Well, did you get it? Did you get that something special you hoped was under the tree for you? Did you get the appreciation for those gifts you lovingly purchased and prepared you hoped to get? Did Christmas and the events surrounding Christmas Day fill you with joy and wonderful memories?
I truly hope you can say yes to all the above. I also hope that even more than these things, you took with you the essential experiences of that day of sharing, caring and fellowship, however it was expressed. Even if your experience of December 25, 2015 was solitary, which it was for so many of us, that you embodied the most important aspects of Christmas; the recognition of the presence of love all around us, the joy of the simple joy of sharing a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” with a perfect stranger, the little tingle of seeing a smile on the face of another person. Yes, the gifts are wonderful, the food is delightful, but what memory did you store up? Ten years from now, twenty years from now, what you are likely to remember is not the sweater, not the gizmo, not the hustle and bustle of preparations, no those memories will dim quickly with time. What you will remember are the feelings you embodied during the celebrations. The feelings of togetherness with the world, the happiness of having had that time.
So again I ask, Did You Get It? Did you get that the most important gift you can give anyone is the gift of yourself? The gift of being present for another person is a gift you can give on December 25, January 15, April 3, any day of the year, and the gift of feeling someone else being present for you is a gift you can unwrap each and every day of the year.
Did you get it?
