PLAY SANTA FOR ME

There is a time in our lives when we make or need to make that conversion from getting to giving.

How did Ella say it? "One gets the gift and the other gets the blessing"? It is that sort of wisdom that allows us to say thank you so much for the parcel. Because, as you can see, it we aren't grateful, the giver doesn't get the blessing.

Read again: "One gets the gift and the other gets the blessing".

This tells us it is a two fold thing. It doesn't matter if you gift back but it does matter that you acknowledge it. It isn't cut in stone but it is something we should know to do.

Not:
Oh, you shouldn't have

SAY THANK YOU. See, that wasn't so hard, was it. (I sound like I am filling in Coke Reward numbers). I am really very serious about it.

DON'T Say:
I don't know what to say.

SAY THANK YOU. It doesn't have to be mushy, just sincere.

You may have guessed by now that I am not one to exchange gifts for something else although I know many that do it. We won't go there because it is a personal soap box of mine.

I personally believe that when someone gives me something, it is an extension of their love and friendship. The thought counts almost as much as the physical gift. Therefore if I find some off beat thing or have an idea that seems perfect to me, then, within myself, I have thought about it. Giving of self.

It has been a long time since I bought mother a turtle pin with colored stones for Christmas, only to have it become part of the rummage sale loot the following spring. In my eyes, it was as beautiful as she was and obviously heart broken about it.

Over the years, I have learned that, when you gift something, it is not part of the deal to have possession over it. When the transaction is made, it becomes the property of another person, no matter if they exchange it, give it away, re gift it, never use it, or just plain don't like it. And that is no matter how painful it might be. If, within yourself, you have given thought to the GIVING, you are not allowed to give thought into the RECEIVING.

Now you can stew about that all you want but that is just how it is. And it isn't anything about how "they have everything, they don't need anything, I don't know what to get them". It is about playing Santa and finding the magic within yourself to offer a gift in friendship and love as an extension of yourself.

Old Trunks is an old turd this morning.

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