'Tis the season for wrapped presents tied up with bows and money flying out of our wallets faster than we can imagine. It's Christmas lists organized by recipient and searching for hours to find the perfect present. But what makes the perfect present? Is it getting their number one most requested item that they may or may not use? Is it another item to collect dust through the years? What if we gave the most precious gift of them all: our time. There are boundless quotes about time which sum up my point as clear as day.
" Time is more valuable than money. You can make more money, but you cannot get more time." - Jim Rohn
"Time is what we want most, but what we use worst." - William Penn
"The greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Because when you give your time you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back."
The third could be the single most important message as the holiday season is upon us. Think of the hours of time spent in shopping lines and store aisles spending money. What if you took that time and used it for a far better purpose: spending it with those you love. You can still wrap up a gift certificate for two to a salon to be pampered together. Tickets to the next rock concert still looks perfect under the tree tied up with a bow. Riding up a ski lift with your best friend with the sun as your light beats the florescent light bulbs of Walmart any day.
As I remember the holidays of years past I don't have a single ounce of knowledge about what gifts I purchased for someone nor the ones I received. I remember hiking through the woods with my brother on Black Friday and skiing through Vermont with my roommates family. I think of looking through old ornaments collected on family vacations. As a little girl I would pull on my mom's sleeve begging to go open the presents under the tree during our Roose family Christmas. This will be the first Christmas my grandpa won't be joining us at our table, and instantly I recollect the years he would pull out his film strips to show us old photos and laugh at my Aunt's crazy antics they would play with my Mom. We would roll with laughter until our stomachs hurt more from that than with the over abundance of food. Those smiles and sounds of laughter are worth more than another plush scarf; that time is worth more than gold.
This Christmas and Thanksgiving I am vowing to spend more on time than on gifts. If we spent more on finding joy and generosity than giving the newest video game than maybe this world would be a brighter place. Remember to think about your gifts; some gifts last more than a lifetime.
