Feel Good Friday #10 – The Gift of Time

I hope this week’s blog posts have given you a few new ideas about what to give for Christmas this year. I’ve always appreciated that my sisters share the excitement of hunting for something special all year long. It definitely helps that we decide on Christmas Eve what our gift-giving theme will be for the following year. Today’s gift is probably the easiest and most budget friendly of the week. It’s the gift of your time.

The holidays can be a demanding season. I wish I had a dime for every time I said aloud, “I feel panicked” just this week. If I had, said dime, I would be on a trip to Fiji right now paid in full. Maybe you feel rushed at the check out line trying to buy groceries. You’re up until midnight baking gluten free cookies for the 24 kids in your son’s class. Maybe you have an approaching deadline and you don’t feel creative at all. Maybe you’re trying to get ready for the holidays with the in laws and you’re secretly dreading it. Whatever your situation, I think the most important gift we can give each other is the gift of time. It’s a gift that costs relatively little yet means so much.

I snuck into the space of a very busy person the other day. I was armed with nothing but time and holiday decorations that were perfectly matched for someone that feels Christmas should be “festive.”

This means lots of red,

Simple touches that say, “I get you” like these pair of hiking boots, a nod to the love of the outdoors.

A statement that says, “I know you don’t have a lot of extra time to decorate this season but I want you to know you matter.”

This took a better part of an afternoon but the reaction was priceless.

If you’re already on Instagram come 7:30 and your loved one is yelling out Jeopardy answers, give the gift of 30 minutes and start calling out answers of your own. If you’re making soup for a sick kid double the batch and give the extras to a neighbor. Slip a note in a lunch sack that says, “Date with me” and go hiking. Take some sandwiches to the beach, put up the hatch and watch the waves. Text a friend that needs encouragement an inspirational quote every day for the entire month of December. Handwrite a letter to your Granny and tell her how much you love her pecan pie.   Baby-sit for your sisters so they can take a bath uninterrupted without hearing the little sounds of, “Mom, are you in there?” or give the gift of a decorating surprise. There’s always something we can give however big or small with the gift of our time.

If you missed other posts in this series you can check them out here and here.

Many blessings for a gift filled weekend,

CoCo