The Perfect Gift

As a teenager, I remember my mother giving me and my siblings the Sears Catalog to pick out what we wanted to see under the Christmas tree. I always had fun flipping the pages with dreamy anticipation of getting just the right gift, the one I wanted most of all. Even though I rarely got what I’d chosen from those fragile pages, I always felt the pangs of hope for what could be.

Several years ago, I decided to get myself an artificial tree to decorate for the Christmas holidays. I went to a local thrift store and found a tree that was 7 feet tall. The clerk said the price would be $60. I told her I needed to go home and check to see if a 7-foot tree would fit in my living room. A few days later, after seeing that it would fit, I went back to the store and found the tree spread out in the parking lot with many other items that seemed to be headed to the trash. I quickly went to the clerk and asked about the tree. Her response was, “I’ll take $20 for it.” My heart jumped for joy! It was my perfect tree! And for only $20! The clerk helped me get all the pieces into the back of my car, and I drove off with the glee that a small child has when a shiny glass ball is placed in her hands. The wonder and joy was palpable!

I’m not sure what other families’ traditions are, but my family usually had a real tree, decorated just so — bright colored lights, shiny balls of various sizes, silver tinsel, and sometimes garland, with a white sheet wrapped around the bottom of the tree. There was always a star on top, which reminded me of the star in the stories of the Three Wise Men who came to Bethlehem to honor the birth of Jesus, their King. They brought gifts — the perfect gifts for a King.

During this holiday season, many of us fret and worry about the gifts we think we need to give, holding in our minds the possible gifts that others might give us. It’s a merry-go-round of searching, creating, buying, wrapping, and giving that can sometimes leave us anxious and worried about whether we forgot someone or whether we got the right gift.

Over the years, what I’ve learned is that the greatest gift I can give myself is to honor my desire to bring happiness into my life. To be present to myself. To honor my qualities that uplift others in my world, and honor my delight in being present to others.

The perfect gift we can give each other is our presence, showing up as the most glorious version of ourselves in the present moment, knowing that we are growing into the next best version of ourselves. Our gift of our time and attention and really listening and caring about what our loved ones are feeling and sharing with us is the greatest gift of all.

Now I want to share my Christmas tree and wish you ALL a very Merry Christmas!