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December 1st, there’s basically a month of craziness ahead of us folks. I’m sure that you have already purchased Christmas gifts, but as the season continues you are going to be buying more and more, it’s part of the cycle. You forgot someone, you found something someone would like better, and so on and so forth. We feel obligated to buy and in turn we end up completely stressed out.
I love the Christmas season though, I don’t want to spend it feeling like I can’t live up to expectations or that people won’t feel loved around me simply because I didn’t purchase a gift. I want the warm fires burning, people laughing and if I’m lucky some spirits being passed around, I don’t care if gifts are involved in this scenario.
A few years ago I began challenging myself to do one good deed a day in the month of December. The idea was simple: do something nice for someone I don’t know, in hopes that it makes them feel not so alone in this world. Something changed when I began focusing on this during Christmas instead of purchasing for family and loved ones, I began to think about how much money and energy I was spending on gifts that people didn’t need and probably would never remember.
With all of this on my mind, my Christmas habits shifted again. Now I only buy for a few of my loved ones, mostly the kids. With one cousin, we set a limit that we could only spend $1 on each other from here on. We have the entire year to find the best/funniest gift we can for only $1. I focus more on using the holiday season to catch up with friends I’ve lost touch with, mail cards to people I miss and to spend my money on people I don’t know.
One year I documented each act of kindness on a blog. I didn’t post them for the attention or praise, I posted them because it opened the doors for beautiful conversations with people and in return people did acts of kindness and shared their stories with me. As a Christian who likes to show love instead of fear and wants to celebrate the birth of a man who taught not to idolize material goods, I feel more in tune with what this season means than ever. My goal next year is to only purchase for the kids in my family and no else. From now on I’ll give time to my loved ones and gifts to strangers.
Ideas of ways to give to stranger
Send pizza to a nurses station at the local hospital
Leave dollars taped to vending machines
Pay for someone’s meal at a restaurant
Buy for a kid off of a “tree of hope” or “angel tree”
Leave a gift card on a gas pump