Who doesn’t love the holiday season?
Maybe it’s the lights on every home and in every window, shining in the darkness.
Perhaps it’s the time spent with the people you love, over great gifts and good food.
It might be the eggnog 🙂
I think it’s the opportunity.
The unending opportunity to show love through giving.
Giving gifts, sure, but also…
…giving brightness, giving hope, giving joy.
Giving just as we receive.
We have these opportunities all the time, but there’s just something about the holidays, isn’t there?
Yes, this season is about quality time and friendly celebrations and buying the perfect gift, but it’s also about paying it forward. It’s about sharing and spreading your joy to anyone you can.
To everyone you meet.
You might pay for someone’s groceries, or simply buy a cup of coffee for the person behind you in line.
You could find a cause you care about—education, animals, or global healthcare—and volunteer your services for the day, or once a week, or every month until the holiday season rolls around again.
You may offer a sincere compliment to one person a day, every day…
…or you might ask to speak to someone’s manager, and tell them how extraordinarily fantastic their employee is.
You might give what you already own—digging and decluttering and donating the “trash” that may very well be someone else’s treasure.
You could always scribble a love note on a Post-It, and leave it in a bathroom, a fitting room, on a table in a coffeeshop—any public place where it might need to be found.
Or you might simply put your phone away, giving the gift of your focus and presence when sharing quality time with family and friends.
In the end, it doesn’t truly matter exactly how you pay it forward, it only matters that you do.
Because when you do, your attitude shifts.
It shifts to thinking of others—even and especially those “others” who are complete strangers—before (and perhaps more than) you think about yourself.
That’s truly giving.
That’s truly love.
That’s what this season—and this life—is truly about.
Photo by Zosia Korcz on Unsplash
Dr. Dowling has spent years helping people live richer, more joyful lives. She has seen firsthand the magical pairing of psychology and life coaching, which allows people to access their happiest selves.
View Dr. Dowling's articles on Mindbodygreen
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