What Makes Your Christmas Memorable?
As the business of the holiday season approaches, I’m always amazed at what stores have available to purchase. From pre-lit Christmas tress, to new LED Christmas lights, to cute, inflatable outside decorations. Every time I turn around, there is something new on the shelves and every year, there is something bigger and better to be bought. Every time I'm near a store, I also see people haul out bags and bags of stuff!For those of you who know me well, you know that I consider myself a bit of a minimalist. I think the older I get, the less I want or need. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always on the hunt for a great piece of jewelry ~ but I know it’s jewelry that I will definitely wear.
It was a few years back when I was working with a client when we engaged in a heart-to-heart conversation about Christmas. The reason the conversation started was because my client had many, many Rubbermaid bins full of Christmas decorations. We started the conversation because of a comment that she had made,
“I just love seeing the house full of my decorations. It just makes Christmas!”
After she said that statement, I looked at her and asked,
“Is it the decorations that make your Christmas or the people you spend time with and the memories you create that make your Christmas?”
I knew I had hit a little nerve with that particular question. That question had actually made my client stop and think (about the meaning of Christmas for her and her family). After quite a long pause, she finally responded,
“Boy, you sure do know how to ask the hard questions!”
Although I didn’t think the question was a ‘hard’ question, it was definitely a question that allowed my client to stop and think what was, and is, important.
The past few years, my family has been lucky enough to spend Christmas in Hawaii. As a result, we have not purchased many gifts for our kids. In fact, it’s quite common for my kids to open up their few gifts consisting of: sunscreen, chocolate macadamia nuts, a card game (that we can all play) or a gift certificate to an activity we could do in Hawaii. My husband and I agreed that if we were going to spend Christmas in Hawaii, the gift(s) to our children were going to be gifts of creating great family memories. As the holiday season approaches, the malls get busier, the shopping deals and sales pop up all over the place, I encourage you to stop and think: What makes your Christmas memorable? Is it the number of presents under the tree? Is it the stuff that fills your home? Or, is it the friends and family that fill you life and new memories that you will be creating?