Fa la la la la…. la la la la! Happy Holidays! It the most wonderful time of the year! Are you in the holiday spirit? I am! I love all the Christmas lights, the holiday colors, the holiday baking (trying not to eat too many sweets), the holiday music, the holiday movies, the Christmas trees, and of course Santa and the reindeer. I love how the little ones get so excited about Santa.

With all this tradition, we can get overwhelmed too during this time. Sometimes it seems like madness! Are you rushing around trying to find the perfect gifts? Are you online for hours searching for the deals? Have you squeezed in the holiday baking and decorating in between your work life and your daily responsiblities? Have you started to wonder where has the spirit of the holiday season got lost among the chaos? And with the coronavirus around this year, there’s yet another element of stress added on to this holiday season.

In this age of consumerism and information overload, it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed and exhausted.  Many of us long to recapture the spirit of the holiday season.  You have a choice about the quality of your holidays. You can dash around like a crazy woman or make a decision to do something different.

This year, might you consider these 3 wonderful gift giving ideas to soothe your soul and the soul of the recipient of your gift? These suggestions are designed to inspire you to be more creative with your gift giving this year while deepening the connections to loved ones. Connection is the one thing that really resonated with me during this Covid-19 year.

• Write a love letter to your spouse, partner, or significant other.  Take some time to put your feelings down on beautiful paper. Once you’ve written it, you can wrap it in a nice gift box. If you’re concerned about your writing ability, you could create a top-ten list that says:  Top 10 Reasons Why I Love You Are….
• Give a gift of your time and energy.  Think about the kind of service or support people in your life could most benefit from receiving and offer it as a gift. You could babysit a friend’s children giving the parents time for a “date night.” What about a friend who needs help walking their dog?
• Lift a burden.  Purchase a gift certificate for a service you know someone could really use. You might give the gift of a delivered meal service. Give the gift of housekeeping services to a busy mom (you can pool your resources with other friends or family). A grocery shopping service could be invaluable for a family member or friend (side bar….I dislike grocery shopping and would love to have a personal shopper for this:)

So there you have it! Three gift giving ideas I hope sparks your creative spirit and makes this holiday season a bit less stressful but a lot more soothing for your soul.

One last thing….sometimes you just need to sit this one out. This can be especially important if you are going through a time of transition, grieving a loss of a loved one, or just experiencing a low mood. It’s perfectly fine to take care of yourself and let go of expectations. The important thing to remember is you are in control of your holiday experience.

Self Care Action Step:
Make this holiday season less stressful and more joyful. Pick one or use all of these wonderful gift giving ideas. Happy Holidays to you!

“The only gift is a portion of thyself.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

If this post resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.  Also if you think that there are people in your world who would benefit from receiving my self care tips, please do forward or share this post.