This Season, Choose Meaning Over Material

A Gift That Grows

At this time of year, it’s very easy to get caught up in expectations and to lose sight of reality. Some are trying to squeeze an entire year of visits with friends and family into a one-month time frame, while others may be experiencing that certain melancholy that attends the circumstance of not having friends or family with whom to share the joy of the season.

Skeptics of the season find that “nothing is a miracle,” because they feel that the significance and majesty of our holidays have been sucked dry by high prices and higher expectations. However, there are those lucky folks out there who have found that everything is a miracle, not just at the holidays, but also throughout life.

It’s time to put on your “miracle glasses” by shunning the exchange of piles of presents and avoiding the bright and shiny department stores and online advertisements. Those things simply confirm our worst suspicions, and rob us of the joy we’re supposed to feel and share with others.

This year, your gifts to friends and family could take the form of donations to charitable organizations, given in their name. If you give it some thought, you’d recognize that everyone you know has some cause for which they feel strongly.

Remember that philanthropy always comes in the right size and color, and never needs dusting or ironing. If you’re lucky, this gift just might be returned!