What is also special about Christmas? Christmas encourages people to give and it encourages people to get together, to take time out of their busy daily lives and to give time to each other and to share friendship, energy and sometimes food. This tradition stems back to: Christmas as a festive season that some cultures celebrate globally and is traditionally associated with Saint Nicholas, delivering presents to awaiting small children. Small children who have been told, if they are good, a present under the tree, may arrive by magical reindeer sleigh delivery on the night of the 24th December. Scientifically, giving produces those happy hormones, dopamine and endorphins. We know though, that Christmas isn’t about the gifts under the tree, it’s about spending time together, it about giving your time. Time has been classified by some as the most valuable commodity. How much do you value your time?
Giving time to family members, in which sometimes challenging relationships are held, helps to develop those relationships. By giving, something special happens to all of us, our hearts open and we foster and cultivate one of the most important parts of being human, we foster love. By stretching our hearts and giving, fosters generosity, we develop as people when we give.
Giving in another way, can also be through donating to charitable services and this also is a great way of both fostering our hearts and love. And most importantly, donating helps other people in need. Donating can connect us with a deeper sense of purpose and is a form of providing physical care. Donating also helps us remember how blessed we are and strengthens out connection to gratitude. There are so many benefits to donating, which are outside the scope of this article and Christmas is an ideal time to give, especially to those who are trying to get by.
The important message though, of the gift of giving is that, the person who receives the gift has energetically, heart expansion and the person who gives the gift has energetically, heart expansion and perhaps even some healing or improvement of the relationship can be accomplished through giving, especially giving your time. “Being heard impacts (us)…emotionally, cognitively, physical and spiritually. The emotional impact partly reflects the rarity, the novelty, for many people, of receiving non-judgemental attention (Myers, 2000). What they experience is beautifully captured by David Augsberger:” Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person they are almost indistinguishable” (1982). This poetic formulation is increasingly supported by neuroscience because “love alters the structure of the brain” (Lewis, Amini and Lannon, 2000, p.123). Listening in Coaching, pg 105 Ed Jonathan Passmore. By giving and shifting our focus to others, we cultivate a more positive outlook as we focus on them, rather than ourselves and our own lives.
Christmas can also be a challenging time for people who may not have an established place to go to or who don’t enjoy family time. And if you have to set boundaries for your own inner peace and avoid certain people, that’s of course, the thing you can decide upon too. Why not ask around your friends and co-workers and find out what their plans are? There can always be space for one more place or two, at the table. Opening up your hearts and your homes to friends can be a fantastic way giving and also of changing the dynamics at Christmas. As a child, one of my favourite Christmas memories, was when we unexpectedly went to our Italian neighbour’s home in Queensland, where my family had been relocated to, in Townsville. They had a pool, it was scorching hot, so we all splashed around and made the most of it, the delicious and new Italian food. But the thing that I remember the most, was that it was so kind that they invited us into their homes and fed us.
One of the gifts of giving I look forward to each week is our Meditation on Twin Hearts, currently on Wednesdays at 7.30pm at Calma Spa and Fortnightly on Fridays at 11am at Prahran Place, resuming again in late January, visit: www.phwn.com.au for full details and required registration. You are invited to join our free meditation, as a gift to you and your inner peace, focus, increased happiness and improved relationships. I love our local communities and the time we share together and I am grateful to everyone who turns up and shares their time and energy in these special connecting moments.
The gift of your time is for most people, the ultimate gift, so share your time with someone else generously, listening sincerely and enjoy that warm feeling of your heart expanding. As we head into the festive season, don’t forget, the gift of giving.
