The Gifting Season

It's that time of year again and it's so easy to become disillusioned isn't it? What with the rampant commercialism and all the suffering in the world. It seems obscene. So I started thinking about what the gifting season is truly ABOUT. Yes, it has been designated as Christ's birth and the Bible talks about 3 wise men bearing gifts but the reason for the season started loonnnng before that. In pagan times, the winter solstice was celebrated as an end to the dark days and the coming of the light. Gifts were offered to the gods in thanks. That's the history anyway.

For me, it's irrelevant in the NOW where it started and when. The gifting season, for me, is about L O V E. If I choose the gifts I give with thoughtfulness about the person to whom I'm giving the gift, then is it about me expressing my love for that person - whether it is reciprocated or not. It's not necessary for the gifts to be material at all. It could be something I made, or time spent helping someone else - like maybe babysitting for someone so they could go to a holiday party. My expression of love is all that matters. Through that expression, I create loving thoughts in myself and then others. And so on, and so on.

So if you're tempted to think un-loving thoughts about the state of the world, or the greed of the corporate machine, think again. What are you adding to the collective web of thought by doing so? And how does that create loving thoughts IN you?

Today's Thought
Remember that YOU are the gift you give to others - always.