The joy of giving - Merry Christmas

Julie Reeder

Publisher

Forest, one of our paginators and chaos coordinators in the office, told me yesterday that he read something interesting. He said that when someone is greeted kindly by a stranger it causes them to feel like the world is an okay place and gives them hope that everything is going to be ok, or something to that effect.

Last Sunday night, my family enjoyed going to the neighborhood Christmas parade, lights and block parties in the Horsecreek and Citro neighborhoods. It was really fun. Plenty of people walked around saying Merry Christmas to their neighbors and people they didn’t know yet.

I’m sure the happy hormones were soaring for everyone. I feel like that’s what Christmas is about, in addition to the hustle and bustle and the tradition of spending time with family and friends and of course, giving.

There are a lot of ways to give and be generous. There are obvious ways like giving to the nonprofits in town, but we can make cookies or food for each other, for our neighbors. We can tell stories, go caroling and just share kindness with each other. I think some years that’s more important than other years.

Maybe you can lend a helping hand. Giving and generosity not only boost the receiver, but the giver gets a little boost as well. It improves the mental health and physical health of both parties.

Maybe it’s a smile or a hug. It doesn’t have to be a physical present to have mental and emotional benefits.

Then I like to encourage my family to look to the Christ of Christmas who gave the ultimate gift for all of us as an example of sacrificial love. Let’s remember to love each other the way we want to be loved and be open to those little opportunities to love each other and spread some joy and mental health.

Merry Christmas!