A Gift to Me
When children and holidays collide, someone always has to spoil the fun by asking the impossible question. When you ask a child if they got everything they wanted, it is likely to be a no. Even if they don’t admit it at the time, they have probably already been schooled to appear as if they are thankful. Humans want so many things that it would be nearly impossible to be gifted everything we ever wanted. That’s probably a good system to prevent greed but it is a dream stealer also. Children grow up and are called adults. But the impossible question lingers. If it were possible for you to get everything you wanted, what would that look like? Most likely, you are an adult with a credit card, keys and the ability to shop. You may want to ask yourself, why don’t you have everything you want?
Gift Wrap
Time to make a real list. Your list. Consider the next year. What do you want from the next year? Even if you only choose one thing, that starts the process and will eventually lead to another. It doesn’t have to be material; it probably isn’t. It is most likely some wish stored well inside of you wrapped up so tightly that you don’t ever think you will get a chance to open it. If you need it, you have permission right now to open it. You even have the right to unwrap it slowly and carefully. If this gift has been waiting a longish time, enjoy finally opening it. If you are the type who needs to rip it open, do so. It’s your gift. Take the time to sit and stare at it. Smile with pleasure that you have finally been able to see what is inside. Take a deep breath before lifting it out and examining it. This is a big moment. You are looking inside of your heart.
A Gift of You, For You
Discovering a gift is a pleasure that changes life. Every little desire has the potential to alter the future. If your gift meets this criterion, all you are required to do is think about the very next step forward. The end is precious, but the actual start is more important currently. Being brave enough to choose something gives you the fuel to see that you are able to do what you really want to do. You just had to make the decision to finally discover what was in that big box. Now that you have seen some of the future, it will get a little easier. Momentum builds. Throw away the wrapping, close your eyes, be grateful and then open them to see how your ability to just start something puts you on the road to becoming a finisher also. If you have started things in the past and disappointed yourself because you didn’t finish, this time will be different. Because you are different. How do I know? You opened the gift, didn’t you?
Accidental Gift
When I was a little girl, I came downstairs on Christmas morning with my siblings to find lots of presents under the tree. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of a giant (to me) pink and white stuffed poodle sitting in the pile. I knew in my heart that it was for me and ran to it and hugged it. I found out years later that it was supposed to belong to one of my older sisters, but my parents wisely didn’t stop me. My emotional memory of that morning is full. I got what I really wanted even when I hadn’t asked for it. Give yourself that same feeling. If you begin right now with the gift you have opened, what will happen in the next 12 months? We don’t stay in the same place from year to year. You can determine how this one gift will change your life as you decide how to use it. You get to decide how this gift of yours provides impact, or love, or even opens the door to how you will interact with the other gifts you have stashed away. It is no accident that you have this gift. We all have them and are meant to use them in this world. Remind yourself every time you use it that finally opening this one is just your start.
What is your gift to open? Can you silence the reasons for keeping it wrapped and hidden? Do you think that your gift should be shared with the world?
