Happy New Year

 

Wishing you the most Happiest of New Years!

May 2015 be filled with experiences,
connecting with people you love and care about,
and activities you jump into whole heartedly!

Laughing all the way.......

Chose to be light.
Believe that people mean well.
Give someone the benefit of the doubt.
Remember, it really is the thought that counts.
Forgive someone by accepting you can't change the past.

Do you want to be right? Or kind?

Our lives reflect the choices we are willing to make.
Be brave.
Take a risk.
Act with integrity.
Honor your most heartfelt desires.

You are the Light and Gift of the Season.
Be Merry and Bright.

Shoulding on yourself........

This time of year especially it seems that life is full of shoulds.

I should find the perfect presents.
I should bake six kinds of cookies.
I should decorate the house.
I should spend time with family.
I should go to the annual Christmas party.
I should write a Christmas newsletter.
I should___________________.

And just who decided you should do all these things?
Whose voice in your head is it that you are hearing?
And do you really need to pay attention to it?

Maybe some of those shoulds are left over from a different time in your life.
A time when you had different priorities and obligations.
Perhaps they never were things you really enjoyed doing 

but always did to please others or 

to maintain an image or idea of who you thought you needed to be.

Have these activities become the Clutter of Christmas?
Things you no longer need, use, value or love?
Activities that get in the way of you doing what you really love with the people you truly care most about?

There is certainly nothing wrong with presents or cookie baking, decorating your home, or spending time with family.
Unless, of course, you don’t really want to,
or it no longer reflects the life you want to be living.

What’s true is: There is only so much time.
How do you want to spend it?
What choices can you make that support your most heartfelt life?

Your life.
Your choices.
Make them meaningful to you.

Presence! Presents! Presence!

Presence and presents, both are gifts.

Which one will you give more of this Season?

It is true that we can delight and charm recipients
with thoughtful and clever gifts.

But how much more meaningful might it be to offer them your presence?
Your attention?
Your acceptance?
Your empathy for their stressful day?
Your compassion for their challenging situation?
Your listening ear and heart?

Relationships are built over time and shared experiences.
Memories are made when we spend time together laughing,
talking, sharing events, activities, companionable silence and creating our stories of connection.

Give the present of your presence to family, friends, coworkers, even the clerk at the store, 

the barista making your coffee,
and the child asking you the annoying question.

Your presence is the Light of the Season.

Doing not having.

This Holiday season try giving more experiences and less stuff.
Consider gifts that involve spending time together 

and making memories.
Gift giving is about acknowledging our connections to others and a way to thank them for what they mean to us in our lives.

Try to make sure that what you give doesn’t end up as
clutter in someone else’s home and life.
You may think they need another pig for their collection,
or you found the cutest sweater,
or a book you think they’d love.

Chances are, they wish they’d never started collecting pigs,
you aren’t as hip to their fashion sense as you might think,
and they already have enough books they haven’t had time to read.

Pause before you hit the Buy it Now button,
procede to check out, or whip out your credit card-
consider if there might be a way for you to give
the gift of your presence
as the present.

Most of us have plenty of things in our lives:
All of us want deeper connections.

Give gifts that create connections
and make memories.

ps.  If you find yourself giving  to someone out of guilt or obligation,
habit or perceived  pressure, take a deep breath.
Give yourself permission to say no.
(You may be surprised at the relief everyone involved feels)