I know that this time of the year, while for some people it is a great time and an exciting time to be with family and friends and reconnect with people, for some people it is an extremely lonely time. Some people get to this point of the year and they are reminded of the friends and family that they do not have or that they have lost and it is not easy for them. I just want to say to you guys today, live in appreciation during this time. Do not get caught up on social media comparing what you do and do not have versus what other people have.
I know that at this time of the year you will start to see so many people posting about their gifts on instagram and facebook. They will say things like, “look what I got my kid” or whatever and it can start to turn into a competition real fast. I want to be clear that I do not think there is anything wrong with social media or posting about the gifts you got or gave. You can be proud of what you got your kid, just don’t be posting that stuff for the wrong reasons. Don’t start posting on social media to compete with everyone else. The holidays are not supposed to be about competition. During the holiday season it is important to live in as much appreciation for what you have in your life as possible. I am sure there are a lot of things to complain about, but there are probably more things to be thankful for and grateful that you have in your life. Just being alive is a gift in and of itself that we overlook all of the time. Push yourself to find the good even if it is hard.
One of the things that me and my family are doing this year is we are going to focus on giving and not focus on getting. We are trying to make the holidays more about the experiences than the gifts. I do not know if you have kids like me or not, but my kids will forget those gifts in like two months. Like I remember I bought my son a skateboard one time and he rode it like ten times and then never touched it again. The memories and the experiences though are the things that are really important and really going to leave an impact on you. So it has been very important to me that we focus on those experiences instead of focusing on the things that are temporary because they will get boring and we will forget about them soon anyway.
The main lesson here is this: Focusing on what you will receive, or how great what you got someone is will not lead to togetherness. You have to focus on the other people in your family and not be so focused on how you compare to other people in your life. Start focusing on the experiences in your life instead of focusing on how you compare.
It all starts with you.
