Greatest Gift

The greatest gift is a portion of thyself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/gift)

What was the greatest gift you gave this season and what was the greatest gift you received?  That sounds like a pretty shallow question to ask doesn't it?  Almost equivalent to the one we would so excitedly ask our friends  when we were younger: "What did you get for Christmas?" lol 

I do not intend to indulge the ego here.  I mean it as a thought provoking probe for reflection only.  Christmas is not about the material gifts though our egos and our society so wants us to believe it is. It is so much more than that.

So what did you give that made a difference?

Maybe you gave material items to someone who needed a physical, financial or emotional boost.    Maybe by so doing you provided some comfort, some ease...some diminishing of suffering.  That's wonderful. Maybe you made someone smile and feel joy?   Isn't our whole experience here about feeling good and allowing others to feel good?  So maybe you gave something of a physical nature that made a difference in someone else's life.  Good for you. I hope you feel good about that.

Or maybe you gave something of the subtle nature: kindness, patience, compassion or love.  Now that is what Christmas is about, is it not? When offered where it is needed most we create a better world, do we not?   When we extend these things to the places and things and people we are resisting...we create transformation.  Forgiveness is the greatest gift Christmas offers us...of others, of life of ourselves.  When we forgive and accept, we settle into the peace of the moment...and that settling in is, ironically, what changes everything. I hope you experienced the sheer joy and peace that comes with giving these things this season.

Maybe you gave your time and your energy?  How wonderful is that because as the above quote from Emerson states, the greatest gift is a part of who you are?

Whatever you gave...I hope it filled you with the joy of giving.

The greatest gift I gave was a part of me, I suppose.  As a creator, I took time to create.  I made things with my photos and I gave that.  It didn't take that much money which was a good thing...it just took time, energy, my good thoughts, my desire to offer something with meaning and my self.  I knew it was the right gifting because it felt right. 

I gave myself to my children...my time, my company, my presence and my love.  What I got in return by giving was the only gift I needed.

What was the greatest gift you received?

Maybe you are catching on to the point of my rant here?  The greatest gift we receive is what we give.  It truly, truly is.  It is not measured by how many gadgets that end up beneath our tree...it is  about how we feel!  When someone receives this "portion of thyself" and they light up.  That's the gift...that smile, that joy, that peace that our giving offers another...is the gift. It fills us with something so very precious.  It doesn't get any better than that!

Giving is receiving!

All is well in my world.