How To Celebrate the Season of Giving

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

The one thing that I have preached about the Holiday season is that it is the season of giving.

Sometimes, we get so caught up with what we want for Christmas and what we need to get everyone for Christmas that we forget to stop and cherish the moments.

As I have gotten earlier, I have realized the holiday season is a lot more than Christmas gifts. It’s a lot more than the Christmas lists and Christmas movies. There is so much more about this season that not everyone thinks about.

It’s a hard time for many families and I think that is something that has pierced my heart. I read an article about how kids wrote their Christmas lists at school and either requested snacks to have food or gifts for their parents — kids are my weakness. I just want all kids to be happy and have all the opportunities in the world. I wish that for everyone, to be honest. I know it’s not that simple but I wish it was and I wish life was a lot easier.

So, my thing this season has been to reach out and participate in things that help the people around me, things that will encourage other people to do good. My one goal in life is to always be a good person and do good by people. I feel like that’s one thing I’m passionate about — I can control how I treat others and I can make the attempt to make them feel good about themselves.

So, what are you going to do to celebrate the season of giving? How are you going to make a difference in the world?

Here are a few ideas that you could look into — you won’t regret lending a hand, I promise.

Volunteer

You can take the time to figure out what is going on in your community. There are dozens of organizations, I guarantee it. One of my co-workers introduced the Ronald McDonald House Organization in one of our weekly meetings and shared how we can help out. They needed people to come in and help cook dinner and clean up — these are things that some might think are tedious or will take up time but they truly don’t. You get to help out and make an impact in someone’s life. You hear stories and you realize how grateful you should be and you find more ways to help out. Take the time to volunteer with an organization and just meet new people — learn about their lives and dreams.

Donate

A lot of people don’t realize how important their donations are. I really thought nothing of it when my parents made me clean out my closet and dresser as a kid but as I have gotten older and learned about the price of clothes and the fact that there is a better home out there for them, I have started donating. You can donate so many things from clothes to money. You just need to make sure that it’s a reputable source and not someone that is going to scam or con you. Around the holidays is the best time to donate because you don’t know someone’s struggle — actually, any time of the year is a great time to donate. During the holidays, you can donate toiletries that someone can utilize in stockings or as gifts or you can donate toys. There are can food drives and coat drives, so many things that you can donate to. There are tons of shelters looking for supplies for their occupants. My thing this year has been to collect dress clothes (right now, men’s — shout out to my boyfriend) and donating that to shelters so that men can have dress clothes. You could even lend some money to pay off student lunch debts! I know a lot of us don’t have tons of money to shell out but the amount that we can give will make a difference. Whatever you can give will make a difference, don’t ever doubt that.

Adopt a Family

My favorite thing to do in school was a adopt a family. It was a thing at my school to a adopt a family and we would all raise money for the teachers to go out and buy the gifts — it might have been my teacher’s thing to do because I can only remember doing it in a select few classes. Nonetheless, adopting a family has always been something that I wanted to do. You are literally going to help out someone this holiday season by providing them with gifts. You are Santa for a family. You are a blessing to that family. Just think of all the children that you will make happy by supplying their family with a few gifts. Look and see who is hosting one — in my community, my job puts together an adopt-a-family and there are organizations out there that ask you to adopt a kid. Do what you can. It’s amazing.

Send Christmas Cards

This is what I’m doing. This year, I have been sending holiday cards to sick children or children that need some holiday cheer in their lives. It’s really nothing to print out extra holiday cards or to buy a stack at Big Lots for $3 and send them out. The idea that my card is going to give a kid some joy is all the satisfaction that I need. Can you imagine just wanting a stack of Christmas/holiday cards to make your day? It’s an easy request to fill and a few kids will be getting a holiday card with my dog’s face on it so I’m happy about that. You can get fancy and have cards made or you can DIY it. Just send out a card or two to make someone’s day, give them that joy.

A lot of times, we tend to forget that there are people struggling or people that are sick and need someone to brighten their day.

Let’s not take for granted our opportunities or be ashamed, but let’s help other people have access to those opportunities. Think about the effect you could have on someone especially at a time where we see people lashing out and being negative. You can be the sunshine in someone’s life.

Let go of your thoughts and ideas about people, don’t hold them to a stereotype. Be better than a lot of people, be way better and be good. Remember it’s not about the gifts, it’s about love and giving that love.

No matter what anyone says, you can make a difference whether it’s in one person’s life, many people’s lives, or your own life, you can make a difference.