Happy Holidays!
No need to be politically correct…I celebrate Christmas, and embrace whatever you are celebrating and hope you have a wonderful, heartwarming time filled with love and connection. That’s all I really want, and I suspect we all do underneath it all…we want love and connection.
In that vein, I realize more and more that all the clichés about giving being better than receiving exist for a reason; they’re true! How wonderful it feels to give to the Salvation Army knowing it will help a family or person in need, or to give a hug to a stranger who is clearly having a bad day*. There is no feeling like that surge of energy and vitality we feel when having just committed an act of kindness…it’s the feeling of love and connection.
Here are some gifts you can give this Holiday season that will make to brighter for everyone involved; for some the rewards will be immediate and for some later, but all will fulfill an ultimate destiny that is bigger than yourself and will help you BE the loving, giving person you want to be in your heart.
Give Blood: According to the Canadian Blood Services, the organization which oversees the blood donations and dissemination here in Canada where I live, one donation (unit) of blood, which can be given in less than an hour of your time, can save up to three lives. According to statistics, there is not nearly enough blood to use for needed transfusions and many major city hospitals do not have enough of this life-saving fluid.
Blood regenerates within our amazing bodies within a couple of days (according to experts, “…after donating a unit of blood, the body replaces the fluid and white cells within 24 hours, and platelets and plasma proteins within 48-72 hours. The red blood cells are completely replaced in 4-6 weeks.”); this is such a simple gift to give. My own Mom received four blood transfusions last night and I am eternally, poignantly grateful to those wonderful souls who gave her this anonymous gift. I myself am not able to give blood because of my husband’s pre-Canadian life in Africa, so I implore you to do this small thing as a gift to someone who will desperately need it some time soon.
Sign Your Organ Donor Card: Anyone old enough to wield a car is old enough to know that they have precious organs which someone else could use when we are done with them. Even if you have religious beliefs causing you to shy away from this practise, consider the real human stories behind the need and give it some serious thought.
Signing an organ donor card and letting your family know it’s important to you is a big step; bigger than you may realize. People – men, women and children – die every day just in North America waiting for donor tissues and organs that never come. The Trillium Gift of Life Network in Ontario says that “One organ and tissue donor can save up to 8 lives and enhance as many as 75 more,” and further assures those of us worried about putting family members through trauma that “Studies have come to show that donating the organs and tissues of a loved one can provide immediate comfort and long-term consolation for family members.” I can see how this would be true, as although at the moment I cannot fathom having to think about allowing a loved one’s body to be cut apart, the long-term peace I would feel at having allowed my loved one to help many, many other people either stay alive or to greatly improve their quality of life would be well worth it. Help someone see; help someone breathe; help someone feel the healthy beat of a heart…give the gift of life.
Sponsor a Child: There are so many organizations that are helping our world’s less fortunate children that it can be difficult to decide between them, and too often we do nothing. If you are on the fence because you’re not sure which of these are legitimate or if it will ‘really help,’ ask around and lose the excuses. If you can help one poor child or family overcome dire poverty or get out of their crippling situation; even if you can help ease everyday discomfort by putting a smile on a child’s face, send them to school or give them a sense of hope and connection, there is every reason to show compassion in this small way. We have so much…if you are reading this, you have SO MUCH. You have shelter and a computer and eyes to see, and likely food to eat. You have access to libraries and education and friends and family and HOPE. Give it; share it.
Two I really like are World Vision and SOS Children’s Villages, but many more exist and are making a difference. Those that help most seem to be focusing on improving communities and individual futures, rather than just putting ‘bandaids’ on situations.
Make a MicroLoan: As with the child sponsor organizations, there is some question as to whether the newly popular micro-lending companies such as KIVA are actually helping as much as they claim to. Even so, could you go wrong by making a small, $25 donation when that money could mean so much to a family or person in a third world country? That small loan, combined with others, can help someone mired in poverty (and possibly living within a corrupt regime) get a head start in life by building a business. A ‘business’ in this vastly different world may mean buying a rooster and hen chickens in order to sell the eggs and offspring, or buying a cart with which to carry and sell vegetables. As of this writing, Kiva has a 98.92% loan repayment rate, which means you are actually going to get your money back and can re-lend it. Talk about win-win! Check out Kiva. org and add to the smiling faces of those helped with small donations.
Volunteer: Spend an afternoon at a shelter helping out, and share smiles and eye contact. Do not worry about what you wear, or what you say. Just BE THERE and pass along your warmth and love…nothing else matters. Imagine how lonely it must be to have no home and no one to care about you, and then fill in that gap for just a moment in time by being someone who cares. When I think of people living on the streets, I always wonder what the history is; how a small child with hopes and dreams became a lost member of humanity, and how we as their human family could have prevented it. Never once, when I’ve made eye contact, smiled at and talked to someone homeless, has it been received with anything other than joy and delight, and returned smiles. So many avoid their eyes; so many find it easier to look away. Even if you are not throwing a couple of bucks into a hat in the subway station as you pass by, a warm smile and a moment of connection goes a long way…for both of you.
Share Hugs and Love: Appreciate those you love, and tell them so. Whether it’s someone in the office or your precious family members, do not let more time go by before you tell them how much they are appreciated.
*Be kind to strangers, especially those who seem disgruntled. We all need a little tenderness when we’re having a bad day; be a light in the darkness when possible.
Do not let Christmas (or whichever Holiday you are celebrating) be the only time of year you feel a sense of closeness. The people in our lives are gifts, one and all. Be a person who remembers what is important in life and who shares love and kindness, and you will feel the love and sense of connection you seek at all times. Is it that simple? Yes! Is it easy? Not always…we are human, and we are complex. For this Holiday Season and coming year, I wish for you this gift of simplicity: that you may feel love and kindness, and pass it on.
