deodorant to pass out to those on the streets. The smallest act of kindness can have large impacts over the next few months. Adopting a child or family of any age that is in need is giving back in a way that teaches humility that not many understand. This holiday season, be encouraging and bless the local community with giving hearts and open hands. Hands are a blessing. Even if it is not monetary, hands make a difference in the spirit of volunteering. It’s lifechanging. Take a break this season to enjoy what one has.
Decorate the tree together, bake those cookies, go on that hunt and most of all enjoy the family and friends sitting by the table laughing and at jokes of others. Slow down and enjoy what is right in front of one’s face this holiday season, for it is the simplest of days that make the best of days feel like no work at all.