Whether you celebrate Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas or something else entirely, you are aware of the pressure to spend money on the ones you love during the holiday. From a very young age we are taught that how many toys sitting for us under the tree is directly correlated to just how much our friends and family love us. This year, we decided to buck the trend and vowed not to buy Christmas presents in my family. Everyone was on board…that is until it was discovered that one person decided to go ahead and just buy a little something for everyone. What’s Christmas without presents right? Next thing you know, everyone is out on Christmas Eve buying just a little something. You don’t want to be the relative who comes to the party empty handed do you? Does it matter that Aunt Gwen already has plenty of cookbooks? No, she can always use another. Do you know if Grandma Jones already has a Snuggie? No, if she does she can always just return it. As I was scrambling from mall to mall last night trying to find the perfect little gift, I stopped myself. All I really wanted to give my family on Christmas Day was love – pure and sweet. None of the stuff I was buying could communicate that better than my own heartfelt words and actions.
That is when I decided that this Christmas I was going to take a lesson from the Jackson 5 and do just that – give LOVE!
Happy Holidays!
