Tis the season
Well, just about all of the shopping is finished. Presents are wrapped and placed under our tree. Christmas cards were addressed and mailed over a week ago. My sales team is hosting holiday parties for just about all of our major customers during this week and next.
Yep, looks like we're just about ready for our annual celebration.
This is always a time that tests one's patience and frays one's nerves, if we allow that to happen. My wife and I always set a budget and nearly always realize there's someone or something that we neglected to identify. And there's always a relative or two that just swears they're not buying gifts for anyone this year, only to catch us by surprise nearer to the holiday.
We're very fortunate that these are "problems" by any stretch of the imagination.
Yet in the past few years we've found small ways to share our abundance and add to our holiday joy. A couple of years ago, I found about a local organization that assists the homeless, and they're entirely local, not tied in any way to a larger national or even regional bureaucracy. So three years ago we began contributing a few dollars several times per year to their cause. Maybe it doesn't help, but I suppose our modest donations cannot hurt, either.
Our church also does something called the Giving Tree, wherein church members pick up one or more giving tree cards which identify a needed gift for a deserving family or individual, and then contribute the item indicated. We've routinely done that for the past ten years or more.
And this year the local Salvation Army chapter sponsored something called a Food Angel. They are available at local groceries and when you buy one the proceeds go toward providing Christmas dinner to a needy family.
I feel good that we do these things, but, at the same time, cannot help but feel bad that such measures are even necessary in this day and age. And I don't want to turn this into a discourse on the 1% vs. the 99%, but you get my meaning, I'm sure.
If you don't have money to donate, give your time, as many local agencies who assist the deserving can always use an extra pair of hands. Or two.
Enjoy the holidays!
Yep, looks like we're just about ready for our annual celebration.
This is always a time that tests one's patience and frays one's nerves, if we allow that to happen. My wife and I always set a budget and nearly always realize there's someone or something that we neglected to identify. And there's always a relative or two that just swears they're not buying gifts for anyone this year, only to catch us by surprise nearer to the holiday.
We're very fortunate that these are "problems" by any stretch of the imagination.
Yet in the past few years we've found small ways to share our abundance and add to our holiday joy. A couple of years ago, I found about a local organization that assists the homeless, and they're entirely local, not tied in any way to a larger national or even regional bureaucracy. So three years ago we began contributing a few dollars several times per year to their cause. Maybe it doesn't help, but I suppose our modest donations cannot hurt, either.
Our church also does something called the Giving Tree, wherein church members pick up one or more giving tree cards which identify a needed gift for a deserving family or individual, and then contribute the item indicated. We've routinely done that for the past ten years or more.
And this year the local Salvation Army chapter sponsored something called a Food Angel. They are available at local groceries and when you buy one the proceeds go toward providing Christmas dinner to a needy family.
I feel good that we do these things, but, at the same time, cannot help but feel bad that such measures are even necessary in this day and age. And I don't want to turn this into a discourse on the 1% vs. the 99%, but you get my meaning, I'm sure.
If you don't have money to donate, give your time, as many local agencies who assist the deserving can always use an extra pair of hands. Or two.
Enjoy the holidays!
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