We really can use the holidays as the time to reflect on ourselves and others. From the religious aspect of Christmas consider that Christ probably would not have been going through Black Friday sales advertisements. He would’ve been trying to figure out how to help others. Is Christmas the time of the year that we think about greed and ourselves? What am I going to get? What am I going to give others? Why didn’t I get what I wanted instead of what someone gave me?

I would ask that you give time to others this season. Not just this season but every season. I won’t push it to every day. Give the time that you have even if it’s not the time that you want. I choose to work over these holidays because I know other people want it off to spend with family. Consider the small things that you could do. Maybe it’s cold outside and you’re going to dinner and you’ve walked by numerous homeless people huddled on the side of the street. If you don’t think you’re going to eat your whole dinner, portion some of it out ahead of time to pack away to give to someone on your way back to your warm car and home. Consider buying granola bars or easy to carry food packaged food for handing out one by one as you walk by. And while they are sugary, perhaps handing out small bottles of Gatorade.

Do you have extra blankets or even sheets, anything that could keep somebody warm? Were you planning on donating it anyway? Maybe now‘s the time to clean out that closet and hand something, even a thin something, to someone who might need a little bit more warmth. This is not a game or contest of how much or how little, it’s a matter of just doing something.

If you have kids, are they complaining about what they did or did not get for the holidays? Is that what you want for their future? Perpetuating entitlement? Ok, maybe that’s stretching things.

Enough rambling. Back to work.

-SFA