More Free Holiday Gift Ideas!

MORE FREE gift ideas… Gifts you give OF yourself and TO yourself…if you only stop, look and listen.   Happy Holidays! Cyndi Maxey & Kevin E. O’Connor

Look out at the world and you will see…

…children who like to sing

And a partner who’d like some “zing”.

And coworkers, neighbors too, who await your ring.

Our children and those children of others whom we love are often the source of our greatest joy and our greatest pain.  Or, as a wise parent and poet we know said, “Like all great Greek tragedies we are doomed in the face of our children who survive like the weeds they are to spoil the perfect gardens we so vainly attempt to create. If only we can remember to tend the weeds with happiness and not regret. “   Most children like to “sing” …have fun ! …experience joy! …be loved!. ..get attention. What child in your life needs to “sing” more with you?

One of the strengths of a long successful relationship is “not having to try too hard” to feel comfortable with and supportive of your partner in work or life. But that comfort and support can sometimes be, well…boring as you fall into mundane patterns with this most important person. Stop today and think of one way to provide some “zing” for someone you may think you know all too well.  To spark your thinking, here are some “gift ideas”:

• serve your partner in some way: cook all the meals, walk the dog all day, proofread a report, invite others to join you, buy something and wrap it in several boxes, write a poem or letter

How about all the coworkers and neighbors to whom we say “Hi!” nearly every day but little else? This season, select a few and do something different. They will be pleasantly surprised! Call them and invite them to coffee or lunch. Or surprise them with a small thank you or gift. Cyndi once had a neighbor who brought by homemade caramel sauce and another who watched her young child for an afternoon. Simple notes, desk props, or food items are great for coworkers, but also simply stopping to say more than “hi” is often the best gift.